?-■■ 


^>~vi  OF  prnwcf^ 


•^I^osiai  sc«^ 


T  HE    LIFE 


ALEXANDER  DUFF,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


GEORGE  SMITH,  C.I.E.,  LL.D., 

AUTHOR  OF  "THE   LIFE   OF  JOHN  WILSON,  D.U.,  F.R.S.," 
FELLOW  OF   THE   ROYAL  GEOGRAPHICAL  AND   STATISTICAL 
SOCIETIES,  ETC. 


WITH    AN     INTRODUCTION     BY    WM.     M.    TAYLOR,  D.D. 


TWO  VOLUMES  IN  ONE. 


VOL.  L 


NEW    YORK: 
A.     C.     ARMSTRONG     &     SON, 


Jul  W   VJ.  A 


TO 

THE     PEOPLES     OP     INDIA 

IS   INSCEIBED 

THIS  LIFE  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONARY 

WHOSE   L.VTEST   PUBLISHED  WORDS   WERE   THESE: 


"WHEREVER  I  WANDER,  WHEREVER  I  STAY,  Mr  HEART  IS  IN  INDIA,  IN 
DEEP  SYMPATHY  WITH  ITS  MULTITUDINOUS  INHABITANTS,  AND  IN  EARNEST 
LONGINGS  FOR  THEIR  HIGHEST   WELFARE  IN  TIME  AND  IN  ETERNITY." 


PEIITCETON 
iiiiG.  NOV  18&C 

THSOLOGIG 

This  invaluable  portraiture  of  the  character  and  life  of 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  of  our  modern  missionary 
times,  has  been  published  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  by 
A.  C.  Armstrong  &  Son,  in  two  handsome  volumes,  and  has 
met  with  high  appreciation.  The  price,  however,  necessarily 
limited  its  circulation,  and  the  present  edition  is  designed  to 
bring  so  choice  a  work  within  the  reach  of  a  large  number 
of  appreciative  readers  in  America,  many  of  whom  remem- 
ber still  his  burning  love  for  Christ's  cause  and  his  almost 
inspired  eloquence. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    L 

1 806-1 829. 
The  Boy  and  the  Sti'dent    . 


PAGES 

1-32 


CHAPTER    II. 

1829. 
The  Fikst  Missionary  of  the  Church  op  Scoiland 


83 -Gi 


CHAPTER    III. 
1830. 


The  Two  Shipwrecks 


65-85 


CHAPTER     IV. 
1830. 


Calcutta  as  it  was 


86-103 


CHAPTER    V 

1830-1831. 


The  Mine  Prepared 


CHAPTER    VL 
1831-1833. 

The  First  Explosion  and  the  Four  Converts 

CHAPTER    VII. 
1833-1835. 
The    Renaissance   in   India  —  The   English  Language 
AND  THE  Church 


104-13G 


137-177 


178-205 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

1833-1835. 
The  Renaissance  in  India — Science  and  Letters 


206-232 


Vm  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER     IX. 

1 832-1 835.  PAGES 

Work  foe  Edropeans,  Eurasians  akd  Native  Christians     233-270 

CHAPTER    X. 

1835. 
Thb  Invalid  and  the  Ouatot. 271-304 

CHAPTER    XL 

1835-1836. 

Dr.  Duff  Organizing 305-339 

CHAPTER    XII. 

1 83  7- 1 839. 

Fishers  op  Men .    340-387 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

1 839- 1 840. 

Egypt — Sinai — Bombay — Madras 388-424 

CHAPTER    XIY. 

1841. 

Fighting  the  Governor-Gteneral   .....     425-441 

CHAPTER    XV. 

1841-1843. 

The  College  and  its  Spiritual  Fruit  ....    442-478 


^.    J.- ........ .  ^Tm 

^  .HiC,  NOV  1"^0 

Vthso 

INTEODUCTIOK 


Alexais^dek  Duff,  as  tlie  perusal  of  tliis  admirable 
luemoii"  ^vill  make  apparent,  was  one  of  tlie  most  emi- 
nent of  modern  missionaries.  His  name  will  go  down 
to  posterity  witli  those  of  William  Burns  and  David 
Livingstone,  as  together  constituting  "the  three  migh^ 
ties  "  of  the  noble  band  of  Scottish  worthies  whose  la- 
bors in  the  fields  of  heathenism  have  given  lustre  to  the 
annals  of  our  century.  Others  might  be  ranked  among 
the  thirty ;  but  they  were  "  the  first  three,"  each  of 
whom  was  distinguished  by  making  a  new  departure  in 
the  great  entei"prise  to  wliicli  they  had  all  devoted 
themselves. 

Livingstone  saw  that  if  anything  was  to  be  really 
done  for  Africa,  the  slave-trade — that  open  sore  of  the 
world — must  be  got  rid  of,  and  in  order  to  secure  that, 
as  well  as  other  things  of  importance,  he  entered  upon 
these  exploring  expeditions  which  have  made  his  name 
imperishable.  Burns,  upon  perceiving  the  prejudice  of 
the  Chinese  against  foreigners  of  eveiy  sort,  and  finding 
his  European  dress  a  hindrance  in  the  prosecution  of  his 
work,  deliberately  adopted  the  costume  of  the  peo]de 
among  whom  he  labored,  became  as  a  Chinaman  to  the 
Chinese,  and  left  a  name  at  the  mention  of  which  the 
heai'ts  of  multitudes,  both  in  Scotland  and  in  China,  are 

ix 


X  I^'T^vODucTIo^^ 

quickened  as  by  some  potent  spell,  for  they  knew  liim 
as  tkeir  spiritual  fatlier.  Duff,  seeing  that  tke  false 
science  of  tke  so-called  sacred  books  of  India  was  in- 
separably connected  with  their  religious  teaching,  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  thorough  education  of  the 
Hindoos  would  be  subversive  of  the  native  superstitions. 
He,  therefore,  not  without  the  risk  of  being  misunder- 
stood by  the  committee  at  home,  deliberately  adopted 
what  may  be  called  the  educational  plan.  How  that 
was  carried  out  by  him,  and  the  influence  which  he  ex- 
erted on  education  in  India  through  Lord  William 
Bentinck,  Sir  Charles  Trevellyan,  and  the  young  com- 
missioner who  was  afterwards  to  become  better  known 
as  Lord  Macaulay,  is  set  forth  with  sufficient  distinct- 
ness in  these  pages.  He  was  an  uncompromising  ad- 
vocate of  that  which  he  believed  to  be  right,  and  his 
eloquence,  alike  in  Calcutta  and  in  Scotland,  often  car- 
ried all  before  it.  On  his  first  return  to  his  native  land 
he  was  virtually  put,  by  the  objections  of  many,  upon 
his  own  defence,  and  the  speech  which  he  delivered  on 
that  occasion,  in  the  General  Assembly,  has  always  been 
referred  to  as  one  of  the  grandest  specimens  of  sacred 
eloquence.  The  ten  years'  conflict  was  then  at  its 
height,  but  Moderates  and  Evangelicals  alike  laid  down 
their  arms  to  listen,  even  as  the  hostile  hosts  at  Tala- 
vera  forgot  their  enmity  as  together  they  drank  from 
the  brook  that  flowed  between  their  lines. 

Thus  the  work  of  Duff  was  as  important  among  the 
churches  of  his  native  land  as  it  was  in  India.  His 
zeal  and  oratory  kindled  an  amazing  enthusiasm  for  the 


INTRODUCTION.  il 

missionary  cause,  and  his  simple,  fervent  piety  ahvays 
preached  a  silent  sermon  of  great  power.  His  visit  to 
tlie  manse  of  Ellon  wrought  such  a  change  on  the  E-ev. 
James  Robertson — the  leader  of  the  Moderate  party  in 
the  church — that  Robertson's  biographer  does  not  hesi- 
tate to  speak  of  it  as  a  conversion ;  and  wherever  he 
went  he  Avas  recognized  as  being  in  very  deed  "  a  man 
of  God." 

His  labors  in  America  are  yet  remembered  Avitli 
gratitude  and  admiration  by  multitudes  among  us,  who 
Avill  be  glad  to  have  former  impressions  recalled  by  the 
account  which  is  here  given  of  his  visit  to  our  laud. 
And  students  of  Scottish  ecclesiastical  history  will  find 
in  this  biography,  which  spans  the  fifty  years  between 
Chalmers's  professorship  of  Moral  Philosophy  at  St. 
Andrews,  and  the  breaking  up  of  the  union  negotia- 
tions between  the  disestablished  Presbyterian  churches, 
rich  material  for  their  purpose. 

We  need  not  do  more  than  refer  to  the  labors  of 
Duff  in  later  years  as  the  Convener  of  the  Foreign  Mis- 
sion Committee  of  the  Free  Church,  and  the  first  Profes- 
sor of  Evangelistic  Theology  in  its  college.  To  the  last 
he  was  a  man  of  power,  tall  and  stalwart  in  form, 
easily  distinguishable,  in  later  years,  by  his  flowing 
beard  of  silvery  whiteness,  he  was  always  an  object  of 
interest  to  the  visitor  to  the  Free  Assembly,  and  though 
the  volcanic  fire  of  his  old  eloquence  had  largely  burnt 
itself  out,  it  occasionally  flamed  forth  even  then  in  such 
a  way  as  to  give  one  some  idea  of  its  fonuer  brightness. 
It  is  always  difficult  to  convey  an  adequate  impression 


2  LIFE    or   DR.    DuTF.  1806. 

Duff  liimself,  when,  in  tlie  fulness  of  bis  fame,  lie 
solemnly  congratulated  a  young  friend  on  a  firstborn 
son,  that  in  nothing  is  the  sovereignty  of  God  so  clearly 
seen  as  in  the  birth  of  a  child ;  the  fact,  the  sex,  the 
circumstances,  the  bent.  To  be  at  all,  is  much ;  to  be 
this  rather  than  that  is,  to  the  individual,  more  :  but  to 
be  the  subject  and  the  channel  of  a  divine  force  such 
as  has  made  the  men  who  have  reformed  the  world, 
in  the  days  from  the  apostles  to  the  greatest  modern 
missionaries,  is  so  very  much  more,  that  we  may  well 
look  in  every  case  for  the  signs  which  lie  about  their 
ir.fanc}'-.  In  this  case  these  signs  are  near  the  sur- 
face. It  was  through  the  prince  of  the  Evangelicals  of 
the  Church  of  England  that,  unconsciously  to  both, 
grace  flowed,  at  one  remove,  to  the  distant  Highland 
boy  of  the  Presbyterian  kirk,  who  became  the  prince 
of  Evangelical  missionaries.  And  the  grace  was  the 
same  in  both  for  it  was  marked  by  the  catholicity  of 
true  Evangelicalism,  which  is  not  always  found  in 
the  sectarian  divisions  and  strifes  of  the  Eeformed 
Churches. 

It  was  just  after  that  conversation  of  his  which 
proved  to  be  the  foundation  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  that,  in  1796,  the  accomplished  Eiigiish  clergy- 
man who  filled  the  pulpit  of  Trinity  Church,  Cambridge, 
was  induced  to  make  his  first  tour  through  Scotland. 
At  Dunkeld,  Simeon  tells  us,  his  horses  were  at  the 
door  to  take  him  on  to  the  Pass  of  Killiecrankie,  with 
the  intention  of  at  once  turning  back  to  that  gate  of 
the  Highlands  in  order  to  hurry  on  to  Glasgow.  But 
*'  I  felt  myself  poorly,  I  ordered  them  back  and  pro- 
ceeded to  Killiecrankie  the  next  day.  At  Moulin,  a 
villao-e  four  miles  from  K.,  I  called  to  see  a  Mr.  Stew- 
art."  In  that  visit  was  the  seed  of  Alexander  Duff's 
higher  life.  Having  seen  the  pass,  Simeon  returned  to 
assist  Mr.  Stewart,  who  was  the  parish  minister,  at 


^.t.  I.  CUAIILES    SIMEON    AND    ALEXANDER    DUTF.  3 

tlio  Lord's  supper.  Their  intercourse  rcsiilfced  in  an 
immediate  change  in  the  preaching  of  a  man  of  hi'Hi 
repute  for  amiabihtj  and  learning,  but,  like  the  young 
Chalmers  afterwards,  "  yevy  defective  in  his  view  of 
the  gospel  and  in  his  experience  of  its  power."  From 
that  moment  Stewart  "  changed  the  strain  of  his 
preaching,  determining  to  know  nothing  among  his 
people  but  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified." 

Years  afterwards,  as  Simeon  looked  back  on  that 
visit  to  Scotland,  and  saw  how  in  Moulin,  at  Dingwall, 
and  then  in  the  Canongate  of  Edinburgh,  Dr.  Stewart 
was  made  a  living  power  to  the  souls  of  men  and 
women,  he  blessed  God  for  the  indisposition  whicli  had 
kept  him  back  at  Diuikeld,  and  so  had  sent  him  to 
MouHn.  This,  and  the  results  of  his  preaching  for 
Dr.  Colquhoun  in  Leith,  led  the  Evangelical  whom 
the  University  then  despised  and  his  own  brethren 
condemned  for  preaching  in  non-Anglican  churches,  to 
write,  "  amongst  the  many  blessings  which  God  vouch- 
safed to  me  in  those  journeys,  there  were  two  in  par- 
ticular for  which  I  have  reason  to  adore  His  name." 
After  this,  Simeon  sent  out  to  India  tlie  men,  like 
David  Brown  and  Henry  Martyn,  who,  as  chaplains 
and  missionaries,  formed  the  salt  of  the  infant  empire. 
He  soon  saw,  also,  one  of  the  noblest  of  evano-elizinof 
agencies  established,  the  Church  Missionary  Society; 
and  he  had  helped  the  London  Missionary  Society,  fruit- 
ful parent  of  similar  organizations  in  Great  Britaiii, 
America  and  Germany.  But  the  far-reaching  conse- 
quences of  that  day's  work  in  Moulin  he  had  not 
dared  to  dream  of. 

Among  Stewart's  parishioners,  of  whom  he  had  told 
Simeon  there  are  "  few  real  Christians  whom  I  can 
number  in  my  parish,"  were  two  young  people,  who 
were  not  long  in  experiencing  the  new  electric  thrill 
which  showed  itself  in  more  than  one  revival  such  as  a 


4  LIFE    OF    DK.    DUFF,  1806. 

few  of  the  most  aged  villagers  recall  with  fond  memory 
at  the  present  day.  James  Duff  and  Jean  Rattray 
were  under  seventeen  when  Simeon  preached  what  he 
at  the  time  bewailed  as  his  barren  and  dull  sermon. 
Gaelic  was  the  prevailing  language  of  the  district ; 
few  knew  English.  But  what  the  English  of  Simeon 
beo-an,  the  Gaelic  of  Stewart  continued,  and  James 
Duff  was  equally  master  of  both  languages.  In  due 
time  he  married  Jean  Rattray  and  took  her  to  the 
farm  of  Auchnahyle.  There  Alexander  Duff  was  born 
to  them,  on  the  25th  April,  1806.  Removing  thence 
soon  after  somewhat  nearer  Moulin,  the  boy's  child- 
hood and  early  youth  was  spent  in  and  around  a 
picturesque  cottage  on  the  estate  of  Balnakeilly.  No 
trace  remains  of  the  old  house  of  Auchnahyle,  a  new 
one  having  been  built  on  its  site.  All  the  missionary's 
early  reminiscences  were  identified  with  the  cottage 
at  Balnakeilly,  still  standing  and  but  little  changed, 
among  the  woods  that  slope  up  from  the  old  north 
road  before  it  enters  Moulin  from  Dunkeld. 

And  here,  as  he  himself  once  wrote,  "  amid  scenery 
of  unsurpassed  beauty  and  grandeur,  I  acquired  early 
tastes  and  impulses  which  have  animated  and  in- 
fluenced me  through  life."  To  its  natural  beauty  of 
hill,  wood  and  water,  on  which  the  artist's  eye  loves  to 
rest,  there  is  now  added  the  memory  of  him  whose 
whole  genius  was  coloured  by  the  surroundings,  and 
who,  when  the  shadow  of  death  was  darkening  over 
him,  delighted  to  recall  the  dear  father-house.  It  is 
the  centre  of  Scotland.  Rising  gently  some  two 
miles  to  the  north-east,  Ben-i-vrackie  reaches  a  height 
of  2,800  feet.  Thence  the  young  eye  can  descry 
Arthur's  Seat  which  guards  Edinburgh,  and,  in  the 
far  north  of  Aberdeenshire,  the  mightier  Bens  of 
Nevis  and  Macdhui.  The  house  is  beautifully  placed 
in  an  open  glade,  with  a  brattling  mountain  stream 


/Et.  r.         DUFF  S    DF.Sf'niF'iION    OF    HIS    DIRTHFLAOE.  5 

on  oillier  side,  and  a  wealth  of  weeping  birch,  ash, 
larch,  and  young  oak  trees,  which,  in  the  slanting 
autumn  sun,  seem  to  surround  the  cottage  with  a 
setting  of  gold.  Twice  in  after  years,  with  a  loving 
and  eloquent  fondness,  was  he  led  to  describe  the 
place  and  the  father  who  trained  him  there.  When 
in  Calcutta,  in  ISGO,  he  observed  in  the  Witness  news- 
paper an  advertisement  soliciting  subscriptions  for  a 
new  Free  Church  for  the  parish,  which  the  altered 
times  made  it  desirable  to  erect  in  the  neiorhbourins: 
railway  town  of  Pitlochrie,  he  thus  wrote  in  a  public 
appeal : — 

"  The  parish  of  Moulin,  fairly  within  the  Grampians, 
embraces  the  central  portion  of  the  great  and  noble 
valley  of  Athole,  watered  by  the  Tummel  and  the 
Garry,  with  several  glens  and  straths  stretching  con- 
siderably to  the  north.  The  great  north  road  from 
Dunkeld  to  Inverness  passes  through  the  southerly 
section  of  the  parish,  along  the  banks  of  the  fore- 
named  rivers.  About  a  mile  to  the  north  of  this  road, 
and  wholly  concealed  from  it  by  intervening  knolls  and 
ridges,  lies  the  village  of  Moulin,  in  a  hollow  or  basin, 
once  partly  the  bed  of  a  lake,  but  now  drained  and 
turned  into  fertile  corn-fields,  with  the  ruins  of  an  old 
castle  in  the  middle  of  them.  Formerly  the  half, 
probably  the  greater  half  of  the  population  lay  to  the 
north,  north-west,  and  north-east  of  the  village.  But 
things  are  very  much  altered  now.  From  the  enlarge- 
ment of  farms  entire  hamlets  have  been  removed,  and 
the  cottars  in  most  villages  in  these  directions  greatly 
reduced  in  number ;  while  one  glen  has  been  wholly, 
and  more  than  one  to  a  considerable  extent  depopu- 
lated, to  make  way  for  sheep-walks." 

The  Pitlochrie  portion  of  his  native  parish  he  de- 
scribed as  "  slightly  elevated  on  rolling  ridges  above 
the  Tummel,  which,  after  its  junction  with  the  Garry 


6  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFP.  l8o6. 

a  little  above,  flows  on  to  join  the  Taj  a  few  miles 
farther  down;  with  the  country  all  around  richly 
wooded,  while  free  from  all  marshy  ground  and 
cultivated  like  a  garden;  encompassed  on  all  sides, 
and  at  no  great  distance,  with  swelling  hills  and  craggy 
precipices,  and  the  sharp  pointed  peaks  of  the  lofty 
Ben-i-vrackie  towering  up  almost  immediately  behind 
it ;  placed,  also,  within  a  mile  or  two  of  the  celebrated 
Pass  of  Killiecrankie,  which  is  bounded  on  the  east 
by  Fascally,  with  its  enchanting  scenery  including  the 
Falls  of  Tummel,  and  on  the  west  by  the  battle-field 
on  which  Lord  Dundee,  '  the  Bloody  Clavers,'  the 
relentless  scourge  of  Scotland's  true  patriot  worthies, 
the  heroes  of  the  Covenant,  and  the  last  hope  of  the 
Stewart  dynasty,  fell  mortally  wounded  in  the  hour  of 
victory ;  and  which  itself  furnishes  to  the  true  lover 
of  nature's  works  a  variety  of  views  altogether  un- 
surpassed in  their  combination  of  the  beautiful,  the 
picturesque,  the  romantic,  and  the  sublime." 

The  Duff  Church  now  stands  in  Pitlochrie  as  the 
solitary  memorial  there  of  the  man  who  has  given  a 
new  and  higher  interest  to  that  portion  of  the  Gram- 
pian range  than  any  of  its  sons.  No ;  not  the  only 
memorial.  There  is  another,  a  tombstone  in  the 
Moulin  kirk-yard,  "  erected  as  a  grateful  tribute  to 
the  memory  of  his  pious  parents  ...  by  their  af- 
fectionate son,  Alexander  Duff."  When,  early  in 
1848,  he  heard  in  Calcutta  of  his  father's  death,  he 
sent  to  Dr.  Tweedie  a  prose  elegy  on  that  cottage 
patriarch,  which,  undesignedly,  enables  us  to  trace  the 
spiritual  influence  as  it  had  flowed  through  Simeon, 
Stewart,  and  the  good  old  Highlander  to  the  sun, 
who  had  been  then  for  nearly  twenty  years  the  fore- 
most missionary  in  India. 

"If  ever  son  had  reason  to  thank  God  for  the 
prayers,  the   instructions,  the  counsels,  and  the  con- 


^t.  I.  DUFF  S    DESCRIPTION   OP    fllS    FATHER.  7 

sistent  examples  of  a  devoutly  pious  father,  I  am  tliat 
son.  Though  sent  from  home  for  my  education  at 
the  early  age  of  eight,  and  though  very  little  at  home 
ever  after,  the  sacred  and  awakening  lessons  of  in- 
fancy were  never  wholly  forgotten ;  and,  in  the  absence 
of  moulding  influences  of  regenerating  grace,  the 
fear  of  offending  a  man  who  inspired  me  in  earliest 
boyhood  with  sentiments  of  profoundest  reverence  and 
love  towards  himself,  as  a  man  of  God,  was  for  many 
a  year  the  overmastering  principle  which  restrained 
my  erring  footsteps  and  saved  me  from  many  of  the 
overt  follies  and  sins  of  youth.  Originally  aroused  to 
a  sense  of  sin  and  the  necessity  of  salvation,  when  a 
young  man,  under  the  remarkable  ministry  of  the  late 
Dr.  Stewart  of  Moulin,  and  afterwards  of  Dingwall, 
and  the  Canougate,  my  father  was  led  to  flee  for  refuge 
to  the  hope  set  before  him  in  the  gospel.  And  the 
spark  of  light  and  life  then  enkindled  in  his  soul,  far 
from  becoming  dim  amid  the  still  surviving  corruptions 
of  the  *  old  man '  within,  and  the  thick  fogs  of  a  carnal 
earthly  atmosphere  without,  continued  ever  since  to 
shine  more  and  more  with  increasing  intensity  and 
vividness.  In  the  days  of  his  health  and  strength,  and 
subsequently  as  often  as  health  and  sti'ength  permitted, 
he  was  wont  to  labour  much  for  the  spiritual  improve- 
ment of  his  neighbourhood,  by  the  keeping  or  super- 
intending of  Sabbath  schools,  and  the  holding  of  weekly 
meetings,  at  his  own  house  or  elsewhere,  for  prayer 
and  scriptural  exposition.  In  prayer  he  was  indeed 
mighty — appearing  at  times  as  if  in  a  rapture,  caught 
up  to  the  third  heavens  and  in  full  view  of  the  beatific 
vision.  In  the  practical  exposition  and  home-thrusting 
enforcement  of  Scripture  truth  he  was  endowed  with 
an  uncommon  gift.  In  appealing  to  the  conscience, 
and  in  expatiating  on  the  bleeding,  dying  love  of  the 
Saviour  he  displayed  a  power  before  which  many  have 


6  LIFE    OP    DB.    DUFF.  1806. 

been  melted  and  subdued — finding  immediate  relief 
only  in  sobs  and  tears — and  being  equally  fluent  in  the 
Gaelic  and  English  languages,  he  could  readily  adapt 
himself  to  the  requirements  of  such  mixed  audiences 
as  the  Highlands  usually  furnish. 

"  In  addressing  the  young  he  was  wont  to  manifest 
a  winning  and  affectionate  tenderness,  which  soon 
riveted  the  attention  and  captivated  the  feelings.  His 
very  heart  seemed  to  yearn  through  his  eyes  as  he 
implorefl  them  to  beware  of  the  enticement  of  sinners, 
and  pointed  to  the  outstretched  arms  of  the  Redeemer. 
Seizing  on  some  Bible  narrative  or  incident  or  miracle 
or  parable,  or  proverb  or  emblem,  he  would  '  picture 
out '  one  or  other  of  these  so  as  to  leave  a  clear 
and  definite  image  on  the  youthful  mind.  And  when 
he  fairly  entered  on  the  full  spirit  of  some  stirring 
theme,  such  as  Abraham's  offering  of  his  son  Isaac,  or 
Jesus  weeping  over  infatuated  Jerusalem ;  or  when, 
piercing  through  the  outer  folds,  he  laid  bare  the 
latent  significance  of  some  rich  and  beautiful  emblem, 
such  as  the  '  Hose  of  Sharon,'  the  '  Lily  of  the  Valley,' 
or  the  great  *  Sun  of  Eighteousness,'  his  diction 
would  swell  into  somewhat  of  dramatic  energy,  and 
his  illustrations  into  somewhat  of  the  vividness  and 
sensible  reality ;  while  his  voice,  respondent  to  the 
thrilling  within,  would  rise  into  something  like  the 
undulations  of  a  lofty  but  irregular  chant,  and  so 
vibrate  athwart  the  mental  imagery  of  the  heart,  and 
leave  an  indelible  impression  there. 

"  Next  to  the  Bible  my  father's  chief  delight  was  in 
studying  the  works  of  our  old  divines,  of  which,  in 
time-worn  editions,  he  had  succeeded  in  accumulat- 
ing a  goodly  number.  These,  he  was  wont  to  say, 
contained  more  of  the  *  sap  and  marrow  of  the  gospel ' 
and  had  about  them  more  of  the  *  fragrance  and  fla- 
vour of  Paradise,*  than  aught  more  recently  produced. 


^t.  I.  A    COTTAGE    PyVTRIARCH.  9 

Haljburton's  *  Memoirs  *  was  a  prime  favourite ;  but 
of  all  merely  human  productions,  no  one  seemed  to 
sfeir  and  animate  his  whole  soul  like  the  *  Cloud  of 
Witnesses.'  And  he  took  a  special  pains  to  saturate 
the  minds  of  his  children  with  its  contents.  His 
habit  was  orally  to  tell  us  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
Papacy  corrupted  God's  word  and  persecuted  God's 
people.  He  would  show  us  pictures  of  the  enginery 
and  processes  of  cruel  torture.  He  then  would  give 
some  short  biographical  notice  of  one  or  other  of 
the  suffering  worthies ;  and  last  of  all  conclude  with 
reading  some  of  the  more  striking  passages  in  their 
*  Last  Words  and  Dying  Testimonies.'  Te  this  early 
training  do  I  mainly  owe  my  '  heart-hatred '  of 
popery,  with  any  spiritual  insight  which  I  possess 
into  its  subtle  and  malignant  genius,  its  unchanged 
and  unchangeable  anti-christian  virulence. 

"  During  his  latter  days,  his  answer  to  every  personal 
inquiry  was,  '  I  am  waiting  till  my  blessed  Master  call 
me  to  Himself.'  His  unsparing  exposure  and  denun- 
ciation of  the  follies,  levities  and  vanities  of  a  giddy 
and  sinful  world  subjected  him,  in  an  uncommon 
degree,  to  the  sneers,  the  ridicule,  the  contempt  and 
the  calumny  of  the  ungodly.  But  like  his  Divine 
Master,  when  reviled  he  strove  not  to  suffer  himself 
to  revile  again.  His  wonted  utterance  under  such 
trials  was,  *  Poor  creatures,  they  are  to  be  pitied,  for 
they  know  not  what  spirit  they  are  of ;'  or,  '  Ah  !  well, 
it  is  only  another  reason  why  I  should  remember  them 
more  earnestly  in  prayer.  The  day  of  judgment  will 
set  all  right.'  In  the  sharpness  and  clearness  with 
which  he  drew  the  line  between  the  merely  expedient 
and  the  absolutely  right  and  true  ;  in  his  stern  adhesion 
to  principle  at  all  hazards  ;  in  his  ineffable  loathing 
for  temporizing  and  compromise,  in  any  shape  or  form 
where  the  interests  of  '  Zion's  King  and  Zion's  cause ' 


10  UVV.    OV    DR.    BUFF,  1S14. 

wore  concerned ;  in  Lis  energy  of  spirit,  promptness  of 
decision,  and  unbending  sturdihood  of  character;  in 
tlie  Abraham-like  cast  of  his  faith,  which  manifested 
itself  in  its  directness,  simplicity,  and  strength — in  all 
these  and  other  respects  he  always  appeared  to  me  to 
realize  fully  as  much  of  my 'own  beau-ideal  of  the 
ancient  martyr  or  hero  of  the  Covenant  as  any  other 
man  I  ever  knew.  Indeed,  had  he  lived  in  the  early 
ages  of  persecution,  or  in  Covenanting  times,  my  per- 
suasion is  that  he  would  have  been  among  the  fore- 
most in  fearlessly  facing  the  tyrant  and  the  torture, 
the  scaffold  and  the  stake.  Oh  that  a  double  portion 
of  his  spirit  were  mine,  and  that  the  mantle  of  his 
graces  would  fall  upon  me  !  " 

This  history  will  show  how  richly  the  prayer  was 
answered;  this  letter  itself  does  so.  But  the  pictures 
of  the  "  Cloud  of  Witnesses  "  were  not  all  that  fired 
the  imagination  of  the  Highland  boy.  Like  Carey 
with  Ids  maps  of  the  heathen  world,  the  father  spoke 
to  his  children  from  such  representations  of  Jugganath 
and  the  gods  of  India  as  were  rarely  met  with  at  that 
time.  On  another  occasion  the  son  thus  traced  the 
specially  missionary  influences  which  surrounded  him 
as  a  child  :  "  Into  a  general  knowledge  of  the  objects 
and  progress  of  modern  missions  I  was  initiated 
from  my  earliest  youth  by  my  revered  father,  whose 
catholic  spirit  rejoiced  in  tracing  the  triumph  of  the 
gospel  in  different  lands,  and  in  connection  with  the 
different  branches  of  the  Christian  Church.  Pictures 
of  Jugganath  and  other  heathen  idols  he  was  wont 
to  exhibit,  accompanying  the  exhibition  with  copious 
explanations,  well  fitted  to  create  a  feeling  of  horror 
towards  idolatry  and  of  compassion  towards  the  poor 
blinded  idolaters,  and  intermixing  the  wliole  with 
statements  of  the  love  of  Jesus." 

Another  of    Alexander  Duff's    early  and  constant 


^.t.  S.  CELTIC    INFLUENCES.  II 

schoolmasters  out  of  school  was  the  Gaelic  poet, 
Dugald  Buchanan,  catechist  in  the  neighbouring 
Rannoch  a  century  before,  who  has  been  well  de- 
scribed as  a  sort  of  Highland  repetition  of  John 
Bunyan  *  in  his  spiritual  experiences.  The  fire,  the 
glow,  of  the  missionary's  genius  was  Celtic  by  nature 
and  by  training.  The  fuel  that  kept  the  fire  from 
smouldering  away  in  a  passive  pensiveness  was  the 
prophetic  denunciation,  varied  only  by  the  subtle  irony, 
of  poems  like  "  Latha  Bhreitheanais  " — The  Day  of 
Judgment^  and  "  An  Claigeann  " — The  ShuU.  Tlie 
boy's  great  and  fearful  delight  was  to  hear  the  Gaelic 
lamentations  and  paeans  of  Buchanan,  which  have  at- 
tained a  popularity  second  only  to  the  misty  visions 
of  Ossian,  read  or  rehearsed  by  his  father  and  others 
who  had  committed  them  to  memory,  Buchanan  is 
the  man  who,  when  challenged  by  David  Hume  to 
quote  language  equal  in  sublimity  to  Shakespeare's 
well-known  lines  beginning  "  The  cloud-capt  towers, 
the  gorgeous  palaces,"  gravely  recited  the  Revelation 
which  opens,  "  I  saw  a  Great  White  Throne,"  when 
the  sceptic,  admitting  its  superiority,  eagerly  inquired 
as  to  its  author  ! 

The  bard  of  Rannoch  moralizes  in  lines  some  of 
which,  as  translated  by  Professor  Blackie,  we  quote, 
from  their  applicability  to  him  whom  they  so 
influenced : — 

"  I  sat  all  alone, 
By  a  cold  grey  stone, 
And  behold  a  skull  lay  on  the  ground ! 
I  took  in  my  hand,  and  pitiful  scanned 
Its  ruin  all  round  and  round. 
***** 


*  Professor  J.  S.  Blackie  on  The  Language  and  Literature  of  the. 
Scottish  Highlands.     1876. 


12  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1814. 

"  Or  wert  tliou  a  teaclier 

Of  truth  and  a  preacher, 
With  message  of  mercy  to  tell; 

With  an  arm  swift  and  strong 

To  pull  back  tlie  throng 
That  headlong  were  plunging  to  hell  ? 

*  *  *  *  V 

"  Or  wert  thou  a  wight 

That  strove  for  the  right. 
With  God  for  thy  guide  in  thy  doing  ? 

Though  now  thou  lie  there 

All  bleached  and  bare, 
In  the  blast  a  desolate  ruin, 

"  From  the  tomb  thou  shalt  rise 

And  mount  to  the  skies, 
Vv^heu  the  trump  of  the  judgment  shall  bray  j 

Thy  body  of  sin 

Thou  shalfc  slip  like  a  skin. 
And  cast  all  corruption  away. 

''  When  in  glory  divine 

The  Redeemer  shall  shine. 
The  hosts  of  His  people  to  gather. 

When  the  trumpet  hath  blared. 

Like  an  eagle  repaired 
Thou  shalt  rise  to  the  home  of  thy  Father." 

The  more  weird  and  alarming  strains  of  The  Day 
\  of  Judgment  so  filled  the  boy's  fancy  that,  when  he 
first  left  home  for  the  Lowlands,  he  one  night  dreamed 
'  he  saw  the  signs  of  the  approaching  doom.  In 
vision  he  beheld  numbers  without  number  summoned 
where  the  J  udge  was  seated  on  the  Great  White 
Throne.  He  saw  the  human  race  advance  in  suc- 
cession to  the  tribunal,  he  heard  sentence  pro- 
nounced upon  men — some  condemned  to  everlasting 
punishment,  others  ordained  to  everlasting  life.      He 


^t.  8.  HIS    VISIONS    AND    HIS    CALL.  I3 

was  seized  witli  an  indescribable  terror,  uncertain 
what  his  own  fate  would  be.  The  doubt  became  so 
terrible  as  to  convulse  his  very  frame.  When  his  turn 
for  sentence  drew  near,  tlie  dreamer  awoke  shivering 
very  violently.  The  experience  left  an  indelible  im- 
pression on  his  mind.  It  threw  him  into  earnest 
prayer  for  pardon,  and  was  followed  by  what  he  long 
after  described  as  somethins:  like  the  assurance  of 
acceptance  through  the  atoning  blood  of  his  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 

The  next  harvest  vacation  was  marked  by  another 
experience  of  a  similar  kind,  in  which  those  who 
keep  the  ear  of  the  soul  open  for  every  whisper  of 
the  divine,  will  read  a  prophetic  call  in  the  light  of 
the  boy's  future.  He  had  not  long  before  narrowly 
escaped  drowning  in  the  more  easterly  of  the  two 
streams  around  the  cottage,  having  been  drawn 
into  it  as  he  was  lifting  out  water  from  the  swollen 
torrent,  and  swirled  under  the  rustic  bridge.  The 
more  peaceful  westerly  burn  was  the  scene  of  his 
second  vision.  He  dreamed,  as  he  lay  on  its  banks 
among  the  blae-berries  musing  alone,  that  there  shone 
in  the  distance  a  brightness  surpassing  that  of  the 
sun.  By-and-bye  from  the  great  light  there  seemed 
to  approach  him  a  magnificent  chariot  of  gold 
studded  with  gems,  drawn  by  fiery  horses.  The 
glory  overawed  him.  At  last  the  heavenly  chariot 
reached  his  side,  and  from  its  open  window  the 
Almighty  God  looked  out  and  addressed  to  him,  in 
the  mildest  tones,  the  words,  "  Come  up  hither ;  I 
have  work  for  thee  to  do."  In  the  effort  to  rise  he 
awoke  with  astonishment,  and  told  the  dream  in  all 
its  details  to  his  parents.  Not  long  before  his  death, 
he  repeated  it  in  this  form  to  his  grandson,  so  deep 
and  lasting  had  been  the  impression.  Such  a  call,  be 
it  the  prevision  of  fancy  or  the  revelation  of  a  gracious 


14  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  rSi;. 

clostin}^,  was  a  fitting  commencement  of  Alexander 
Duff's  career,  and  a  very  real  preparation  of  him  for 
the  work  he  had  to  do. 

The  parish  "  dominie  "  of  Moulin  was  an  exception- 
ally useless  teacher,  even  in  those  days  and  under  an 
*'  indifferent "  Presbytery.  Amiable,  ingenious,  and 
even  learned,  he  divided  his  time  between  the  repair  of 
watches  and  violins  during:  school  hours  when  the  elder 
children  heard  the  lessons  of  the  younger,  and  fishing 
in  the  Tummel  when  his  wife  heard  all  read  the  Bible 
in  the  kitchen.  A  father  of  James  Duff's  intellig^cuce 
and  earnestness  was  sorely  perplexed  when,  in  1814,  a 
friend  invited  him  to  send  Alexander  to  a  school 
between  Dunkeld  and  Perth,  which  the  neighbouring 
farmers,  engaged  in  reclaiming  some  wastes  of  the 
Duke  of  Atliole,  had  established  for  their  children. 
After  three  years  of  rapid  progress,  the  boy  of  eleven 
was  placed  in  the  Kirkmichael  school,  twelve  miles 
from  Moulin,  though  not  till  his  father  had  visited  the 
teacher  with  whom  Alexander  was  to  board,  and  had 
satisfied  himself  that  there  was  good  ground  for  his 
great  reputation  all  over  the  country-side.  In  time 
the  sluggish  Presbytery  of  Dunkeld  awoke  to  the  new 
educational  light,  and  a  deputation  of  their  number 
found  Alexander  Duff,  as  the  head  of  the  school,  put 
forward  to  read  the  Odes  of  Horace. 

Mr.  A.  MacdouQfall  was  master  of  Kirkmichael 
school.  In  his  family  and  under  his  teaching  Alex- 
ander Duff  laid  the  foundation  of  a  well-disciplined 
culture,  for  which,  so  long  as  his  teacher  lived,  he  did 
not  cease  to  express  to  him  the  warmest  affection. 
Among  his  fellows  were  Dr.  Duncan  Forbes,  who 
afterwards  became  Professor  of  Oriental  Languages 
in  King's  College,  London;  Dr.  Tweedie,  associated 
with  the  future  missionary  as  convener  of  the  Foreign 
Missions  Committee  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland ; 


^t.  II.  LOST    IN   THE    SNOW.  1 5 

the  E,ev.  Donald  Fcrgnsson,  still  Free  Gluircli  minister 
of  Levon ;  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Campbell,  the  present 
parish  minister  of  Moulin.  Such  was  the  teacher's 
ability,  and  such  his  well-deserved  popularity,  that 
the  thinly  peopled  parish  at  one  time  sent  eleven 
students  to  St.  Andrews.  "  I  have  not  forgotten  the 
days  I  passed  under  your  roof,"  wrote  Duff  when  he 
had  become  famous,  to  his  old  master,  "  nor  the 
manifold  advantages  derived  from  your  tuition,  and,  I 
trust,  never  will.  And  when  the  time  comes  that  in 
the  good  providence  of  God  I  shall  visit  Kirkmichael, 
I  know  that  to  me  at  least  it  will  be  matter  of 
heartfelt  gratification."  "  What  would  I  have  been 
this  day,"  he  wrote  again,  "had  not  an  overruling 
Providence  directed  me  to  Kirkmichael  school?"  Of 
every  book  and  pamphlet  which  he  wrote  he  sent  a 
copy  to  his  first  benefactor. 

Before  he  left  Kirkmichael  to  pass  through  the 
then  famous  grammar  school  of  Perth  to  St.  Andrews 
University,  he  was  to  carry  with  him  from  his  home 
another  experience  never  to  be  forgotten. 

The  winter  at  the  end  of  1819  was  severe,  and 
the  snow  lay  deep  in  the  G-rampians.  The  Saturday 
had  come  round  for  young  Duff''s  weekly  visit  to 
his  parents.  Taking  the  shorter  track  for  ten  miles 
across  the  low  hill  by  Glen  Briarchan  and  Strathire, 
from  Kirkmichael  to  Moulin,  he  and  a  companion 
waded  for  hours  through  the  snowy  heather.  The 
sun  set  as  they  got  out  of  the  glen,  no  stars  came  out, 
all  landmarks  were  obliterated,  and  they  knew  only 
that  they  had  to  pass  between  deep  morasses  and  a 
considerable  tarn.  To  return  was  as  impossible  as  it 
was  dangerous  to  advance,  for  already  they  felt  the 
ice  of  the  moss-covered  pools  and  then  of  the  lake 
cracking  under  their  feet  in  the  thick  darkness.  Still 
going  forward,  they  came   to  what  they  took  to  be 


1 6  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1820. 

a  precipice  hidden  by  tlie  snow-driffc  down  wbicli 
tliey  slid.  Then  they  heard  the  purling  of  the  burn 
which,  they  well  knew,  would  bring  them  down  the 
valley  of  Athole  if  they  had  only  light  to  follow  it. 
The  night  went  on,  and  the  words  with  which  they 
tried  to  cheer  themselves  and  each  other  grew  fainter, 
when  exhaustion  compelled  them  to  sit  down.  Then 
they  cried  to  God  for  deliverance.  With  their  heads 
resting  on  a  snow-wreath  they  were  vainly  trying  to 
keep  their  eyes  open,  when  a  bright  light  flashed  upon 
them  and  then  disappeared.  E-oused  as  if  by  an 
electric  shock,  they  ran  forward  and  stumbled  against 
a  garden  wall.  The  light,  which  proved  to  be  the 
flare  of  a  torch  used  by  salmon  poachers  in  the  Tum- 
mel,  was  too  distant  to  guide  them  to  safety,  but  it  had 
been  the  means  of  leading^  them  to  a  cottas^e  three 
miles  from  their  home.  The  occupants,  roused  from 
bed  in  the  early  morning,  warmed  and  fed  the  wan- 
derers. To  Alexander  Duff's  parents  the  deliverance 
looked  almost  miraculous.  Often  in  after  years,  when 
he  was  in  peril  or  difficulty,  did  the  memory  of  that 
sudden  flash  call  forth  new  thankfulness  and  cheerful 
hope.  Trust  in  the  overruling  providence  of  a  gra- 
cious God  so  filled  his  heart  that  the  deliverance 
never  failed  to  stimulate  him  to  a  fresh  effort  in  a 
righteous  cause  when  all  seemed  lost. 

The  boy  spent  his  fourteenth  year  at  Perth  Grammar 
^f  School,  of  which  Mr.  Moncur,  the  ablest  of  the 
students  of  John  Hunter  of  St.  Andrews,  and  a  born 
teacher,  had  just  been  made  Rector.  The  first  act  of 
the  new  master  was,  in  presence  of  the  whole  school, 
to  summon  the  janitor  to  sink  in  the  Tay  the  many 
specimens  of  leathern  "  tawse  "  of  various  degrees  of 
torturing  power,  which  had  made  his  predecessor 
feared  by  generations  of  boys.  With  consummate 
acting,  he  asked  why  the  generous  youths  entrusted 


JEt.  14.     INFLUENCE    OF   THE    CLASSICS    AND    MILTON.  1 7 

to  him  should  be  treated  as  savages.  He  at  least  had 
confidence  in  thern  to  this  extent,  that  each  would  do 
his  duty ;  and,  being  the  perfect  teacher  he  was,  his 
confidence  was  justified.  The  scene  was  never  forgot- 
ten, and  it  went  far  to  develop  in  Duff  the  power  which 
fascinated  and  awed  his  Bengalee  students  for  many 
a  year,  and  made  his  school  and  college  the  first  in  all 
Asia.  Under  Moncur  his  Latin  and  Greek  scholarship 
had  their  foundation  broadened  as  well  as  deepened. 
In  the  favourite  optional  exercise,  now  too  much 
neglected,  of  committing  to  memory  the  master-pieces 
of  both,  he  generally  came  off"  first,  and  thus  was 
trained  a  faculty  to  which  much  of  his  oratorical 
success  afterwards  was  due.  He  left  Perth  at  fifteen, 
the  dux  of  the  school.  Yet  we  question  if  he  carried 
away  from  it  anything  better  than  Johnson's  "Ram- 
bler," which  the  Rector  lent  to  him  for  the  vacation 
before  the  University  term,  and  especially  Milton's 
"  Paradise  Lost."  Often  in  after  years  did  he  refer  to 
the  latter  as  having,  unconsciously  at  the  time,  exercised 
a  great  influence  over  his  mental  habitudes.  He  carried 
the  book  constantly  in  his  pocket,  and  read  portions 
of  it  every  day.  Thus  the  "  Paradise  Lost  "  moulded 
his  feelings  and  shaped  his  thoughts  into  forms  pecu- 
liarly his  own.  The  Gaelic  Buchanan  and  the  English 
Milton,  the  Celtic  fire  and  the  Puritan  imagination, 
feeding  on  Scripture  story  and  classic  culture,  coloured 
by  such  dreams  and  experiences,  and  directed  by  such 
a  father  and  a  teacher — these  were  used  to  send  forth 
to  the  world  from  the  bosom  of  the  Grampians  a  tall 
eagle-eyed  and  impulsive  boy  of  fifteen.  Presented 
with  twenty  pounds  by  his  father,  from  that  day  he 
was  at  his  own  charges. 
X-  It  was  a  fortunate  circumstance  that  he  went  to 
St.  Andrews.  Of  the  four  Scottish  universities  at 
that  time    the    most    venerable   was   still   the   most 

0 


l8  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1821. 

attractive,  from  the  renown  of  some  of  its  professors. 
Little,  of  course,  could  be  said  for  tlie  schools  of 
divinity  anywhere  till  Thomas  Chalmers  went  to  Edin- 
burgh, although  Priucipal  Haldane  was  not  without 
routine  ability  and  goodness,  as  head  of  St.  Mary's, 
tlie  theolocrical  colles^e  which  Cardinal  Beaton  had 
founded.  But  the  other  two,  known  as  the  United 
Colleges  of  St.  Salvator  and  St,  Leonard,  enjoyed  the 
services  of  the  ripest  Latinist  at  that  time  in  the 
United  Kingdom,  Dr.  John  Hunter,  and  of  Dr. 
Jackson  whose  lectures  on  natural  philosophy  were 
reckoned  the  most  scientific  of  the  day.  The  reputa- 
tion and  the  influence  of  even  these,  however,  were  con- 
fined to  their  generation  compared  with  that  intellec- 
tual and  spiritual  ferment  caused  by  the  new  professor 
of  moral  philosophy,  which  is  still  working  in  the  lives 
of  men  and  the  institutions  of  his  country.  When  Dr. 
Chalmers  almost  suddenly  disappeared  from  the  pulpit 
and  platform,  the  wynds  and  the  hovels  of  Glasgow,  and 
beofan  the  winter  session  of  1823-24  at  St.  Andrews 
with  one  lecture,  Alexander  Duff,  having  carried  off  the 
highest  honours  in  Grreek,  Latin,  logic,  and  natural 
philosophy,  was  one  of  the  crowd  who  sat  at  the  great 
professor's  feet.  His  Latin  had  procured  for  him  the 
most  valuable  of  those  rewards  which  Scotland,  with 
its  peculiar  mixture  of  Latin  and  French  theological 
and  law  terms,  calls  "  bursaries,"  without  sufficiently 
distinguishing  between  the  prizes  of  genuine  scholar- 
ship gained  by  hard  competition,  like  Duff's,  and  the 
doles  restricted  to  poor  students,  often  because  they 
bear  tlie  same  name  or  have  been  born  in  the  same 
district  as  the  thoughtless  or  vain  donor.  Especially 
had  he  carried  off  the  essay  prize  offered  for  the 
best  translation  into  Latin  of  Plato's  "Apology  of 
Socrates,"  and  the  Senatus  spontaneously  dubbed  him 
Master  of  Arts. 


iEt.  15.  ST.  ANDIii;\\\S    AS    IT    WAS.  1 9 

The  impetuous  spirit  of  Duff  received  imprcssious  of 
tlie  theological  deadtiess  of  St,  Audrews,  and  of  the  new 
life  brought  to  it  by  Chalmers,  which  found  this  ex- 
pression, when  recalled  in  the  distant  scenes  of  India: 
"  Poor  St.  Andrews  lay  far  away,  isolated  and  apart, 
in  a  region  so  cold  that  the  thaw  and  the  breeze,  so 
relaxing  and  vivifying  elsewhere,  scarcely  touched  its 
hardened  soil.     The  great  stream  of  national  progress 
flowed  past,  leaving  it  undisturbed  in  its  sluggishness. 
The  breezes  of  healthful  change  blew  over  it,  as  over 
the  unruffled  surface  of  a  land-locked  bay.     From  all 
external  influences,  even  of  an  ordinary  kind,  it  seemed 
entirely   shut    out.      No    steamer    ever    entered    its 
deserted  harbour,  with  its  influx  of  strangers  carry- 
ing  along    with,    them   new   tastes,   new    habits    and 
new*  thoughts.     No  mail-coacli  or  even  common  stage- 
coach ever  disturbed  the   silence   of   its  ffrass-<2rrown 
streets.       Its    magistracy    was    virtually    self-elected, 
enjoying  in  perpetuity  a  quiet  monopoly    of  power. 
The  Rector,  the  very  guardian  and  controller  of  its 
University,  must  be  himself  one  of  the  existing  prin- 
cipals or  professors  of  divinity;  and  not,   as  in  the 
case  of  other  Scottish  universities,  a  man  beyond  the 
collegiate  pale — a  man  of  name,  of  independency  and 
power,  whose  occasional  visitation  might  tend  to  shake 
the  dry  bones  of  dull,  deadening,  monotonous  routine. 
Dissent,  so  rife  and  flourishing  elsewhere,  could  barely 
show    itself  in   the  nerveless  impotence  of  creeping 
infancy.     And   even  the  rising  spirit  of  the  missionary 
enterprise  could  only  faintly  struggle,  and  that  too  in 
the  bosoms  of  but  a  few,  not  for  life  but  for  a  sickly 
weary  existence,  just  as  the  palm  or  other  rich  pro- 
duct of  tropical  climes  might  for  a  time  be  seen  pain- 
fully  struggling  for  existence   on  a  bleak  Grampian 
heath. 

'*  Such  was  the  condition  of  St.  Andrews, — a  con- 


20  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1823. 

dition  in  which  the  gaunt  spirit  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  mantled  all  over  with  the  deadly  night-shade, 
was  felt  still  shootino^  his  baleful  breath  far  into  the 
nineteenth, — a  condition  in  which  the  policy  and  the 
power  of  *  moderate'  ascendancy  were  comparatively 
unmodified  and  unchanged,  when,  in  the  spring  of 
1823,  it  was  suddenly  announced  that  Dr.  Chalmers 
was  unanimously  elected  by  the  Senatus  Academicus 
to  the  vacant  chair  of  Moral  Philosophy.  And  when 
it  is  remembered  that  at  that  time  not  one  member 
of  the  Senatus  belonged  to  the  evangelical  party  in 
the  Church,  that  all  were  moderate  and  some  of  them 
intensely  so,  and  that  Principal  Nicoll  was  even  the 
acknowledged  leader  of  the  moderate  party  in  the 
General  Assembly ;  it  may  well  be  imagined  how  the 
unexpected  announcement  was  received  with  mingled 
feelings  of  surprise  and  delight — surprise  at  the  choice 
of  such  a  man  by  such  an  elective  body,  delight  that 
the  choice  should  have  fallen  on  one  so  transcendently 
worthy.  Indeed,  '  delight '  is  far  too  feeble  and  in- 
adequate a  term  to  express  the  full  gust  of  pleasurable 
emotion  which  instantaneously  followed  the  announce- 
ment, and  speedily  diffused  itself  through  the  whole 
community.  It  was  rather  a  burst  of  high-wrought 
enthusiasm.  Of  some  it  might  truly  be  said  that  they 
believed  not  for  very  joy. 

*'  Doubtless  the  sources  of  this  joy  were  of  an  ex- 
ceedingly varied  and  mingled  description.  Visions  of 
temporal  aggrandizement  already  floated  before  the 
minds  of  the  townspeople,  then  sadly  steeped  in  secu- 
larity  and  religious  indifierence.  Without  commerce, 
without  manufacture  or  any  leading  branch  of  indus- 
trial occupation,  their  very  existence  might  be  said  to 
depend  on  the  University.  And  in  the  presence  of 
such  a  '  celebrity '  as  Dr.  Chalmers,  they  were  sharp 
enough  to  behold  such  a  nucleus   of   attraction   for 


iEt.  17,  TUE  COMING  OF  CHALMERS  TO  ST.  ANDREWS.    21 

students  and  strangers  generally,  that  liis  residence 
amongst  them  might  fairly  be  regarded  as  equivalent 
to  an  increase  of  thousands  of  pounds  to  their  scanty 
annual  income.  Again,  many  of  the  inhabitants,  alike 
of  town  and  country,  had  numberless  traditionary 
local  anecdotes  and  recollections  of  him  as  a  boy,  a 
student,  a  lecturer  on  mathematics  and  chemistry,  and 
lastly,  as  the  eccentric  minister  of  the  neighbouring 
parish  of  Kilmany.  And  to  receive  him  back  again 
amongst  them,  in  the  full  blaze  of  an  unparalleled 
popularity,  they  felt  to  be  like  the  shedding  of  some 
undefinable  radiance  on  themselves.  The  few,  the 
very  few,  scattered  and  almost  hidden  ones  of  piety 
and  prayer,  hailed  the  event  with  feelings  somewhat 
akin  to  those  of  him  who  beheld  the  cloud  laden  with 
its  watery  treasure  rise  and  swell  from  the  west,  after 
a  long  and  dreary  season  of  parching  drought.  As 
for  the  students,  however  careless  or  unconcerned  as 
to  purely  spiritual  interests,  they  were,  without  any 
known  exception  and  with  all  the  honest  fervour  of 
youth,  enraptured  at  the  thought  of  having  for  a 
professor  a  man  of  genius,  and  the  greatest  pulpit 
orator  of  his  age.  The  dull  dead  sea  of  former  apathy 
and  inertness  was  suddenly  stirred  up  from  the  depths 
by  the  rush  and  impulse  of  new  and  unwonted  excite- 
ment. For  many  days  they  could  think  of  nothing 
else,  and  speak  of  nothing.  The  third  volume  of 
*  Peter's  Letters  to  his  Kinsfolk,'  with  its  portrait  and 
graphic  delineation  of  Dr.  Chalmers,  obtained  from 
the  college  library,  was  well-nigh  torn  and  shattered 
from  the  avidity  for  its  perusal.  Already  did  every 
one  picture  to  himself  the  form  of  the  man  with  his 
pale  countenance  and  drooping  eyelids ;  his  mathe- 
matical breadth  of  forehead  with  its  *  arch  of  imagina- 
tion,' surmounted  by  a  grand  apex  of  high  and  solemn 
veneration  and  love.   Already,  with  anticipated  breath- 


22  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1823. 

lessness,  did  each  one  seem,  in  fancy,  as  if  he  felfc  his 
nerves  creeping  and  vibrating,  and  his  blood  freez- 
ing and  boiling,  when  the  eloquence  of  the  mighty 
enchanter,  bursting  through  all  conventional  trammels, 
shone  forth  in  all  the  splendour  of  its  overpowering 
glories. 

"At  length  the  time  of  his  installation  came  round. 
In  November,  1823,  he  delivered  his  inaugural  lecture 
in  the  lower  hall  of  the  public  library,  still  called  the 
'  Parliament  Hall,*  as  there,  in  164'5,  the  Covenanting 
Parliament  assembled  which  tried  and  condemned 
Sir  Robert  Spottiswood  and  other  royalists  for  their 
share  in  the  battle  of  Philiphaugb."  Dr.  Hanna  has 
told  the  rest  in  the  memoirs  of  his  great  father-in- 
law. 

Such  were  the  professors.  And  what  the  students  ? 
There  had  followed  Duff  to  St.  Andrews  an  old  school- 
fellow from  Perth,  John  Urquhart,  with  whom  he 
shared  the  same  lodgings,  and,  morning  and  evening, 
engaged  in  the  same  worship.  Urquhart  was  a  Con- 
gregationalist,  as  were  also  John  Adam  and  "W.  Lind- 
say Alexander,  who  is  still  spared  to  the  Church,  and 
has  written  this  bright  sketch  of  Duff  in  their  student 
N  days :  "  When  I  first  became  acquainted  with  him 
he  was  in  all  the  vigour  and  freshness  of  early  youth, 
stalwart  in  frame,  buoyant  of  spirit,  full  of  energy 
and  enthusiasm,  impulsive  but  not  rash,  a  diligent  and 
earnest  student,  and  already  crowned  with  academic 
distinctions  earned  by  success  in  different  depart- 
ments of  learned  and  scientifio  study.  His  reputation 
stood  high  as  a  classical  scholar,  and  he  had  gained 
several  prizes  for  essays  in  literature  and  philosophy. 
Subsequently  to  the  time  of  which  I  am  speaking,  he 
gained  equal  distinction  as  a  Hebrew  scholar,  and  his 
essays  in  theology  commanded  the  strongest  approba- 
tion from  his  professors.     Already  also  as  a  speaker, 


ALL  17.  AS   A   STUDKNT    IN    ST.    ANDUEV.'S.  23 

he  had  in  debating  societies,  and  subsequently  hy  his 
discourses  in  the  Theological  Hall,  displayed  that 
intellectual  power  and  that  rare  gift  of  eloquence 
which  enabled  him  in  after-j^ears  so  mightily  to  sway 
the  emotions,  guide  the  opinions,  and  influence  the 
decisions  of  others,  in  deliberative  councils  no  less 
than  in  popular  assemblies." 

One  of  his  juniors,  the  son  of  Professor  Ferrie,  and  1 
now  the  Rev.  William  Ferrie,  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  gives  us  this  other  and  very  human  glimpse  of 
the  impetuous  student : — "  lie  was  passing  the  win- 
dows of  my  father's  house  in  St.  Andrews  with  others 
going  to  some  great  students'  meeting,  and  I  remember 
Nairne,  who  was  then  my  tutor,  called  out  as  they 
passed,  *  There  is  Duff.'  I  looked,  and  he  had  on  a 
cloak,  and  was  going  with  a  good  thick  stick  in  his 
hand,  as  though  he  expected  that  there  might  be  a 
row."  The  Rev.  J.  W.  Taylor,  of  Flisk,  whose  first 
year  at  college  was  Duff's  last,  writes  :  "  Though  out- 
rageously thoughtless  I  was  much  impressed  by  Duff. 
There  was  a  weight  and  a  downrii^ht  earnestness 
about  him  which  everybody  felt.  He  was  the  boast 
of  the  college,  and  was  greatly  regarded  by  the  towns- 
folk of  St.  Andrews.  His  appearance  as  he  passed 
with  hurried  step  is  indelibly  photographed  on  my 
mind,  and  is  thus  put  in  my  '  Historical  Antiquities ' 
of  the  city.  '  That  tall  figure,  crossing  the  street  and 
looking  thoughtfully  to  the  ground,  stooped  somewhat 
in  the  shoulders  and  his  hand  awkwardly  grasping 
the  lappet  of  his  coat,  is  Alexander  Duff,  the  pride  of 
the  college,  whose  mind  has  received  the  impress  of 
Chalmers's  big  thoughts  and  the  form  of  his  phrase- 
ology. Under  Chalmers,  he  was,  in  St.  Andrews,  the 
institutor    of  Sabbath    schools   and  the  orio-inator  of 

O 

the  Students'  Missionary  Society.'  "  Another  surviving 
fellow-student,  Dr.  A.  M'Laren,  the  minister  of  Kem- 


24  LIFE    OF    Dli.    DUFF.  1824. 

back,  near  Cupar,  describes  him  thus: — "  As  a  friend  he 
was  alwaj^'S  singularly  obliging,  warm-hearted  and  con- 
stant; as  a  companion  he  was  uniformly  agreeable  and 
cheerful,  and  not  unfrequently  impressive  in  his  appeals 
to  the  better  susceptibilities  of  our  nature;  though 
generally  in  high  spirits  and  mirthful,  he  never  allowed 
his  mirth  to  degenerate  into  boisterous  vulgarity." 
AYliat  the  lad  was  at  St.  Andrews,  the  man  proved  to 
be  all  through  his  life.  He  was  high-minded,  generous 
and  chivalrous  with  the  bearing  of  the  old  school,  and 
that  not  less  after  his  hours  of  controversy  than  in  his 
happiest  times. 

The  first  session  was  not  over  when  the  great 
Christian  economist,  the  expounder  of  Malthus  and 
Ricardo,  who  had  transformed  the  worst  wynds  of 
Glasgow,  began  the  humblest  mission  work  in  the  more 
ancient  city,  and  threw  himself  into  the  then  despised 
cause  of  foreign  missions.  Duff's  young  spiritual  life, 
which  had  been  slumbering  into  formalism,  he  tells  us, 
was  quickened  with  that  burning  enthusiasm  which 
glowed  the  brighter  to  his  dying  day.  His  friends, 
Urquhart  and  Adam,  took  steps  to  offer  themselves  to 
the  London  ^Missionary  Society  for  China  and  Calcutta  ; 
and  Robert  Nesbit  went  to  his  friend  John  Wilson,  of 
Lauder,  begging  him  to  break  the  news  to  his  mother 
that  he  was  to  be  sent  by  the  Scottish  Missionary 
Society  to  Bombay.  It  is  .not  surprising  that  these, 
and  such  companions  as  the  late  Henry  Craik,  of 
Bristol,  Mr.  Mliller's  colleague ;  William  Tait,  son  of 
the  godly  Edinburgh  minister  who  was  deposed  in  the 
Row  heresy  case ;  and  Mr,  Scott  Moncrieff,  late  of 
Penicuik,  met  with  Duff  in  the  session  of  1824-5,  and 
founded  the  Students'  Missionary  Society.  Duff  was 
its  librarian,  Nesbit  its  secretary,  and  R.  Trail  its 
president,  as  having  originated  an  earlier  society  of 
divinity  students  only.      Their  object  was    to   study 


^t.  i8.  THE    STUDENTS     MISSIONAliY   SOCIETY.  25 

foreign  missions,  so  as  to  satisfy  tliemsclves  of  tho 
necessities  of  tlio  world  outside  of  Christendom.  Not 
a  room  for  their  meetings  would  the  authorities  of 
either  college,  or  tho  magistrates  who  had  charge  of 
the  city  school,  allow  them,  until,  some  time  after,  the 
principal  and  professors  were  enlightened  so  far  as  to 
subscribe  an  occasional  guinea.  And  that  in  spite 
of  all  the  influence  of  Chalmers,  who  fed  the  spirit  of 
the  students  and  interested  the  townsfolk  in  tho  cause 
by  lecturing  on  some  portion  of  the  field  of  heathenism 
once  a  month  in  the  town-hall.  This  society,  note- 
worthy in  the  history  of  Scottish  Missions  as  tho 
fruitful  parent  of  the  most  apostolic  missionaries  of 
the  country,  met  first  in  an  adventure  school  in  a 
dingy  lane  of  St.  Andrews. 

The  Memoir  of  Urquhart,  who  passed  away  all  too 
early  from  the  work  for  which  he  was  preparing,  reveals 
at  once  the  depth  of  Duff's  friendship,  in  the  letters 
and  in  the  preface  to  the  third  edition  of  1860,  and 
the  very  practical  forms  of  mission  study  and  prayer 
followed  by  the  members.  WIi3n  Urquhart,  in  his 
concluding  address,  solemnly  announced  for  the  first 
time  his  personal  dedication  to  missionary  work,  and 
charged  every  one  of  his  fellows  to  take  this  matter 
into  most  serious  consideration,  his  friend  Duff  re- 
ceived a  deep  and  solemn  impression.  But  books, 
essays,  and  even  the  lectures  of  Chalmers,  were  not 
all.  In  those  days  the  giants  of  the  early  societies 
occasionally  came  home  Avith  news  of  victory  in  the 
high  places  of  the  field,  with  plans  of  further  cam- 
paigns, with  appeals  for  recruits.  When  Urquhart 
startled  his  companions  by  that  announcement  into 
following  his  example,  he  had  just  returned  from  a  visit 
to  the  great  missionary.  Dr.  Morrison,  then  in  London, 
from  whom  he  had  been  taking  lessons  in  Chinese. 

Dr.  Chalmers  kept  open  house  for  all  such  in  St. 


26  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1S28. 

Andrews,  to  wliich  his  sympathy  with  them  as  well 
as  his  fame  attracted  them.     Thus  the  students  saw 
Dr.  Marshman,  who  was  full  of  the  enterprise  of  1818, 
when  he  and  Carey  had  opened,  in  Serampore,  the  first 
English  and  Sanscrit  college  for  native  missionaries 
and  educated  Hindoos.      Dr.   Morrison  in   due  time 
came   north,  to   plead  for   Hong-Kong   and   Canton, 
to   which  his  labours  were  then  confined ;  to  tell  of 
his    triumphs    in    Bible    translating    and    dictionary 
making,  and  to  give  some  account  of  the  ten  thousand 
Chinese   books  which   he   had    brought   home.     And 
from  Calcutta  there  might  be  seen,  at  the  lively  break- 
fast table  of  the  renowned  professor  of  moral  philo- 
sophy, the  spare  form  of  that  Sanscrit  and  Bengalee 
pundit.   Dr.    Yates,    alternating   between    attacks  on 
Church  establishments  and  expositions  of  Brahmanical 
subtleties,  or  listening  to  the  professor's  emphatically 
expressed   opinion  that  religious    societies   should  be 
managed  by  laymen,  while  ministers  confine  themselves 
to   the  more  spiritual   duties  of    their  ofiice.*     John 
Hrqiihart  was  right  when  he  wrote  that  the  colleges 
of  St.  Andrews,  under  all  these  influences,  had  become 
like  those  of  Oxford  in  the  days  of  Hervey  and  AVesley. 
ReckoniDg  up  the  fruits  of   the  influence  of   Chalmers 
for  five   years    on   the  three  hundred  students    who 
passed  through  his  classes,  his  accomplished  biographer 
exclaims  : — "  More  than  one  missionary  for  each  col- 
lege session — two   out  of   every  hundred    students — 
what  other  University  record  can  present  a  parallel !  " 
The  six  were  Nesbit,  Adam,  Duff  and  Urquhart,  and 
Mackay  and  Ewart  who  followed  them.     Dr.  Hanna 
remarks  of  Duff,  that  the  life  and  labours  of  this  prince 
of  missionaries  proved  how  truly  and  how  intensely  he 

*  Dr.   Hanna's   Memoirs   of  Thomas   Chalmers,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  vol. 
iii.,  p.  154,  note. 


^t.  22.  LllTTKK    TO    DR.    CHALMERS.  2/ 

was  impelled  to  tread  in  the  footsteps  and  to  imitato 
the  noble  pattern  of  his  great  teacher. 

It  was  on  the  19th  October,  1828,  that  Dr.  Chalmers 
made  this  entry  in  his  journal : — "  Enjoyed  my  last 
Sunday  at  the  beautiful  garden  of  St.  Leonard's :  a 
sad  sinking  of  heart."  Duff  returned  to  his  last  ses- 
sion at  St.  Andrews  to  find  the  light  of  the  University 
leaving  for  the  wider  and  more  purely  professional 
sphere  of  Professor  of  Divinity  in  Edinburgh.  But 
the  disappointed  student  found  some  recompense  in 
being  asked  by  Chalmers  to  w^rite  freely  to  him.  The 
first  fruit  of  a  correspondence  and  a  personal  friend- 
ship which  ceased,  twenty  years  after,  only  with  the 
death  of  the  greatest  Scotsman  since  Knox,  was  the 
following.  Dr.  Chalmers  seems  to  have  carefully  pre- 
served the  original,  having  that  sympathy  with  students 
which  more  than  doubles  the  preacher's  and  the  pro- 
fessor's power : — 

"  St.  Andrews,  20//^  Jan.,  1829. 

"Rev.  and  Dear  Sir, — When  leaving  St.  Andrews, 
3^ou  were  so  good  as  to  request  me  to  write  to  you 
during  the  session,  and  I  promised  to  do  so.  I  assure 
you  that  neither  the  request  nor  the  promise  was  for 
one  moment  forgotten.  I  reckoned  the  request  an 
honour,  and  you  know  it  is  not  human  nature  to 
neijlect  what  is  viewed  in  this  li"ht. 

"  The  sum  total  of  students  attending  the  Old  Col- 
lege is  191  ;  St.  Mary's,  nearly  40.  The  session  has 
as  yet  passed  by  very  quietly.  There  are  no  gentleman 
outlaivs  or  privileged  desperadoes  to  gain  an  infamous 
notoriety  by  dist\irbing  the  general  peace,  and  setting 
laws  and  discipline  at  open  defiance.  Billiards  and 
nocturnal  riots  and  other  irregularities  are  therefore 
unheard  of;  and  if  there  be  an  indulgence  in  any  ex- 
cesses, it  is  still  shrouded  under  the  veil  of  secresy. 


28  LIFE   OF   DR.    DUFF.  1829. 

The  vigorous  measures  taken  by  tlie  professors  on  a 
former  session  operate  as  a  very  salutary  if  not  an 
effectual  check  ;  and  the  rigid  upholding  of  these  mea- 
sures will  no  doubt  render  the  check  permanent. 

"  Dr.  Cook's  arrival  in  St.  Andrews  caused  little 
inquiry,  and  created  little  or  no  excitement.  His  in- 
troductory lecture  was  delivered  in  the  Latin  class- 
room to  an  audience  almost  solely  composed  of  students, 
and  not  very  numerous.  Its  brilliance  may  be  esti- 
mated from  the  fact  that  most  of  the  students  appeared 
very  restless  and  fidgety ;  Mr.  Lothian  sat  yawning 
in  one  of  the  back  seats.  Dr.  Cook  has  proclaimed 
himself  the  champion  of  the  ancient  system.  He 
seemed  to  exult  in  having  the  high  honour  of  restoring 
the  poor  houseless  fugitive  to  its  former  domains,  and 
investing  it  with  its  former  dignity.  His  was  a  most 
perfect  science :  it  was  independent  of  revelation ;  it 
could  exalt  man  to  a  state  of  dignity  allied  to  the 
Fountain  of  being,  and  could  achieve  wonders  in 
refining  the  moral  constitution  of  the  lord  of  nature. 
Moral  philosophy  could  not  be  understood  without  a 
previous  view  of  the  mental  faculties.  This  was  proved 
and  illustrated  by  a  lengthened  analogy,  of  which  this 
is  the  substance  :  It  is  as  impossible  to  investigate  the 
principles  of  morals  without  a  previous  knowledge  of 
the  faculties  of  the  mind — which  is  the  instrument  em- 
ployed— as  it  is  for  the  astronomer  to  have  a  know- 
ledge of  his  science  without  a  previous  acquaintance 
with  the  facts  of  astronomy.  The  depth  of  this  rea- 
soning no  one  could  fathom,  and  it  was  unanimously 
enrolled  among  the  list  of  paralogisms.  He  then  gave 
a  sketch  of  his  course,  of  which  I  have  endeavoured  to 
send  you  a  faithful  outline.  From  it  you  will  at  once 
perceive  how  rigidly  he  intends  to  follow  the  traces  of 
the  olden  time,  and  how  St.  Andrews  is  likely  to  retain 
its  character  of  the  '  Old  Maiden '  sti'ictly  inviolate. 


^t.  23.   ST.    A.NDEEWS   UNIVERSITY    AFTER   CHALMERS.  29 

He  concluded  by  a  long  panegyric  on  liis  father,  wlio 
was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  moral  philoso- 
phers ;  and  another  upon  Dr.  Crawford,  adding,  '  Nei- 
ther can  I  be  supposed  to  bo  altogether  unaffected  by 
the  brilliant  talents  and  the  splendid  eloquence  of  my 
immediate  predecessor/  Almost  in  the  next  breath 
he  proceeded, '  Entering  the  chair  which  I  now  occupy, 
after  iliree  such  distinguished  men,  it  may  be  thought 
that  I  labour  under  many  disadvantages,'  etc.,  and 
concluded  by  stating  that  he  had  thought  long  and 
much  upon  the  subject,  and  therefore  felt  himself  by 
no  means  unprepared  to  deliver  a  course  of  lectures 
upon  moral  philosophy.  Upon  this  a  certain  gentle- 
man facetiously  remarked  :  '  No  wonder,  for  he  has 
been  preaching  upon  morals  all  his  lifetime.*  My  own 
feelings,  and  the  feelings  of  all  those  whose  memories 
fondly  dwelt  upon  better  days  and  enabled  them  to 
draw  a  sorrowful  contrast,  would  heartily  incline  me 
to  inscribe  above  the  door  of  entrance,  in  legible 
characters,  '  Ichabod,  the  glory  is  gone.'  The  number 
of  students  attending  this  class  has  actually  dwindled 
to  28 — not  half  the  number  for  the  last  five  years. 
This  some  of  the  professors  account  for  by  paying 
that  last  session  some  of  the  second-year  students 
attended  moral  philosophy  instead  of  logic,  and  this 
season  they  attend  logic  instead  of  moral  philosophy. 
But  the  truth  is,  there  are  only  four  or  five  students  of 
whom  this  can  be  said,  leaving  still  the  deficiency  un- 
accounted for  on  any  such  principle.  He  was  prepared 
to  lecture  on  political  economy,  and  every  exertion 
was  made  to  muster  a  class ;  but  the  thing  would 
not  succeed.  Two  students  were  at  last  induced  to 
enrol ;  but  such  an  attendance  was  too  meagre  to 
escape  the  imputation  of  being  a  farce,  and  accordingly 
the  scheme  was  abandoned  as  hopeless. 

"  The  other  classes  are  conducted  in  the  usual  way, 


30  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1829. 

except  tliat  Mr.  Duncan  and  Dr.  Jackson  Lave  estab- 
lished a  regular  system  of  weekly  competitions,  which 
promise  to  do  much  good  in  stimulating  and  rewarding 
the  really  deserving. 

*'  About  ten  days  ago  old  Dr.  Hunter  was  found  in 
his  study  asleep  and  almost  stiff  with  cold,  his  fire 
having  gone  out.  For  some  days  he  was  confined  to 
bed,  very  unwell,  but  is  now  rapidly  recovering. 

"The  building  of  a  new  college  is  still  the  subject  of 
conversation.  Reports  have  flourished  without  num- 
ber, and  repeatedly  died ;  but  the  happy  consummation 
of  their  dying  into  a  reality  seems  yet  to  be  somewliat 
distant.  True,  the  professors  talk  confidently  of 
£23,000  being  granted  through  the  intercession  of 
Lord  Melville,  of  the  money  being  already  in  the  Ex- 
chequer in  Edinburgh,  of  the  king's  architect  being 
expected  everyday;  the  foundation  stone  is  to  be  laid 
in  March,  and  your  class-rooms  are  to  be  finislied 
during  the  ensuing  summer,  etc.,  etc.  These  things 
may  be  true,  but  past  disappointments  suggest  the 
propriety  of  not  being  very  sanguine  till  actual  opera- 
tions are  commenced. 

"  The  Students'  Missionary  Society  is  succeeding  as 
well  as  ever,  its  numbers  in  no  degree  diminished. 
Even  those  who  were  at  first  disposed  to  view  it  with 
a  jealous  eye  and  shrink  from  any  contact  with  it,  as 
being  an  institution  quite  unacademical,  begin  to  regard 
it  more  auspiciously  and  countenance  it  with  their 
support.  Our  meetings  are  well  attended,  our  books 
much  read  ;  so  that  I  trust  the  spirit  which  was  sud- 
denly kindled  five  years  ago  may  long  survive  in  this 
quarter  at  least,  and  demonstrate  that  it  was  not  an 
ephemeral  effervescence,  founded  on  no  principle  and 
supported  by  no  truth.  I  would  rejoice  to  be  en- 
abled to  assert  the  same  of  the  Town  Missionary 
Society.     All  were  prepared  for  a  great  change,  so  that 


^t.  23.  CITY    MISSION    WOKK.  3! 

its  decrease  was  not  unexpected.  Its  montlily  meet- 
ings are  truly  the  wreck  of  what  they  were.  The 
animating  spirit  is  g'ono,  and  gone  with  it  have  most 
of  tlie  attendants.  I  fear  they  will  find  the  greatest 
difficulty  in  keeping  up  these  interesting  meetings,  and 
that  the  Society  will  relapse  into  its  original  state  of 
inefficiency.  Mr.  Cain  reads  the  greatest  part  of  the 
evening,  and  Mr.  Lothian  takes  also  a  share.  But 
there  is  the  absence  of  those  connecting  remarks,  and 
those  appeals  and  addresses  which,  to  most  of  the 
auditors,  constituted  the  charm  of  the  eveniuof's  busi- 
ness  in  past  years.  Mr.  Bain  is  well-meaning  and 
very  anxious  for  its  prosperity,  but  he  wants  life, 
energy  and  activity.  If  the  new  burgher-minister 
now  to  be  elected,  Mr.  Aiken,  be  a  popular  man,  he 
may  lend  efTective  aid  and  in  some  measure  cause  a 
revival. 

"  Sabbath  schools  have  now  overtaken  almost  the 
whole  population.  I  have  personally  visited  all  the 
lower  classes  in  the  town,  and  did  not  find  twenty 
children  who  were  not  attending  some  school  or  other. 
A  very  great,  if  not  the  greatest  proportion  appears 
to  be  taught  by  Dissenters — a  circumstance  which  of 
course  grieves  Dr.  Haldane  very  much.  He  is  so 
much  annoyed  by  it,  that  he  spends  no  inconsiderable 
portion  of  his  time  in  visiting  the  parents  for  the  ex- 
press purpose  of  requesting  them  to  beware  of  the 
arts  and  beguiling  insinuations  of  the  Dissenters, 
and  to  remove  their  children  from  their  schools  ere 
they  be  tinctured  with  their  pestiferous  principles. 
At  all  events  every  Christian  must  rejoice  that  '  by 
all  means '  the  doctrine  of  the  Cross  is  now  regularly 
and  systematically  taught  to  nearly  all  the  children  of 
St.  Andrews. 

"Dr.  Haldane  has  contrived  to  muster  a  class  of 
mechanics,  or  rather  apprentice-lads,  to  whom  I  ex- 


32  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1829. 

plain  an  appointed  passage  of  Scripture  every  Sunday 
morning  between  ten  and  eleven  o'clock.  I  have  the 
conducting  of  a  girls'  school  between  four  and  six ;  and 
later  in  the  evening  I  spend  an  hour  and  a  half  or  two 
hours  with  Messrs.  Smyth,  Fortune,  Watson  and  an- 
other fellow-boarder,  Robb,  from  Stirling.  I  prescribe 
a  chapter  to  be  read  and  studied  for  the  following 
Sabbath,  examine  upon  it,  make  remarks  and  explana- 
tions. Messrs.  Watson  and  Fortune,  in  whose  welfare 
you  expressed  yourself  as  interested,  are  conducting 
themselves  with  great  propriety,  and  I  feel  very  much 
delighted  with  the  intelligent  answers  which  they 
give  to  most  of  the  questions  put  to  them  on  the 
Sabbath  evening.  Mr.  Craik  expresses  himself  satis- 
fied with  the  manner  in  which  they  prepare  their 
regular  class-lessons. 

"  I  have  been  proposed  for  trials  before  the  Presby- 
tery of  St.  Andrews,  and  my  first  examination  takes 
place  on  the  11th  of  February.  I  almost  begin  to  fear 
when  I  think  of  the  awful  responsibility  of  the  Chris- 
tian ministry,  and  this  fear  sometimes  makes  me  shrink 
from  the  office,  as  if  it  were  to  be  tarnished  by  my  pre- 
sence. Again  I  reflect,  that  if  my  motives  are  well 
founded  the  Lord  will  sustain  me ;  and  if  not,  it  were 
far  better  that  I  desisted  in  time." 

In  the  spring  of  1829,  and  in  this  spirit,  Alexander 
Duff,  M.A.,  was  licensed  by  the  Presbytery  of  St. 
Andrews  "  to  preach  the  gospel  of  Christ  and  to  exer- 
cise his  gifts  as  a  probationer  of  the  holy  ministry." 
The  man  was  ready ;  the  work  had  been  long  waiting 
for  him. 


CHAPTER  11. 

1829. 

THE  FIRST  MISSIONARY  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF 
SCOTLAND. 

Early  Missionary  Confession  of  the  Kirk. — The  Apathy  of  Two  Cen- 
turies.— Preparations  by  the  Scottish  Layman,  Charles  Grant. — 
The  Foundation  of  the  Missionary  Societies  after  the  French 
Revolution. — The  First  Presbyterian  Chaplain  and  English 
Bishop  of  Calcutta. — Dr.  Inglis,  Founder  of  the  Mission. — Lord 
Binning's  Help.  —  General  Assembly's  Letter  to  the  People  of 
Scotland. — Alexander  Duff's  Answer. — Announcement  to  his 
Father  and  Mother. — Accepted  by  the  Foreign  Mission  Com- 
mittee on  his  own  Conditions. — His  First  Missionary  Sermons. — 
Bagster's  Bible  Presented  to  Him. — Pathetic  Counsels  and  Fare- 
wells.— David  Ewart. — Patrick  Lawson's  Advice. — Marriage  and 
Ordination. — Mr.  and  Mrs.  Duff  leave  Leith  for  London. — Dr. 
Inglis  to  Dr.  Bryce. — Letter  to  Dr.  Chalmers. 

Tbe  work  liad  been  waiting  for  two  hundred  and 
seventy  years.  Alone  of  all  the  Reformed  Churches 
the  Kirk  of  Scotland  had  placed  in  the  very  front  of 
its  Confession  the  fact  that  it  was  a  missionary  church. 
The  foresight  of  John  Knox,  the  statesmanship  of  the 
Scotsmen  who  gave  civil  as  well  as  religious  freedom 
to  the  kingdom,  have  been  extolled  by  secular  historians 
so  opposite  as  Mr.  Froude  and  Mr.  Hill  Burton.  But 
that  foresight  saw  farther  than  even  they  acknowledge, 
when  the  Scottish  Parliament  of  1560  passed  an  Act 
embodying  the  first  Confession,  which  has  this  for  its 
motto,  "  And  this  glaid  tydingis  of  rhe  kyngdome  sail 
be  precheit  through  the  liaill  warld  for  a  witues  unto 
all  natiouns,  and  then  sail  the  end  cum."  That  con- 
fession was  the  four  days'  work  of  John  Winram,  John 

D 


34  LIFE    OP    DR.    DUFF.  1S29. 

Spotswoocl,  Jolin  "VYillock,  Jolin  Douglas,  Jolm  Row 
and  Jolin  Knox. 

First  self-preservation,  then  the  attempt  to  throw 
their  own  ecclesiastical  organization  nniformlj  over 
England  also  by  political  means,  and  finally  the  re- 
action and  the  indifference  which  mere  policy  brings 
about,  succeeded  in  reducing  the  Kirk  of  the  eighteenth 
century  to  lifelessness.  What  had,  for  all  Christendom, 
been  a  series  of  crusades  against  the  Turks ;  and  for 
the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  discoverers  in  the  Indies, 
West  and  East,  a  series  of  raids  by  the  Latin  Church 
on  the  native  inhabitants,  became  in  the  Reformed 
Churches  at  home  a  defence  of  the  orthodox  faith 
against  popery.  But  the  General  Assembly  of  1647 
had  expressed  a  wish  for  *'  a  more  firm  consocia- 
tion for  propagating  it  to  those  who  are  without, 
especially  the  Jews.  For  the  unanimity  of  all  the 
Churches,  as  in  evil  'tis  of  all  things  most  hurtful,  so, 
on  the  contrary  side,  in  good  it  is  most  pleasant, 
most  profitable,  and  most  effectual."  Again  do  wo 
catch  a  glimpse  of  the  missionary  spirit  when,  in 
sending  forth  ministers  with  the  unfortunate  Darien 
expedition,  the  Assembly  of  1699  enjoined  them 
particularly  to  labour  among  the  natives  ;  while  its 
successor  added,  "  The  Lord,  we  hope,  will  yet  honour 
you  and  this  Church  from  which  you  are  sent  to  carry 
His  name  among  the  heathen."  In  1743  the  Kirk 
indirectly  supported  Brainerd,  and  in  1774  tried  to 
raise  up  native  teachers  in  Africa.  Yet  so  far  did  it 
decline  from  the  ideal  of  Knox,  th'at  when  the  French 
Revolution  and  the  progress  of  commercial  discovery 
had  roused  England,  America  and  Germany,  as  little 
Denmark  had  long  before  been  stimulated,  the  General 
Assembly  selected  as  its  Moderator  the  minister  who 
in  1796  carried  this  opinion  by  a  majority — "  To  spread 
abroad  the  knowledge  of  the  gospel  among  barbarous 


JEt  23.         TIIK    EAST    INDIA    COMPANY  S    CUARTERS.  35 

and  heatlien  nations  seems  to  be  highly  preposterous, 
in  so  far  as  it  anticipates,  nay,  it  even  reverses  the 
order  of  nature." 

What  the  Kirk  of  Scotland  refused  to  do  till  1829, 
one  of  the  greatest  of  its  sons  was  for  half  a  century 
carefully  preparing.  Charles  Grant,  an  Inverness- 
shire  boy,  was  a  civil  servant  of  the  East  India  Com- 
pany during  the  famine  which  swept  oif  a  third  of 
the  population  of  a  large  portion  of  Bengal  in  1770. 
From  that  time,  as  an  evangelical  Christian  first  and  a 
Presbyterian,  Baptist  and  Episcopalian  afterwards,  as 
his  position  led  him,  Charles  Grant  in  India,  in  the 
Court  of  Directors,  in  the  House  of  Commons,  in 
society  and  in  the  press,  never  ceased  till  he  induced 
Parliament  to  send  out  chaplains  and  schoolmasters, 
and  the  Churches  to  supply  missionaries.  Before 
Carey  had  landed  at  Calcutta  and  become  his  friend, 
Charles  Grant  had  implored  Simeon  to  send  out 
eight  missionaries,  offering  to  receive  all  and  him- 
self to  bear  permanently  the  cost  of  two.  That  was 
before  Simeon's  pregnant  visit  to  Moulin.  To  Charles 
Grant  and  the  friends  whom  he  stirred  up,  like  Wilber- 
force  and  the  elder  Macaulay,  we  owe  first  the  Charter 
Act  of  1793  which  conceived,  that  of  1813  which 
brought  to  the  birth,  and  that  of  1833  which  completed, 
what  we  may  fairly  describe  as  the  christianization 
of  the  East  India  Company,  opening  its  settlements  in 
India  and  China  to  toleration  in  the  widest  sense  alike 
of  truth  and  of  trade. 

The  nearly  successful  attempt  of  Wilberforce  to  got 
"  the  pious  clauses  "  of  Charles  Grant  into  the  charter 
of  1793,  though  foiled  by  the  time-serving  Dundas, 
then  dictator  of  Scotland,  led  Christian  men  through- 
out England  and  Scotland  to  do  what  the  Churches  in 
their  corporate  character  were  still  unwilling  to  organ- 
ize.    The  Baptists  had  shown  the  way  under  Carey,  in 


36  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1829. 

1792.  Presbyterians,  Independents  and  some  Anglican 
Evangelicals  united  to  found  the  London  Missionary 
Society  in  1795.  The  year  after  saw  the  more  local 
Scottish  and  Glasgow  Missionary  Societies.  And  to 
the  partly  colonial,  partly  foreign  agency  of  the  Propa- 
gation Society,  the  Evangelicals  of  the  Church  of 
England  added  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  which, 
in  1804,  sent  forth  to  West  Africa  its  first  represent- 
atives, who  were  German.  By  its  establishment  of 
one  bishop,  three  archdeacons,  several  Episcopalian 
and  three  Presbyterian  chaplains  in  India,  the  charter 
of  1813  compelled  the  directors  of  the  East  India 
Company  "  to  show  our  desire  to  encourage,  by  every 
prudent  means  in  our  power,  the  extension  of  the 
principle  of  the  Christian  religion  in  India."  That 
language  is  sufficiently  cautious,  and  the  concession 
marks  no  advance  on  the  orders  of  William  III.,  in 
the  charter  of  1698.  But  it  was  accompanied  by  the 
very  practical  resolution  of  Parliament,  without  which 
much  of  Duff's  career  would  have  been  very  different, 
that  "  a  sum  of  not  less  than  one  lakh  of  rupees 
(£10,000,  at  par)  in  each  year  shall  be  set  apart  and 
applied  to  the  revival  and  improvement  of  literature, 
and  the  encouragement  of  the  learned  natives  of  India, 
and  for  the  introduction  and  promotion  of  a  knowledge 
of  the  sciences  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  British 
territories  of  India."  The  chaplain  was  thus  legalized, 
the  schoolmaster  was  thus  made  possible.  But  it  was 
not  till  1833  that  the  missionary,  the  merchant,  the 
capitalist,  the  Christian  settler  in  any  form  was  recog- 
nised or  tolerated  save  as  an  "interloper" — that  was 
the  official  term — admitted  under  passports,  watched 
by  the  police,  sometimes  deported  and  ruiued,  always 
socially  despised. 

The  first  Scottish  chaplain  duly  balloted  for  by  tlje 
Court  of  Directors,  and  sent  out  to  Calcutta,  was  the 


/i:t.  23.  DR.    JOHN    INGLIS.  37 

Kev.  James  Brycc,  of  Straclian,  in  the  Presbytery  of 
Kincardine-O'Neil.  He  sailed  in  the  same  East  India- 
man  with  the  first  bishop  selected  by  the  President 
of  the  Board  of  Control,  Dr.  Middleton,  who  liked 
neither  his  Presbyterian  brother  nor  the  missionaries 
sent  out  by  the  Church  Missionary  Society  under 
protection  of  the  same  charter.  So  little  of  a  mission- 
ary spirit  had  the  first  representative  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland  in  India,  that  "  he  has  no  hesitation  in  con- 
fessing that  he  went  to  the  scene  of  his  labours  strongly 
impressed  with  a  belief,  should  he  step  beyond  the  pale 
of  his  own  countrymen  he  would  find  every  attempt 
to  shake  the  Hindoo  in  the  faith  of  his  fathers  to  be 
futile  and  unavaiUng."  So  he  and  Bishop  Middleton 
fell  to  squabbling  about  sects  and  churches,  about  the 
height  of  a  steeple  and  the  name  of  a  church  building, 
till  the  Governor-Generals,  Cabinet  Ministers  and  the 
directors  were  dragged  into  the  fray,  and  that  in  a  city 
of  which  the  wise  Claudius  Buchanan  had  written  ten 
years  before,  that  a  name  or  a  sect  was  never  men- 
tioned from  the  pulpit  now  filled  by  the  Bishop,  ''  and 
thus  the  "Word  preached  becomes  profitable  to  all." 

Of  a  very  different  type  was  the  Rev.  John  Inglis,D.D. 
The  minister  of  Old  Greyfriars,  Edinburgh,  was  the 
one  man  of  the  Moderate  party  in  the  Church  worthy, 
as  an  ecclesiastic  at  least,  to  rank  with  his  great 
evangelical  contemporaries,  Chalmers,  Andrew  Thom- 
son and  Sir  Harry  MoncreifF.  His  worthiness  lay 
in  the  fact  that,  as  Lord  Cockburn  puts  it,  he  was  the 
only  leader  of  that  party  whose  opinions  advanced  with 
the  progress  of  the  times.  Ecclesiastically,  in  matters 
of  Kirk  diplomacy,  he  was  a  moderate,  so  that  the 
same  authority  has  described  his  powerful  qualities 
as  thrown  away  on  the  ignoble  task  of  attempting  to 
repress  the  popular  spirit  of  the  Kirk,  althougli  tliese 
would   have    raised   him   high   in  any  department  of 


38  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1829. 

public  life.  Spiritually,  as  a  preaclier,  lie  was  an 
evangelical,  although  before  his  death,  in  1834,  he  had 
preached  his  church  nearly  empty.  As  an  ecclesiastical 
lawyer,  his  clear  thinking,  lucid  exposition  and  innate 
eloquence,  were  such  as  to  make  his  hearers  forget  his 
tall,  ungainly  figure  and  raucous  voice.  His  fruitless 
intolerance  in  the  Leslie  case  was  due  to  his  party 
in  1805,  and  he  grew  out  of  that  in  the  subsequent 
thirty  years  of  his  career,  to  nobler  work  and  a  finer 
spirit.  That  and  smaller  follies  were  amply  atoned 
for  by  his  foundation  of  the  India  Mission  and  his 
selection  of  the  first  three  missionaries. 

So  early,  comparatively  for  Scotland,  as  1818,  Dr. 
^  Inglis  preached  a  sermon  in  which  we  find  the  seed  of 
the  foreign  mission  system -of  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
and  of  the  call  of  Alexander  Duff.  The  one  glimmer- 
ing missionary  taper  of  the  Kirk  since  the  beginning 
of  the  eighteenth  century  had  been  the  "  Society  in 
Scotland,  Incorporated  by  Royal  Charter,  for  Propa- 
gating Christian  Knowledge."  Although  benefiting 
chiefly  the  Gaelic-speaking  Highlanders,  it  did  spend 
a  few  small  sums  on  an  occasional  missionary  at 
Astrakhan  in  the  East,  and  among  the  Indians  of  the 
West,  while  it  gave  grants  to  the  Serarapore  and  other 
labourers.  To  preach  the  annual  missionary  sermon 
of  the  society  was  an  honour  reserved  for  the  ablest 
ministers,  who  generally  talked  platitudes  on  education 
or  kept  themselves  to  formal  theology.  But  when  on 
Friday,  the  5th  June,  1818,  Dr.  Inglis  announced  his 
text,  the  spirit  of  unconscious  prediction  moved  him. 
"  Is  it  a  light  thing,"  were  the  words  which  he  read 
from  Isaiah,  "  that  Thou  shouldest  be  My  servant  to 
raise  up  the  tribes  of  Jacob  and  to  restore  the  pre- 
served of  Israel  ?  I  will  also  give  Thee  for  a  light  to 
the  Gentiles,  that  Thou  mayest  be  My  salvation  unto 
the  end  of  the  earth."     With  triumphant  faith  in  the 


JEt  23.   TDE    GEHM    OF   THE    SCOTTISH    MISSION    SYSTEM.        39 

"ultimate  universal  prcval-^nco  of  Christianity,  lie  saw 
in  the  prophet's  message  "  the  most  exalted  idea  both 
of  Divine  love  and  human  felicity."  In  terms  only 
less  enthusiastic  than  those  which  ever  afterAvards 
marked  the  first  missionary  whom  his  Churcli  was  to 
send  forth,  and  far  removed  from  the  "  modcratism  " 
of  the  ecclesiastical  party  who  claimed  him.  Dr.  Inglis 
showed  how  the  nature  and  the  divine  agencies  of 
Christianity  secured  its  future  universal  dominion,  in 
spite  of  its  very  limited  success  at  that  time.  Among 
these  agencies  he  placed  education  foremost,  not 
because  he  made  the  mistake  attributed  to  him  of 
requiring  civiUzation  to  precede  Christianity,  but 
because  out  of  converted  savage  races  he  might  thus 
raise  indigenous  preachers,  and  by  means  of  natives 
endowed  with  intellectual  vigour,  and  with  a  capacity 
of  estimating  what  is  just  and  true,  he  might  secure 
more  abiding  and  ultimately  rapid  progress.  Pointing 
to  the  conquest  of  the  Roman  Empire  by  the  Church, 
he  asked  why  our  connection  with  our  commercial 
dependencies  should  be  less  favourable;  upon  what 
principle  we  who  raised  factories  for  trade  concluded 
that  "  estal)lishments  for  the  instruction  and  civiliza- 
tion of  our  beniofhted  brethren  mig^lit  not  be  rendered 
signally  effectual."  The  three  chaplains  sent  to  India 
he  accepted  as  only  an  instalment  of  the  Church's  and 
the  nation's  duty.  The  translation  of  the  Scriptures 
without  comment  he  urged  as  of  equal  importance 
with  schools.  And  this  was  written  just  before  the 
Serampore  missionaries  had  opened  the  first  Chris- 
tian college,  while  the  sceptical  English  and  educated 
Hindoos  of  Calcutta  were  striving  to  establish  their 
Anglo-Indian  college  on  non-moral  principles,  from 
which  even  tlie  theist,  Rammohun  Roy,  dissented  as 
fatal  to  the  true  well-being  of  a  people. 

It  was  Rammohun  Roy,  too,  who  was  the  instrument 


40  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1S29. 

of  the  conversion  of  the  first  chaplain,  Dr.  Bryce, 
from  the  opinion  of  the  Abbe  Dubois  that  no  Hindoo 
could  be  made  a  true  Christian,  to  the  conviction  that 
the  past  want  of  success  was  largely  owing  to  the 
inaptitude  of  the  means  employed.  Some  nine  years 
after  the  confession  which  we  have  already  quoted, 
we  find  Dr.  Bryce  writing :  "  Encouraged  by  the  ap- 
probation of  Rammohun,"  I  "  presented  to  the  General 
Assembly  of  1824  the  petition  and  memorial  which 
first  directed  the  attention  of  the  Church  of  Scotland 
to  British  India  as  a  field  for  missionary  exertions, 
on  the  -plan  that  is  now  so  successfully  following  out, 
and  to  which  this  eminently  gifted  scholar,  himself  a 
Brahman  of  high  caste,  had  specially  annexed  his  sanc- 
tion. .  .  E-ammohun  E;Oy  was  himself  a  hearer  in 
the  Scotch  Church  of  Calcutta."  To  the  minute  of  St. 
Andrew's  kirk-session  on  the  subject  Rammohun  Roy 
appended  this  singular  testimony  on  the  8th  December, 
1823  :  "  As  I  have  the  honour  of  being  a  member  of 
the  congregation  meeting  in  St.  Andrew's  Church 
(although  not  fully  concurring  in  every  article  of  the 
"Westminster  Confession  of  Faith),  I  feel  happy  to  have 
an  opportunity  of  expressing  my  opinion  that,  if  the 
prayer  of  the  memorial  is  complied  with,  there  is  a 
fair  and  reasonable  prospect  of  this  measure  proving 
conducive  to  the  diffusion  of  relio-ious  and  moral  know- 

O 

ledge  in  India."  But,  in  reality,  Dr.  Bryce's  scheme 
was  one  for  almost  everything  that  Duff's  was  not. 
His  plan  of  a  "Scottish  College"  was  dictated  by 
sectarian  hostility  to  the  Bishop's  College  of  his  rival. 
Dr.  Middleton.*  His  proposal  condemned  schools 
for  *'  the  lower  and  illiterate  classes  of  the  Hindoos  " 
as  strongly  as  the  Abbe  himself  had  done,  and  urged 

*  See  Memorial  and  Petition,  at  page  284  of  his  Sketch  of  Native 
Education  in  India, 


^t.  23.   MISSIONARY  LETTER  TO  THE  PEOPLLl  OF  SCOTLAND.    4 1 

*'  addressing  the  better  informed  natives  at  this  capital 
in  their  own  language,  and  from  under  the  roof  of  an 
established  Christian  temple,  and  under  the  sanction 
and  countenance  of  an  established  ecclesiastical  au- 
thority." The  secular  ecclesiastic  desired,  in  fact,  to 
create  such  a  college  for  himself  "  by  the  maintenance 
of  two  or  more  probationers  or  clergymen  of  our 
Church,  under  the  ecclesiastical  superintendence  of 
the  kirk-session  of  St.  Andrew's  Church,  to  be  edu- 
cated under  their  eye  in  the  native  languages  of  the 
country, "  and  employed  under  their  authority,  when 
duly  qualified,  to  preach,  from  the  pulpit  of  St.  An- 
drew's Church,  to  such  native  congregation  as  might 
attend  their  ministry." 

Dr.  Inglis  and  the  General  Assembly  of  1825  were 
less  informed  as  to  the  actual  state  of  society  in  Ben- 
gal and  Calcutta  than  their  chaplain  on  the  spot,  but, 
being  free  from  his  ecclesiastical  vanities  and  enmities, 
they  drew  up  a  much  wiser  plan,  though  one  still  far 
from  adequate  to  the  needs  and  opportunities  of  India 
at  the  time.  They  pronounced  it  desirable  to  establish, 
in  the  first  instance,  one  central  seminary  of  education, 
with  branch  schools  in  the  surrounding  country,  for 
behoof  of  the  children  of  the  native  population,  under 
one  who  ought  to  be  an  ordained  minister  of  the  national 
Church,  and  not  less  than  two  assistant  teachers  from 
this  country.  That  General  Assembly  re-appointed  the 
committee  of  Dr.  Inglis  upon  the  propagation  of  the 
gospel  abroad  as  a  permanent  body,  with  power  to 
raise  funds  and  select  masters.  It  ordered  an  extra- 
ordinary collection  in  all  churches  and  chapels  for  the 
purpose,  thus  adding  to  the  "  great  schemes  "  of  the 
Kirk,  or  the  Highlands,  the  Home  and  the  Colonial, 
the  fourth  and  greatest  of  Foreign  Missions.  And  on 
April  26tli  Dr.  Inglis,  as  convener  of  the  new  com- 
mittee, issued  a  letter  "  to  the  People  of  Scotland," 


42  LIFE    OF   DK.    DUFF.  1829. 

apologising  for  "  our  forefathers,"  since  perchance 
their  utmost  exertions  were  not  more  tlian  sufficient 
for  establishing  themselves  and  their  posterity  in  the 
liberty  wherewith  Christ  hath  made  us  free ;  pointing 
to  the  recent  missionary  efforts  of  other  religious  com- 
munities, and  summoning  the  nation  in  the  name  of 
the  General  Assembly  to  do  its  duty.  Appealing  to 
the  facts  stated  in  the  fifth  report  of  the  Calcutta 
School  Book  Society,  founded  in  1817,  and  in  the 
"History  of  Calcutta  Institutions,"  by  Mr.  Charles 
Lushington,  one  of  the  secretaries  to  Government, 
the  national  letter  mentioned  schools  for  the  educa- 
tion in  English  of  natives  of  both  sexes,  and  colleges 
to  train  a  more  select  number  to  be  the  teachers  and 
preachers,  as  the  best  means  for  sowing  a  great 
spiritual  harvest  which  may  "  be  reaped  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom  over  the  exten- 
sive regions  of  Asia.  Yet  let  it  not  be  inferred  from 
our  having  said  so  much  about  schools  and  other 
seminaries  of  education,  that  we  for  a  moment  lose 
sight  of  the  more  direct  means  of  accomplishing  our 
object,  by  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  to  the  heathen 
world.  .  .  It  is  in  subserviency  to  the  success  of 
preaching  that  we  would,  in  this  case,  devote  our  labour 
to  the  education  of  the  young."  The  whole  letter,  and 
especially  the  evangelic  note  of  the  predicted  triumph 
with  which  it  closes,  show  the  same  spirit  which 
eight  years  before  had  preached,  but  with  necessarily 
less  information,  of  the  ultimate  and  universal  pre- 
valence of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom.  But  though  the 
aims  and  the  proposals  of  Dr.  Inglis  were  very  dif- 
ferent from  those  of  Dr.  Bryce,  we  shall  see  how  far 
both  fell  short  of  the  genius  of  the  first  missionary, 
who  refused  to  be  fettered  by  any  conditions. 

"With  the  exception  of  the  Campbells  of  Argyll,  and, 
for  a  time;  those  of  Breadalbane  and  the  Stuarts  of 


^t.  23.   HIS    ANSWER   TO    THE    LETTER   TO   Till';    PEOrLE.        43 

Moray,  the  peers  of  Scotland  liave  been  so  seldom  iu 
their  proper  places  as  the  natural  leaders  of  the 
people,  that  it  is  pleasant  to  be  able  to  record  the  part 
taken  in  the  foundation  of  its  India  Mission  by  the 
Haddington  branch  of  the  ducal  house  of  Hamilton. 
The  ninth  earl,  when  still  Lord  Binning  and  one  of 
the  commissioners  of  the  old  Board  of  Control,  used 
all  his  official  influence  to  encourasfe  Dr.  Ino-lis  in  his 
efforts  for  the  Christian  education  of  the  natives  of 
Bengal.  The  harmony  of  the  Church  and  the  Board 
in  measures  for  the  good  of  India,  was  not  disturbed, 
as  was  too  often  the  case  in  other  reforms,  by  the 
Court  of  Directors,  for  Charles  Grant  was  then 
supreme  in  influence  with  the  "  chairs."  Lord  Bin- 
ning had  at  this  time  made  the  acquaintance  in  Rome 
of  the  young  Bunsen,  "  for  whom  he  has  a  great 
liking  and  value,"  says  the  Baroness  of  her  husband, 
and  he  was  afterwards  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland. 

Alexander  Duff's  answer  to  this  letter  to  the  people 
of  Scotland  was  to  give  himself — not,  indeed,  to  the\J 
new  committee  for  a  time,  but  to  the  Master,  to  be  l 
used  as  His  minister  wherever  amono^  the  Gentiles  He 
might  send  him.  But  all  his  sympathies  were  with 
the  natives  of  India.  "  It  was,"  he  long  afterwards 
told  his  converts  when  bidding  them  a  life-long  fare- 
well, "  when  a  student  at  college,  in  perusing  the 
article  on  India*  in  Sir  David  Brewster's  "  Edinburgh 
Encyclopaedia,"  that  my  soul  was  first  drawn  out  as  by 

*  The  article  is  a  "wonderfully  elaborate  and  intelligent  perform- 
ance for  that  time.  In  a  hundred  double-column  quarto  pages 
the  writer,  Mr.  Stevenson,  librarian  of  the  Treasury,  writes  the  his- 
tory, describes  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  European  establishments, 
states  the  geographical  and  statistical  facts,  pictures  the  Hindoo 
religion,  social  institutions  and  language.-^,  and  closes  with  details  of 
the  popuhition  of  Bengal  and  Calcutta.  The  whole  article  is  wortliy 
of  the  workin  which  Thomas  Carlyle  began  his  literary  career 


44  LIFE    OP   DE.    DUFF.  1829. 

a  spell-like  fascination  towards  India.  And  when,  at 
a  later  period,  I  was  led  to  respond  to  the  call  to 
proceed  to  India  as  the  first  missionary  ever  sent 
forth  by  the  Established  National  Church  of  Scotland, 
my  resolution  was,  if  the  Lord  so  willed  it,  never, 
never  to  return  again." 

Session  after  session,  as  he  had  returned  from  the 
winter's  study  at  St.  Andrews  to  the  quiet  of  his 
Grampian  home,  the  student  had  delighted  his  parents 
with  details  of  his  doings.  John  Urquhart  had  always 
been  first  in  his  talk.  Especially  had  his  father  been 
struck  with  admiration  at  that  student's  determination 
to  be  a  missionary  to  the  Hindoos.  In  1827  the 
usual  budget  of  intelligence  was  produced,  but  as 
the  parents  hung  on  their  son's  revelations,  now  with 
tears,  now  with  smiles,  and  ever  with  thankfulness 
and  pride,  the  loved  name  of  his  Jonathan  was  not 
once  mentioned.  "  But  what  of  your  friend  Urqu- 
hart?" at  last  exclaimed  the  father.  "  Urquhart  is  no 
more,"  said  Duff  with  the  almost  stern  abruptness 
of  self-restraint,  and  then  slowly,  wistfully  added, 
"  What  if  your  son  should  take  up  his  cloak  ? 
You  approved  the  motive  that  directed  the  choice  of 

Urquhart;  you  commended  his  high  purpose The 

cloak  is  taken  up."  Mother  and  father  were  awed 
into  silence  at  this,  the  first  breaking  to  them,  or  to 
man,  of  the  vow  that  had  already  been  made  to  God.* 

So  the  missionary  mantle  fell  in  circumstances  very 
unlike  Elijah's  and  Elisha's.     He  knew  that  they  had 

*  Our  authority  for  this  most  significant  anecdote  is  the  Rev. 
and  now  venerable  Andrew  Wallace,  long  minister  of  Oldham- 
stocks,  who  has  extracted  the  facts  from  a  diary  written  while  Duff's 
parents  were  still  alive.  In  prse-railway  days,  on  a  journey  from 
Hawick  to  Edinburgh,  his  companion  on  the  top  of  the  coach  proved 
to  be  a  Highlander  from  Moulin,  who,  having  lived  in  the  house  next 
to  Duflfs,  and  loving  him  much,  told  Mr,  Wallace  the  story. 


^t.  23.  DECLARES  HIS  DETERMINATION  TO  BE  A  MISSIONARY.    45 

set  their  heart  upon  his  being  a  minister  in  the  High- 
lands, and  that  he  had  a  prospect  of  not  being  long 
without  a  parish.  He  had  therefore  considered,  before 
God,  what  his  course  of  duty  should  be  towards  them, 
and  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  he  ought  to  have 
no  dealings  in  such  a  matter  with  flesh  and  blood. 
Moved  chiefly  by  what  he  afterwards  termed  the  grand 
utterance  of  Christ,  "  If  any  man  love  father  or 
mother  more  than  Me  he  is  not  worthy  of  Me,"  Dufl" 
thus  anticipated  all  remonstrance.  At  first  they  were 
overwhelmed,  in  spite  of  all  the  father's  early  teaching 
on  the  various  mission  fields,  and  especially  that  of 
India ;  for  they  were  parents  wisely  proud  of  their 
student  son's  reputation,  and  fondly  indulging  in  the 
prospect  of  his  settlement  near  themselves.  But  calm 
reflection  brought  them  to  acquiesce  in  the  deliberate 
choice  and  solemn  announcement  of  the  young  evange- 
list as  the  will  of  God,  and  they  lived  to  rejoice  in  the 
surrender  of  themselves  and  their  boy. 

The  case  of  India  came  very  close  to  him  when, 
during  the  subsequent  session  of  1827-28,  Principal 
Haldane  laid  before  him  a  letter  from  Dr.  Inglis,  who 
had,  thus  far,  been  unsuccessful  in  inducing  any 
minister  or  preacher  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  to  offer 
himself  for  Calcutta,  although  students  like  Nesbit 
and  Wilson  were  preparing  to  be  sent  out  to  Bombay 
by  the  Scottish,  and  others  by  the  London  Missionary 
Society.  Dr.  Haldane  pronounced  the  third  year's 
student  of  theology  precisely  the  man  that  the  Church's 
committee  wanted.  But  Duff"  declined,  from  his 
youth  and  inexperience,  to  commit  himself  to  any 
definite  station  until  his  studies  were  completed.  A 
year  after,  in  the  spring  of  1829,  the  proposal  was 
again  made  to  him  ;  this  time  by  Dr.  Ferrie,  Professor 
of  Civil  History,  and  minister  of  Kilconquhar.  He 
thus  turned  for  counsel  to  Dr.  Chalmers  ; — 


46  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1829. 

«  St.  Andrews,  12th  March,  1829. 

"  Rev.  and  Dear  Sir, — In  redemption  of  a  pledge 
formerly  given,  and  encouraged  by  your  kind  reply,  I 
should  now  endeavour  to  communicate  whatever  local 
intelligence  can  be  collected  since  the  writing  of  my 
last  letter.  But  I  trust  that,  though  such  communi- 
cation be  deferred  for  the  present,  I  will  be  exonerated 
from  the  charge  of  neglect,  by  a  desire  to  make  known 
without  delay  the  following  particulars.  Unexpected 
as  they  are  in  their  nature,  and  deciding,  as  they  ap- 
pear to  do,  my  future  destiny  in  life,  I  trust  you  will 
excuse  their  exclusive  egotism. 

"  About  three    weeks    ago    I   was   sent  for  by  Dr. 
Ferric,  who  stated  that  he  had  received  a  letter  from  a 
cousin  of  his,  asking  his  advice  as  to  the  propriety  of 
going  out  to  superintend  the  Assembly's  scheme  for 
propagating  the  gospel  in  India,  and  that  he  dissuaded 
him  from  going,  for,  although  he  was  satisfied  as  to 
his  piety  and  zeal,  yet  he  knew  he  wanted  several  other 
qualifications  that  were  indispensably  necessary.     Im- 
mediately, he  said,  I  occurred  to  him  as  a  person  well 
fitted  for  such  a  sacred  and  important  station,  and 
accordingly  he  made  the  proposal  to  me  of  going  to 
India  to  take  charge  of  the  new  establishment.     A 
proposal  so  weighty  was  neither  to  be  precipitately 
rejected,  nor  inconsiderately  acceded  to.      I  therefore 
assured    him   I    would    solemnly    deliberate    on    the 
measure,  would  wait  for  more  definite  information  re- 
garding its  precise  nature,  and  in  the  meantime  would 
make  it  the  subject  of  prayer.      On  the    subject   of 
missions  in  general,  I  have  read  much  and  thought 
much,  and  in  regard  both  to  the  sacredness  of  the 
cause  and  the  propriety  of  personal  engagement,  my 
mind  has  long  been  entirely   satisfied ;  nay  more,  on 
often  revolving  the  matter,  a  kind  of  ominous  fore- 
boding mingled  so  constantly  with  my  thoughts,  that 


/iit  23.    INFOluMS  CHALMERS  TUAT  HE  WILL  GO  TO  INDIA.       4/ 

it  became  an  almost  settled  impression  tliat  tlio  day 
was  not  far  distant  when  I  would  feel  it  to  be  my  duty 
to  adopt  the  decisive  step  of  devoting  my  life  to  the 
sacred  cause.  In  these  circumstances  and  with  these 
feelings  nought  remained  in  the  present  instance  but 
to  inquire,  seriously  and  prayerfully  to  inquire, 
*  whether  do  I  consciously  feel  myself  possessed  of 
the  qualifications  necessary  to  constitute  the  true  mis- 
sionary character?'  and  'whether  can  I  accept  of  the 
offered  appointment,  unactuated  by  any  but  the  proper 
motives,  a  desire  to  promote  God's  glory  and  the 
welfare  of  immortal  souls  ?'  Now,  were  this  a  matter 
which  required  merely  human  consultation  or  advice, 
you,  my  dear  sir,  are  the  tried  friend  on  whose  readi- 
ness in  giving  advice,  as  well  as  its  soundness  v/hen 
given,  I  could  most  confidently  rely.  But  I  hope  that 
I  acted  in  accordance  with  your  views,  when  I  con- 
cluded that  the  present  inquiry  rested  almost  solely 
between  myself  and  my  Maker.  With  this  view  of  the 
case  and  in  this  spirit  the  inquiry  was  certainly  con- 
ducted. And  the  result  was,  that,  weak  as  is  my 
faith  and  secularized  as,  I  must  confess,  are  all  my 
desires,  I  yet  felt  I  could  find  it  in  my  heart  to  devote 
myself  to  the  service  of  the  Lord,  undivided  by  any 
worldly  tie  and  uninfluenced  by  any  mercenary  motive. 
"  The  inquiry  as  to  the  motives  being  brought  to 
this  conclusion,  at  which  may  the  Lord  grant  that  I 
have  not  arrived  through  any  self-deception,  the  other 
inquiry,  respecting  the  requisite  qualifications,  was  by 
no  means  concluded  so  much  to  my  own  satisfaction. 
But  on  further  reflection  on  the  subject,  the  exceeding 
precious  promises  of  God  appeared  to  rebuke  my  dis- 
trustful vacillating  spirit ;  and  I  seemed  to  have  the 
faith — I  trust  it  was  not  the  presumption — to  conclude 
that,  if  I  engaged  in  the  work  with  full  sincerity  of 
soul,  by  faith   accompanied  with  prayer,  God's  grace 


4-8  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1829. 

might  be  sufficient  for  me,  and  His  strength  might  be 
made  perfect  in  my  weakness.  In  this  frame  of  mind, 
therefore,  I  resolved,  if  offered  the  appointment,  to  ac- 
cept of  it.  This  offer  was  not  long  in  being  virtually 
made.  On  Wednesday,  last  week,  Dr.  Ferrie  received 
a  letter  from  Dr.  Muir  (Dr.  Inglis,  the  convener  of  the 
committee,  being  unwell),  which  among  other  things 
contained  the  following  clauses  :  '  Dr.  Inglis  intimated 
his  earnest  desire  to  know  from  you  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible what  maybe  the  determination  of  Mr.  Duff.  The 
Doctor  is  satisfied  by  all  you  have  said  that  he  is  the 
very  person  fitted  for  the  important  purpose,  and  he 
is  therefore  extremely  anxious  to  receive  Mr.  Duff's 
decision  on  the  side  of  the  offer;  as  he  is  not  able  to 
occupy  himself  with  the  routine  of  ordinary  duty,  his 
mind  is  exercised  with  almost  a  keen  feeling  of  anxiety 
on  the  Indian  scheme.  If  you  can  write  to  me  soon, 
and  especially  if  you  can  send  me  any  encouraging  in- 
telligence from  Mr.  D.,  your  letter  on  the  subject  will 
be  very  acceptable  to  him.*  From  this  you  perceive 
that  the  offer  was  fairly  laid  at  my  door,  and  that  a 
definite  answer  was  required  as  soon  as  possible. 
And  having  already  made  up  my  own  mind  on  the 
subject,  I  lost  no  time  in  visiting  my  friends,  in  order 
to  justify  to  them  a  conduct  to  which  I  knew  they 
would  feel  a  strong  aversion.  I  have  now  returned, 
after  having  succeeded  in  securing  their  concurrence, 
and  have  thus  endeavoured  to  present  you  with  a  brief 
statement  of  all  that  has  transpired. 

"I  am  now  prepared  to  reply  to  the  committee  in  the 
words  of  the  prophet,  'Here  am  I,  send  me.'  The  work  is 
most  arduous,  but  is  of  God  and  must  prosper ;  many 
sacrifices  painful  to  'flesh  and  blood'  must  be  made,  but 
not  any  correspondent  to  the  glory  of  winning  souls  to 
Christ.  With  the  thought  of  this  glory  I  feel  myself 
almost  transported  with  joy;  everything  else  appears  to 


^t.  23.  SELF-DEVOTION.  49 

fall  out  of  view  as  vain  and  insisrnificant.  The  klnofs 
and  great  men  of  the  earth  have  reared  tlie  sculptured 
monument  and  the  lofty  pyramid  with  the  vain  hope 
of  transmitting:  their  names  with  reverence  to  succeed- 
ing  generations;  and  yet  the  sculptured  monument 
and  the  lofty  pyramid  do  crumble  into  decay,  and  must 
finally  be  burnt  up  in  the  general  wreck  of  dissolving 
nature;  but  he  who  has  been  the  means  of  subduing 
one  soul  to  the  Cross  of  Christ,  hath  reared  a  far  more 
enduring  monument — a  monument  that  will  outlast  all 
time,  and  survive  the  widespread  ruins  of  ten  thousand 
worlds ;  a  trophy  which  is  destined  to  bloom  and  flourish 
in  immortal  youth  in  the  land  of  immortality,  and  which 
will  perpetuate  the  remembrance  of  him  who  raised  it 
throughout  the  boundless  duration  of  eternal  ages. 

"  But  I  am  wandering,  and  have  almost  forgotten 
that  I  am  writing  a  letter  and  not  a  discourse.  I  trust, 
however,  that  you,  who  know  human  nature  so  well, 
will  grant  me  every  indulgence  when  you  take  into  ac- 
count the  present  freshness  and  excitation  of  my  feel- 
ings. My  heart  is  full ;  would  to  God  that  it  continued 
so,  as  out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart  the  mouth 
speaketli !  As  the  active  members  of  committee  seem 
to  have  formed  a  favourable  opinion  of  me,  anything 
which  you  may  feel  yourself  entitled  to  say  calculated 
to  confirm  that  opinion,  or  any  opportunity  which  you 
may  have  it  in  your  power  to  take  of  making  known  my 
sentiments  on  the  present  important  subject,  will  be 
viewed  as  a  token  of  kindness,  surpassed  only  by  the 
many  already  experienced  at  your  hands,  most  unde- 
served on  my  part.  But  I  am  almost  disgusted  with 
this  continued  tissue  of  selfishness,  and  must  endeavour 
to  atone  for  it  in  my  next  communication.  Please  pre- 
sent my  kindest  regards  to  Mrs.  Chalmers  and  family, 
and  Miss  Edie,  and  I  remain,  rev.  and  dear  sir,  yours 
with  deep  feelings  of  gratitude,         Alexander  Duff.'* 

E 


50  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1829. 

But  he  was  not  the  man  to  yield  himself  blindly  to 
conditions  which  might  fetter  his  action  in  a  new.  field, 
and  neutralize  all  that  was  original  or  strong  in  his 
nature.  He  required  to  be  assured,  first,  that  he  should 
be  wholly  unshackled  in  the  modes  of  meeting  and 
operating  on  the  natives ;  and  secondly,  in  particular 
that  he  should  be  entirely  independent  of  the  chaplains 
and  kirk-session  of  Calcutta.  His  foresight  in  these 
most  wise  provisions  proved  equal  to  his  self-devotion, 
and  enabled  that  devotion  to  accomplish  all  that  his 
genius  was  peculiarly  fitted  to  attempt.  Alexander 
Duff  in  trammels  would  have  meant  shipwreck  of  the 
mission.  To  these  terms  Dr.  Inglis  consented,  and 
with  such  utter  trust  that  the  difficulty  afterwards  was 
to  receive  instructions  of  any  kind  from  the  Church. 
Referred  in  vain  to  Dr.  David  Dickson  as  likely,  from 
his  experience  of  the  Scottish  Society,  to  enter  into 
useful  details,  the  first  missionary  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland  went  out  to  Calcutta  with  only  one  injunction 
laid  upon  him,  which  it  became  his  duty  to  violate  the 
moment  he  saw  the  country  and  the  people  for  him- 
self. That  order  was,  not  to  settle  in  the  metropolis 
itself  but  in  a  rural  district  of  Bengal. 

The  committee  had  a  rule,  that  they  must  formally 
hear  a  man  preach  before  ordaining  him  as  a  mis- 
sionary. Accordingly,  at  a  week-day  evening  service 
then  conducted  in  one  of  the  churches  into  which  a 
barbarous  ecclesiasticism  has  divided  the  once  beau- 
tiful Presbyterian  cathedral  of  St.  Griles,  the  E,ev. 
Alexander  Dufi",  M.A.,  licentiate  of  the  Kirk,  preached 
his  first  sermon,  before  Dr.  Inglis  and  Dr.  Andrew 
Thomson,  representatives  of  the  two  great  parties 
in  the  Church,  and  the  only  members  of  committee 
present.  The  text  was  that  word  of  St.  Paul,  in  which 
he  and  all  his  true  successors  have  planted  the  mis- 
sionary  standard,  from  Corinth  west  to  Columba  on 


/Et.  23.  DANIEL  WILSON.   DR.  CUNNINGHAM.    EDWARD  lUVING.  5  I 

lona,  and  east  to  Duff  in  Calcutta:  "I  cletermined 
not  to  know  anything  among  you  save  Jesus  Christ 
and  Him  crucified."  Mr.  Duff  breakfasted  with  Dr. 
Chalmers  on  the  morning  after  the  great  orator  had 
made  that  emancipation  speech  which  carried  not  only 
Edinburgh  but  the  whole  country  by  storm.  Of  this 
speech  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  then  Prime  Minister, 
caused  105,000  copies  to  be  printed  and  calculated 
throughout  the  country.  At  that  time  also  the  reprint 
of  Baxter's  "  Eofornied  Pastor"  had  appeared,  forming 
one  of  the  series  of  Collius's  Select  Christian  Authors, 
with  the  introductory  essay  by  Bishop  Wilson  of 
Calcutta,  then  Daniel  Wilson,  vicar  of  Islington.  Dr. 
Chalmers  had  just  finished  the  perusal  of  it,  and  said  in 
his  own  blunt  way,  "  In  this  essay  Daniel  Wilson  has 
risen  far  above  himself."  On  the  same  occasion  there 
was  a  meeting  of  students  held  in  one  of  the  class- 
rooms of  the  University,  which  Duff  had  the  curiosity 
to  attend.  There  for  the  first  time  he  saw  and  heard 
Principal  Cunningham,  then  a  student  of  theology, 
speak.  He  was  so  struck  with  the  close,  compact,  argu- 
mentative power  of  the  address,  that  he  remarked,  "that 
man,  if  spared,  will  be  sure  to  shine  forth  as  a  great 
ecclesiastical  debater."  Then,  too,  he  received  his 
first  impressions  of  Edward  Irving,  being  more  than 
once  one  of  the  crowd  who  got  up  on  a  winter's  morn- 
ing at  four  o'clock  to  besiege  the  gates  of  St,  Cuth- 
bert's,  for  a  place  to  hear  Thomas  Carlyle's  inspired 
friend,  whom  he  pronounced  worthy  of  his  marvellous 
reputation. 

The  report  read  by  Dr.  Inglis  to  the  Assembly  of 
1829,  buried  in  old  records  and  magazines  from  which 
we  have  exhumed  it,  declared  that  what  the  committee 
had  wanted  in  its  first  missionary  was  "  nothing  less 
than  a  combination  of  the  distinguished  talents  requi- 
site for  that  office  (head  of  a  college),  with  such  dis- 


52  LIFi!    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1829. 

interested  zeal  for  tlie  propagation  of  tlie  gospel  as 
could  induce  a  highly  gifted  individual  to  forego  tlie 
prospect  of  a  settlement  at  home  corresponding  to  his 
merits,  for  the  purpose  of  devoting  himself  to  labour 
in  a  distant  land,  without  any  prospect  of  earthly 
reward  beyond  what  should  be  indispensably  necessary 
to  his  outward  respectability  in  the  society  with  which 
he  was  to  mingle."  This  subsistence  allowance  was 
fixed  at  £300  a  year  and  a  free  house,  "  as  the  least 
that  could  be  reasonably  proffered,"  in  the  year  1829. 

The  committee  then  described  "  Mr.  Alexander  Duff, 
preacher  of  the  gospel,"  whom  they  had  found  "after 
long-continued  inquiry  and  much  patient  waiting," 
as  "  a  person  possessed  of  such  talents  and  acquire- 
ments, literary,  scientific  and  theological,  as  would  do 
honour  to  any  station  in  the  Church ;  who  also  com- 
bines with  these  the  prudence  and  discretion  which  are 
so  peculiarly  requisite  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties 
which  will  devolve  upon  him ;  and  is,  at  the  same  time, 
animated  with  such  zeal  in  the  cause  to  which  he 
devotes  himself,  as  to  make  him  think  lightly  of  all  the 
advantages  which  he  foregoes  in  leaving  his  native 
land."  The  self -dedication  of  the  young  preacher  was 
made  a  reason  for  a  renewed  appeal  to  the  congrega- 
tions of  the  Kirk  to  do  their  duty.  Not  half  of  them — 
only  400 — had  subscribed,  and  that  but  £5,000  in  three 
years.  "  The  natives  of  India,"  they  were  told,  "  are 
our  fellow  subjects,  members  of  the  same  great  com- 
monwealth to  which  we  belong,  dependent  upon  the 
fostering  care  of  the  same  government  under  which  we 
live.  Shall  not  this  consideration  find  its  way  to  the 
heart  of  a  Briton  ?  .  .  Our  exertions  for  this  be- 
nevolent purpose  may  even  have  the  effect  to  sanctify, 
in  the  sight  of  Heaven,  the  government  .  .  and 
to  prolong,  for  the  benefit  of  many  generations,  the 
interesting  relation  in  which  we  stand  to  so  large  a 


.^t.  23.  OEDINATION    BY    DR.    CHALMEliS.  53 

portion  of  the  human  race.  What  would  the  fathers  of 
our  Church  have  said  if,  looking  forward  to  a  period 
of  such  internal  peace  and  prosperity  as  it  now  enjoys, 
they  could  have  supposed  that  the  men  who  now  fill 
their  places  in  the  world,  would  not  even  aim  at 
participating  in  the  high  honour  of  being  instrumental 
in  the  hand  of  God  for  promoting  the  enlargement  of 
the  Redeemer's  kingdom  on  earth?"  Who  shall  say 
that  the  convenor  who  wrote,  and  the  Assembly  who 
heartily  adopted  such  language  as  that,  had  not  a  truly 
imperial  spirit  in  the  highest  sense.  Christian  as  well 
as  political  ?  The  response  had  waited  only  for  the 
man.  Mr.  Dufi's  ordination  resulted  in  the  offer,  by 
not  a  few  parishes,  of  that  annual  collection  which,  in 
the  three  temporarily  severed  but  heartily  co-operating 
branches  of  the  Kirk  of  Scotland,  has  risen  to  a  gross 
revenue  for  foreign  missions  of  nearly  £100,000  a  year. 

The  General  Assembly  of  May,  1829,  cordially  and 
unanimously  appointed  Mr.  Duff  their  first  mission- 
ary, and  his  ordination  in  St.  George's  followed  on 
the  12th  of  August,  Dr.  Chalmers  officiating  on  the 
historic  occasion.  Dr.  Harper,  the  venerable  Principal 
of  the  United  Presbyterian  College,  still  recalls  the 
marvellous  speech  delivered  by  the  new  missionary, 
then  a  young  man  of  twenty-three,  on  his  formal 
designation  to  the  East.  With  such  force  and  fire, 
such  energy  and  action,  did  the  rapt  enthusiast  picture 
the  work  to  which  he  was  giving  his  life,  that  Dr. 
Harper  feared  he  would  too  soon  waste  himself  away 
in  the  heat  of  the  tropics. 

From  not  a  few  pulpits  and  platforms  before  his 
departure  for  India  he  delivered  missionary  discourses 
and  appeals,  which  roused  a  new  spirit  in  the  country, 
and  have  left  behind  them,  in  the  long  half-century 
since  they  were  uttered,  the  echo  of  such  a  burst  of 
self-dedication  as  this  in  the  fine  old  kirk  of  Leuchars, 


^ 


54  LIFE    or   DR.    DUFF.  1829. 

where,  preaching  from  Romans  i.  14,  "  I  am  debtor  both 
to  the  Greeks  and  to  the  Barbarians,"  he  exclaimed — 
*'  There  was  a  time  when  I  had  no  care  or  concern 
for  the  heathen  :  that  was  a  time  when  I  had  no  care 
or  concern  for  my  own  souL  When  by  the  grace  of 
God  I  was  led  to  care  for  my  own  soul,  then  it  was  I 
began  to  care  for  the  heathen  abroad.  In  my  closet, 
on  my  bended  knees,  I  then  said  to  God,  '  0  Lord, 
Thou  knowest  that  silver  and  gold  to  give  to  this 
cause  I  have  none ;  what  I  have  I  give  unto  Thee, — I 
offer  Thee  myself,  wilt  Thou  accept  the  gift  ?  '  "  The 
hearer  who  recalls  this,  adds,  "  I  think  I  see  him,  with 
tears  trickling  down  his  cheeks  as  he  uttered  these 
words.  Afterwards  I  walked  from  Dundee  to  St. 
Andrews,  and  went  to  his  Sabbath  school,  when  he 
gave  a  very  affecting  address  to  his  class  of  young 
people,  urging  them  to  remember  him  in  their  prayers 
as  he  would  them  in  his,  and  the  same  God  who  heard 
them  would  hear  him  in  India." 

To  Mrs.  Briggs  and  other  friends  who  presented  him 
with  that  Bas^ster's  Bible  which  had  afterwards  so  event- 
ful  a  history,  he  wrote  : — "  I  surely  can  never  forget  St. 
Andrews.  Endeared  by  many  interesting  associations, 
and  linked  to  my  soul  by  the  fondest  recollections  of 
kindness  and  friendship  and  Christian  fellowship,  it 
would  argue  a  destitution  of  all  principle  and  of  all 
feeling  did  I  ever  wholly  forget  it.  And  if,  amid  the 
cares  and  the  employments  of  an  arduous  but  glorious 
undertaking  in  a  foreign  land,  the  freshness  of  feeling 
be  apt  to  become  languid,  and  the  vividness  of  memory 
to  fade,  the  daily  obtrusion  on  the  eye  of  sense  of  a 
memorial  like  the  present  cannot  fail  to  quicken  the 
languishing  feelings,  and  revive  the  fading  impres- 
sions on  the  memory.  What  is  more :  the  daily 
perusal  of  that  blessed  book,  which,  in  its  present 
adventitious  connection,  must  serve  as  the  reviver  of 


^.t.  23.  TO   FATUER   AND    MOTHER.  55 

what  had  a  tendency  to  decay,  and  the  remembrancer 
of  friends  that  are  far  distant,  will  invest  these  im- 
pressions with  a  sacredness,  and  those  feelings  with  a 
hallovveduess,  to  the  possession  of  which  they  could 
not  otherwise  have  any  claim." 

The  decision  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  the 
arrangements  which  followed  it,  led  him  thus  to  address 
his  father,  who  had  watched  with  a  grateful  pride  the 
consecration  of  the  son  to  a  higher  than  an  ecclesiastical 
bishopric  of  souls  : — "  Pray  with  redoubled  earnestness 
that  I  may  be  strengthened  with  all  might  in  the  inner 
man,  and  with  all  grace  and  all  divine  knowledge,  that 
I  may  be  enabled  to  approve  myself  a  good  and  a 
valiant  soldier  of  the  Cross,  and  not  merelyji^-eojaaiMon 
soldier  but  a  champion.  Oh  !  that  I  breathed  a  nobler 
spirit,  and  were  filled  with  a  more  fervent  and  devoted 
zeal,  and  were  more  humbled  on  account  of  my  vileness 
and  unworthiness,  and  were  clinging  more  closely  to 
my  Saviour."  The  natural  affection  of  his  mother 
he  thus  reasoned  with :  '*  Beware  of  making  an  idol 
of  me.  While  you  feel  all  the  tenderness  of  parental 
love  which  the  faith  of  the  gospel,  far  from  extirpating, 
strengthens,  sanctifies,  and  refines,  be  earnest  in_graygr 
to  God  that  Satan  may  not  tempt  you  to  raise  me  to 
an  undue  place  in  your  affections,  lest  God,  in  His  holy 
displeasure,  see  fit  to  remove  me  not  only  to  India, 
but  to  the  land  of  skulls  and  sepulchres.  Think 
then,  ponder,  pray  over  these  things,  and  may  God 
Himself  guide  and  direct  you  into  the  ways  of  peace 
and  heavenly  resignation.  Your  account  of  the 
people  about  Moulin  has  driven  me  to  pray,  and 
humbled  me  in  the  dust.  Lord,  what  am  I  that  I 
should  be  so  highly  honoured  as  to  be  made  the  in- 
strument of  conveying  such  truths  as  were  calculated 
to  arouse,  to  awaken,  to  edify  ?  Merit,  is  it  said  ? 
No,  no,  had  I  any  more  than  the  koDowed  channel 


56  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1S29. 

of  the  river  along  which  are  made  to  flow  those 
streams  that  enrich  and  fertihze  the  neighbouring 
lands  ? "  Again  when  leaving  Scotland  he  thus 
poured  out  all  the  sacred  confidences  and  trust  of 
his  heart ; — 

"  Edinbuegh,  2bth  August,  1829. 

"  My  Dear  Father, — I  received  your  gratifying 
letter  in  time  to  prevent  uneasiness.  It  was  truly  a 
gratifying  letter,  vividly  displaying  the  workings  and 
resolutions  of  a  Christian  mind,  as  well  as  the  feelings 
of  a  tender  parent.  Who  sent  us  all  our  blessings  ? 
God.  And  shall  we  return  His  kindness  with  base 
ingratitude  ?  shall  we  become  more  obdurate  the  more 
He  showers  upon  us  of  His  loving-kindness  ?  Yes,  we 
may,  but  woe  unto  us  if  we  shall;  we  may,  but  heaven 
will  frown  upon  us  if  we  do,  and  hell  will  exult  with 
joy.  Come,  then,  let  us  acknowledge  the  goodness  of 
God.  Let  us  pour  out  our  souls  in  praise  and  thanks- 
giving at  a  throne  of  grace.  Is  He  not  a  kind  God, 
and  shall  we  be  unmindful  ?  Is  He  not  a  gracious 
forgiving  God,  and  shall  we  be  rebellious  ?  Is  He  not 
a  God  of  love,  and  shall  we  therefore  hate  Him  and 
His  children  ?  Ah  !  What  do  I  say  ?  Forget,  rebel 
against,  and  hate  the  great  Creator,  Preserver,  Re- 
deemer, and  Judge  !  Oh,  my  soul,  shrink  from  the 
impious  thought;  and  praise  God  that  thou  art  not 
at  this  moment  an  outcast  in  the  place  of  perdition. 

"  This,  my  dear  father,  I  believe  to  be  the  language 
o£  your  heart,  when  you  have  finally  resolved  to  deliver 
me  up  a  free-will  offering  to  the  Lord.  In  so  delivering 
me  do  reckon  it  to  be  a  duty  and  a  privilege.  Instead 
of  my  being  willing  in  this  service,  and  preserved  from 
the  evil  that  is  in  the  world,  might  I  not,  at  this 
moment,  be  a  rake,  and  given  up  to  all  manner  of  vice, 
and  doomed  to  expiate  my  crime  against  an  outraged 


^t.  23.  TENDElt    FAREWELLS.  57 

community  on  the  scaffold  ?  And  would  not  your 
heart  be  broken  and  your  grey  hairs  brought  down 
with  sorrow  to  the  grave,  if  this  were  my  unhappy 
destiny  ?  Yes,  my  dear  father,  sure  I  am  that,  in  this 
case,  anguish  inexpressible  would  be  your  anguish, 
such  as  alone  a  parent  can  feel.  Who  then  has  so 
highly  favoured  you  and  me  as  to  save  us  the  anguish 
and  shame  of  such  a  death  ?  God  alone,  in  the  riches 
of  His  restraining  grace  and  boundless  compassion. 
And  if,  on  the  other  hand,  God,  with  a  love  that  is 
unfathomable  as  the  abyss  of  His  own  infinity,  has 
blessed  me  undeservedly,  blessed  me  with  the  comforts 
of  this  life,  infused  into  my  soul  a  portion  of  His 
grace,  taught  me  to  look  forward  to  a  glorious 
heaven  as  my  home ;  nay  more,  made  my  venerable 
parent  the  Church  of  Scotland  call  me,  one  of  the 
unworthiest  of  her  sons,  to  fight  the  battles  of  the 
Lord  in  the  land  of  the  enemy,  and  exhibit  feats  of 
divine  heroism,  and  live  the  life  and  die  the  death  of 
a  special  ambassador  of  the  Lord  to  the  heathen,  oh  I 
should  not  I  rejoice,  should  not  you  rejoice  and  fall 
down  on  your  knees,  and  bless  and  praise  and  magnify 
the  holy  name  of  God,  for  having  so  richly  favoured, 
so  highly  honoured  a  feeble,  undeserving  son  of  yours  ? 
Or  will  you  be  a  loser  by  so  giving  me  up  to  the  Lord, 
and  so  praising  Him  for  His  goodness  in  having  called 
me  to  so  mighty  a  work?  No,  God  will  bless  you 
with  the  blessing  of  Abraham,  will  enrich  you  with 
His  faith  and  reward,  and  will  reward  you  a  thousand- 
fold for  your  willing  resignation  and  cheerful  readiness 
in  obeying  God's  command.  The  Lord  bless  j^ou,  and 
my  dear  mother,  and  all  the  people  of  God  at  Moulin. 
Adieu  1     Your  dear  and  affectionate  son, 

"Alexander  Duff." 
The  student  who   seems  to  have  taken  the  place  of 


58  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1829. 

Urquliart  in  his  affections  was  one  of  liis  own  age, 
but  several  years  junior  to  him  in  college.  To  David 
Ewart,  also  a  Perthshire  man  but  born  at  Alyth,  he 
thus  describes  his  preparation  in  Edinburgh  for  the 
work  which  he  had  undertaken.  The  glowing  lan- 
guage and  utter  self-surrender  doubtless  influenced  his 
friend  to  follow  him  after  some  years  to  Calcutta  : — 

"  Edinburgh,  8th  July,  1829. 

"  My  Deae  Me.  Ewaet, — In  redemption  of  a  pledge 
given  at  our  last  parting  I  now  write  to  you.  At 
present  my  time  is  chiefly  occupied  in  inspecting  the 
best  conducted  schools  in  this  city,  in  writing  dis- 
courses for  my  ordination-trials,  etc.,  and  in  studying 
the  religion  and  character  of  the  Hindoos,  so  far  as 
a  knowledge  of  these  can  be  acquired  from  books  and 
the  information  of  gentlemen  who  have  been  in  India ; 
my  object  being,  under  the  divine  blessing,  to  employ 
every  means  that  may  conduce  to  render  myself  more 
fully  qualified  for  satisfactorily  fulfilling  the  arduous 
duties  which  I  have  undertaken  to  discharge.  To 
imbue  these  dead  exercises  with  the  living  energy  of 
heaven,  and  convert  them  into  usefulness  in  the  service 
of  heaven,  I  endeavour  feebly  and  imperfectly,  yet, 
I  trust,  earnestly  and  incessantly,  to  pour  out  my 
soul  in  prayer  and  supplication  to  the  Father  of  spirits, 
that  He  may  cause  His  richest  blessings  to  descend 
upon  my  feeble  efforts.  I  have  endeavoured  to  exam- 
ine into  the  state  of  my  soul,  to  prove  the  sincerity  of 
my  motives  in  my  self-dedication  to  the  cause  of  Christ. 
I  have  endeavoured  not  only  to  subdue,  but  absolutely 
to  crucify  and  annihilate,  that  fair  and  plausible  and 
insinuating  but  withal  hell-enkindled  and  soul-destroy- 
ing thing,  self :  1  have  endeavoured  to  count  the  cost 
and  view  it   in  its  most  fearful  map:nitude :    I  have 


A\.t.  23.  rinST    LETTER   TO    DAVID    EWAllT.  59 

endeavoured  to  ascend  tlie  mountain  of  tlie  Lord,  to 
enter  His  holy  temple  and  presence,  to  lay  liold  of  the 
balances  of  the  sanctuary.  In  the  one  eide  I  have 
placed  the  clinging  ties  and  lingering  claims  of  the 
land  of  my  fathers,  the  fond  caresses  of  friends  and 
acquaintances  dear  as  life,  the  refined  enjoyments  of 
civilized  society,  the  delights  arising  from  favourite 
studies,  and  the  exhilarating  benefits  of  a  kindly  cli- 
mate :  in  the  other,  the  unredeemed  cheerlessness  of  a 
foreign  land,  the  scorn  and  contempt  and  ridicule  of 
the  strangers  for  whose  welfare  I  labour,  the  grating 
inconveniences  of  a  rude  untutored  community,  the 
engagements  in  studies  and  pursuits  inherently  unwel- 
come to  the  mind,  and  the  enervating,  destructive 
influences  of  an  unwholesome  atmosphere;  dangers, 
difficulties,  disappointments,  yea,  the  great  probability 
of  a  sudden,  premature  death  : — these  have  I,  in  depen- 
dence upon  divine  grace,  endeavoured  to  weigh  in  the 
balances.  The  former  side,  notwithstanding  its  appa- 
rent weight,  has  been  found  wanting ;  the  latter  God 
has  been  graciously  pleased  to  cause  uniformly  to  pre- 
ponderate. And  in  the  glow  of  a  feeling  which  is  not 
natural  to  flesh  and  blood,  and  which,  from  its  per- 
manence, cannot  be  the  offspring  of  a  heated  imagina- 
tion, I  have  been  enabled  to  exclaim  :  '  May  the  former 
considerations  not  only  be  weakened,  but  be  utterly 
swept  out  of  existence.  0  Lord,  I  feel  their  littleness, 
their  total  insignificancy,  and,  for  the  sake  of  promoting 
Thy  glory  among  the  heathen,  I  cordially,  cheerfully 
embrace  the  latter  :  yea,  if  such  were  Thy  will,  I 
am  ready  to  go  to  the  parched  desert  or  the  howling 
wilderness,  to  live  on  its  bitter  herbs  and  at  the  mercy 
of  its  savage  inhabitants.  Lord,  strengthen  the  weak, 
ness  of  my  faith  that  I  may  be  powerful  in  accom- 
plishing Thy  will.'     .     .     Your  affectionate  friend, 

"Alexander  Dufe." 


60  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1829. 

Next  to  his  own  people,  none  took  so  keen  an  in- 
terest in  tlie  whole  career  of  the  young  missionary  as  a 
patriarchal  *couple  at  Blairgowrie,  who,  being  childless, 
had  long  devoted  themselves  exclusively  to  work  for 
Christ.  Patrick  Lawson  and  his  wife  became  young 
again  when  they  had  students  around  them ;  and  few 
were  so  welcome  as  Alexander  Duff,  who  had  been  in 
the  habit  of  visiting  them  annually,  on  the  rising  of  the 
college,  attracted  chiefly  by  their  rich  and  racy  biblical 
talk.  In  his  last  interview,  after  his  appointment  by 
the  General  Assembly,  he  was  asked  abruptly  whether 
he  intended  to  marry.  He  replied  that  he  had  been 
too  close  a  student  to  think  of  such  matters,  and  had 
not,  up  to  that  time,  met  one  whom  he  could  conscien- 
tiously regard  as  a  suitable  helpmeet  in  so  arduous  an 
enterprise.  *'  "Well,"  said  the  old  gentleman,  stead- 
fastly regarding  him,  "  I  do  not  approve  of  young  men 
fresh  from  college  taking  wives  to  themselves  when 
newly  married  to  their  church,  before  they  can  pos- 
sibly know  the  requirements  of  their  work.  But  your 
case  is  wholly  different.  You  go  to  a  distant  region 
of  heathenism,  where  you  will  find  little  sympathy 
among  your  countrymen,  and  will  need  the  com- 
panionship of  one  like-minded  to  whom  you  may  un- 
bosom yourself.  My  advice  to  you  is,  be  quietly  on 
/the  look-out ;  and  if,  in  God's  providence,  you  make 
ithe  acquaintance  of  one  of  the  daughters  of  Zion, 
/  traversing,  like  yourself,  the  wilderness  of  this  world, 
her  face  set  thitherward,  get  into  friendly  converse 
/  with  her.  If  you  find  that  in  mind,  in  heart,  in  tem- 
1  per  and  disposition  you  congenialize,  and  if  God  puts 
it  into  her  heart  to  be  willing  to  fijrsake  father  and 
mother  and  cast  in  her  lot  with  you,  regard  it  as  a 
token  from  the  God  of  providence  that  you  should  use 
the  proper  means  to  secure  her  Christian  society." 
l^Thus  he  went  on,  in  the  allegorical  style  of  Bunyan, 


^t.  23.  MAKIMAGE.  6 1 

and  with  a  deep  feeling  which  speedily  won  Mr.  Duff's 
assent. 

Just  before  Dr.  Chalmers  ordained  the  missionary, 
Dr.  Inglis  married  him  to  Anne  Scott  Drysdale,  of 
Edinburgh.  It  was,  and  was  more  than  once  pronounced 
by  him,  when  left  the  survivor  but  not  solitary,  a  happy 
consummation.  Never  had  even  missionary  a  more 
devoted  wife.  Sinkino:  herself  in  her  husband  from 
the  very  first,  she  gave  him  a  new  strength,  and  left 
the  whole  fulness  of  his  nature  and  his  time  free  for 
the  one  work  of  his  life.  She  worthily  takes  her  place 
among  those  noble  women,  in  many  lands  of  the  East, 
who  have  supplied  the  domestic  order,  the  family  joy, 
the  wedded  strength  needed  to  nerve  the  pioneers  of 
missions  for  the  unceasing  conflict  that  ends  in 
victory .  ,-. 

It  was  on  the  19th  September,  1829,  that  the  mis- ^ 
sionary  and  his  wife  left  Leith  for  London,  where  they 
became  the  guests  of  Alderman  and  Mrs.  Pirie,  and 
where  Mr.,  afterwards  Sir  John  Pirie,  secured  a 
passage  and  fitted  up  a  cabin  for  them  in  the  Lady 
Holland  East  Indiaman.  Dr.  Inglis  had  formally 
applied  to  the  Court  of  Directors  for  that  permission 
for  Mr.  Duff  and  his  wife  to  sail  to  India  as  "  inter- 
lopers," not  in  the  covenanted  civil,  military  and  naval 
service  of  the  East  India  Company,  which  passport 
Parliament  was  soon  to  declare  unnecessary  by  the 
liberal  charter  of  1833.  He  was,  Dr.  Inglis  reported 
to  the  Assembly  of  1830,  "  supplied  with  letters  of 
introduction  and  recommendation  to  the  Governor- 
General,  to  our  countryman  the  Earl  of  Dalhousie, 
to  other  men  of  influence  at  the  seat  of  Government 
at  Calcutta,  and  to  some  of  our  private  friends."  The 
Earl,  who  was  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Indian 
armies,  was  the  father  of  the  great  Marquis,  and  the 
Governor-General  was  Lord  William  Bentiuck.     Thia 


^ 


62  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1S29. 

was  the  letter  to  the  Calcutta  chaplain.  Dr.  Bryce 
and  his  wife  in  due  time  welcomed  ]\Ir.  and  Mrs.  DufE 
with  the  proverbial  kindliness  of  Anglo-Indians. 

'^  EDl^-BUEGH,  \6th  September,  1829. 

**  My  Dzab  Sib, — This  letter  will  be  delivered  to  you  by  Mr. 
Alexander  Doff,  who  is,  at  length,  sent  out  as  Head  Master  of 
tke  General  Assembly's  proposed  Institution  in  India.  I  need 
not  say  much  for  explaining  to  you  the  causes  of  delay  in  the 
accomplishment  of  an.  object  which  I  have  had  much  at  heart. 
TTant  of  money  will  readily  occur  to  you;  and  it  was  in  fact 
the  only  impediment.  But  we  no\v  hope  tbat  we  may  venture 
to  send  out  one  assistant  to  Mr.  Duff,  who  may  reach  him 
pretty  nearly  as  soon  as  he  shall  have  made  all  the  requisite 
preparations  for  the  work  assigned  to  him. 

"  I  have  great  confidence  in  Mr.  Duff  for  an  able  and  faith- 
ful and  prudent  discharge  of  all  the  duty  which  he  has  under- 
taken. At  the  College  of  St.  Andrews,  where  he  was  bred, 
he  stood  very  high  in  respect  of  attainments — literary  and 
scientific  as  well  as  theological;  he  carried  off  many  of  the 
first  prizes  in  every  department.  At  the  same  time  his  whole 
heart  seems  to  be  committed  in  the  work  which  he  has  under- 
taken ;  and  we  have  had  the  strongest  attestations  of  the  pru- 
dence and  discretion  of  his  general  conduct. 

"  As  to  his  side  in  the  Church  I  have  made  no  inqtury. 
It  was  obvious  from  the  beginning  that  this  was  not  a  point  to 
be  insisted  on.  But  he  has  been  recommended  to  me  by  men 
of  both  sides  of  the  Church  in  langaage  equally  strong.  I 
have  no  doubt  of  his  experiencing  from  you  all  the  kindness 
which  my  heart  can  desire ;  and  I  am  confident  that  my  friend 
Mrs.  Bryce  vrill  have  an  equal  disposition  to  show  kindness  to 
Mrs.  Duff.  \Yith  her  I  am  little  acquainted;  but  it  would 
give  me  much  pleasure  to  learn  that  she  proves  an  agreeable 
accompaniment  of  oiu*  mission  to  India. 

"  Many  thanks  to  you  for  what  you  did  in  procuring  contri- 
butions to  our  fund.  I  received  notice  from  Dr.  Meiklejohn 
and  Mr.  Peterkin  that  they  amount  to  about  £1,000,  lying  in 
a  bank  at  Calcutta,  and  bearing  interest  at  the  order  of  the 
General  Assembly.  I  received  a  similar  intimation  that  3,3o0 
rupees  were  lying  for  ns  at  Bombay.     An  order  Avill  be  sent 


J£l  23.  DR.    IXGLIS  TO   DB.    BBYCE.  6^ 

through  the  house  of  Coutts  &  Co.,  in  London,  for  the  pay- 
ment of  both  the  Calcutta  and  the  Bombay  money  to  their 
coirespondeat  in  Calcutta,  who  will  be  empowered  to  dispose 
of  it,  for  behoof  of  the  Assembiy^s  Committee,  in  the  payment 
of  salaries,  etc.,  a3  circamstances  shall  require. 

"  I  must  refer  you  to  Mr.  Duff  for  an  explanation  of  all  our 
plan,  which  has  been  arranged  in  the  course  of  consultation 
with  your  excellent  friend.  Dr.  Macwhirter.  In  truth,  the 
want  of  money  seems  to  be  the  only  thing  that  stands  in  the 
way  of  a  fair  prospect  of  great  success.  This  want  I  shall  do 
everything  in  my  power  to  supply  ;  and  I  am  very  hopeful 
that  yoc  will  now  find  it  in  your  power  to  assist  me  farther 
with  your  friends  in  India.  In  this  case  we  should  be  able 
very  soon  to  co replete  what  has  been  proposed  by  having,  be- 
sides the  head-master,  two  assistant- teachers  firom  Europe, 
and  as  many  native  teachers  as  they  can  conveniently  superin- 
tend. I  shall  now  be  very  anxious  to  hear  from  you  about 
what  is  doing  after  ^ix.  Duff's  arrival.  The  precise  site  of 
our  Institution  will  be  an  important  object  to  fix.  All  that  we 
have  determined  here  is  that  it  shoidd  be  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Calcutta," 

The  missionary's  last  letter  from  L:i.:i:n  vras 
addressed  to  Dr.  Chalmers  : 

"  &{h  October,  1829. 

**  Dbab  Doctoe, — I  cannot  make  a  sufficient  acknow- 
ledgment to  YOU  for  your  kindness  in  forwarding  to 
me  a  copy  of  your  charge.  Xo  boon  could  be  to  me 
so  invaluable,  no  address  equally  pregnant  with  sound 
advice  and  eloquent  admonition.  Major  Camac,  to 
whom  you  so  kindly  introduced  me,  I  found  truly 
agreeable  and  ready  to  promote  my  views.  By  Mr. 
Orme  I  was  last  week  introduced  to  a  full  meeting  of 
the  directors  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  who 
received  me  with  the  most  marked  attention  ;  and  in 
private  I  have  reaped  much  benefit  from  the  conversa- 
tions of  Mr.  Townly,  Dr.  Henderson,  and  Mr.  Hands. 


64  LIFE    OP   DE.    DUFF.  1829. 

I  have  attended  Mr.  Forbes  for  tlie  acquisition  of 
oriental  languages.  My  kindest  respects  to  Mrs. 
Chalmers  and  family,  and  Miss  Edie.  This  evening 
we  set  off  for  Portsmouth." 


CHAPTER  IIL 

1830. 

THE  TWO  SHIPWRECKS. 

"In  Perils  of  Waters." — The  Lady  Holland  and  her  Passengers 
— Lieutenant  H.  M.  Durand. — Madeira. — The  Unfortunate  Ball. 
— Captain  Marryat. — George  Canning's  Eldest  Son. — Pirates. — 
Cape  Verd  Islands. — Off  Dassen  Island. — The  First  Shipwreck. 
— Anticipations  of  the  Day  of  Judgment. — Resignation  and 
Prayer. — Saved  at  Last. — The  Bible  and  Psalter  cast  up  by 
the  Sea. — Fervent  Thanksgiving  of  All. — Lesson  from  the  Lost 
Library. —  Cape  Town. — Letter  to  Dx'.  Chalmers. — Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Duff  sail  in  the  Moira  for  Calcutta. — Opposing  Gales. — At  the 
Sandheads. — Cyclone  off  Saugar  Island. — The  Second  Shipwreck. 
— A  Night  and  Day  of  Storm.— The  Missionary  and-  his  Wife 
thrown  on  the  Shore  of  India. — A  Day  and  Night  in  a  Temple. 
— Welcomed  at  Calcutta. — Adam  and  Lacroix. — Lord  and  Lady 
William  Bentinck. — Superstition  of  the  Natives  forecasts  Duff's 
Future. 

The  vision  of  judgment  seen  by  the  child  who  had 
been  feeding  his  fancy  on  the  Gaelic  rhapsodies  of 
Dugald  Buchanan;  the  divine  call  to  the  boy  as  he 
lay  dreaming  among  the  blae-berries  on  the  stream- 
let's bank ;  the  deliverance  of  the  youth  by  the  flare 
of  a  torch  when  he  and  his  companion  were  falling 
into  the  sleep  of  death,  lost  amid  the  snowdrifts 
of  the  Grampians — these  foreshadowings  were  not 
to  cease  until  the  missionary's  preparation  for  his 
work  was  completed.  He  had  followed  the  monition 
of  all  three,  not  blindly,  but  as  explained  by  John 
Urquhart's  death-consecrated  appeal,  by  Dr.  Haldane's 
apparently  premature  invitation,  by  Dr.  Ferrie's  ap- 
propriate demand   that  he  should    offer    himself  for 


66  LIFK    OP   DR.    DUFF.  1829. 

Ocilcufcta,  by  Dr.  Inglis's  approval,  by  tlie  General 
Assembly's  appointment ;  and,  finally,  by  ordination 
at  the  hands  of  the  Presbytery,  amid  the  crowd  that 
filled  St.  George's,  Edinburgh,  and  after  the  inspirit- 
ing eloquence  of  Dr.  Chalmers.  Alexander  Duff  and 
his  wife  were  still  to  undergo  the  experience  of  the 
greatest  of  all  missionaries  who  wrote,  "  Thrice  I 
suffered  shipwreck,  a  night  and  a  day  have  I  been  in 
the  deep,  in  journey ings  often,  in  perils  of  waters." 

The  East  India  Company's  ship  Lady  Holland, 
having  filled  up  in  the  Thames  with  a  cargo  valued 
at  £48,000,  entered  the  Channel,  shipped  her  passen- 
gers at  Portsmouth,  became  windbound  for  a  week  at 
Spithead,  and  finally  set  sail  from  Ryde  on  the  14th 
October,  1829.  Plunging  heavily  into  the  storm  out- 
side the  Isle  of  Wight,  the  ship  made  for  Falmouth, 
When  the  gale  had  abated  she  passed  close  to  a 
derelict  vessel  carrying  wood  and  swept  desolate  by 
the  wavfes.  Not  a  trace  of  the  crew  could  be  found. 
The  sight  affected  the  Lady  Holland's  passengers 
and  crew,  filling  not  a  few  with  ominous  apprehen- 
sions as  to  the  issues  of  a  voyage  thus  begun.  But 
the  dreaded  Bay  of  Biscay  proved  to  be  unusually 
friendly,  although  contrary  winds  did  not  allow  the 
ship  to  reach  the  roads  of  Eunchal  till  the  7th  of 
November.  By  that  time  the  twenty-two  passengers 
had  taken  stock  of  each  other.  The  great  man  on  board 
was  no  higher  than  a  judge  in  the  Madras  civil  service ; 
but  it  was  a  fortunate  circumstance  that  Mr.  Lascelles 
and  his  party  of  seven  proved  to  be  "  decidedly  pious,'* 
as  described  by  Mr.  Dufi^  in  a  letter  to  Principal 
Haldane.  An  eighth,  and  next  to  Duff  himself  the 
most  remarkable  man  on  board,  was  Henry  Marion 
Durand,  the  young  lieutenant  of  Engineers  who  was 
to  come  second  only  to  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  on  the 
brilliant  roll  of  the  Company's  soldier-statesmen.     He 


^t.  23.        LIEUTENANT    DUEAND.     CAriAIN    JIAHILYAT.  6/ 

made  up  a  gatliering  of  at  least  ten  who  attended 
daily  worship.* 

The  captain,  as  usual,  had  intended  to  remain 
a  week  at  ]\Iadoira,  to  take  in  a  cargo  of  wine 
that  it  might  make  the  voyage  to  India  to  bo 
mellowed  for  the  English  market.  Anticipating  this 
Alderman  Pirio  had  provided  for  the  hospitable 
reception  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Duff  by  his  agent,  Mr. 
Stoddart,  who  was  one  of  the  principal  merchants  and 
afterwards  British  Consul.  As  there  were  at  the 
time  three  British  frigates  in  the  roads,  they  found 
their  fellow-guest  to  be  the  famous  novelist,  Captain 
Marryat,  who  was  in  command  of  one.  The  week  had 
nearly  passed ;  the  agent  of  the  ship  gave  the  usual 
ball  to  the  captain  and  passengers  on  the  night  before 
her  announced  departure,  and  all  were  present  at  the 
dance  save  the  Duffs  and  Lieutenant  Durand.  After 
midnight  westerly  gales  set  in  with  violence  and  drove 
the  ships  in  the  Bay  out  to  sea.  Three  of  them 
missed  stays,  were  driven  ashore  and  dashed  to  pieces, 
and  not  a  life  was  saved.  The  captains  of  the  frigates 
and  other  vessels,  being  on  shore  at  the  ball,  were  in 
a  very  sorry  plight.  Day  after  day  there  was  a  suc- 
cession of  gales,  so  that  nothing  was  heard  of  any 
one  of  the  vessels  for  upwards  of  three  weeks. 
We  may  imagine  the  position  of  those  passengers 
who  had  gone  ashore  in  their  ball-dress  with  no 
change  of  garments.  Despairing  of  the  vessel  some 
of  them  began  to  negotiate  with  a  Portuguese  ship 
about  to  proceed  to  Lisbon,  that  they  might  thence  go 
to  London  and  take  out  a  new  passage. 

Being  thus  unexpectedly  detained  upwards  of  three 


*  TliG  life  of  Sir  Hciny  Durani],  the  noblest  member  of  the  ducal 
house  of  Northamborlaud,  is  bciug  wriltcn  bj  his  second  son,  who 
is  of  the  Bengal  civil  service. 


68  LIFE   OF   DE.    DDIT.  1829. 

weeks  beyond  the  allotted  time,  the  passengers  in  the 
different  parties  visited  the  most  interesting  sights  of 
the  island,  amongst  others  the  Curral,  in  the  centre, 
which  is  in  reality  the  gigantic  crater  of  a  volcano 
rising  to  the  height  of  six  thousand  feet.  Approached 
by  a  difficult  zigzag  path  along  many  precipices  which 
look  down  upon  a  tremendous  chasm,  the  Curral  was 
not  seen  till  they  actually  reached  it.  At  the  first 
sight  of  its  vast  dimensions,  in  breadth  as  well  as  height 
and  depth,  all  were  struck  dumb  by  a  sensation  of  the 
sublime.  The  appearance  of  the  place  suggested  to 
Mr.  Duff  the  well-known  lines  of  Cowper, — 

"  Higher  than  the  heights  above. 
Deeper  than  the  depths  beneath, 
Free  and  faithful,  strong  as  deaths" 

which  he  could  not  help  repeating  aloud.  During 
his  stay  he  also  inspected  some  conventual  and  mon- 
astic institutions,  making  inquiries  into  the  practical 
working  of  both.  At  that  time  Don  Miguel  had 
usurped  the  throne  of  Portugal,  and  had  seized  the 
Portuguese  fleet,  which  he  sent  to  Madeira  to  capture 
the  island,  to  expel  the  Constitutionalists,  and  to  pro- 
claim his  own  sovereignty  over  it.  Such  was  the 
ignorance  of  the  inhabitants,  that  the  priests  succeeded 
in  making  them  believe  that  Miguel  was  the  incarna- 
tion of  the  archangel  Michael;  and  their  professed 
belief  or  non-belief  in  this  impudent  dogma  was  con- 
stituted into  a  test  to  distinguish  between  the  Miguel- 
ites  and  the  Constitutionalists. 

A  little  before  this  time  the  eldest  surviving  son 
of  the  great  George  Canning  had  been  there  in  com- 
mand of  an  English  frigate.  Animated  by  the  liberal 
principles  of  his  father,  he  made  it  to  be  understood 
that,  though  he  could  not  officially  interfere,  if  any  of 
the  persecuted  Constitutionalists  chose  to  seek  refuge 


^t.  23.  DROWNING  OP   LORD  CANNING's    BROTHER.  69 

on  board  his  sliip  he  would  receive  them.  In  time  it 
was  known  to  the  Portuguese  authorities  that  he  had 
upwards  of  three  hundred  of  these  on  board,  and  the 
Governor  of  the  island  and  the  Admiral  of  the  Portu- 
guese sent  him  a  message  to  the  effect  that  if  he  did 
not  deliver  up  the  refugees,  whom  they  reckoned 
traitors,  they  would  blow  his  frigate  in  pieces.  This 
they  could  have  done,  but  young  Canning,  with  the 
spirit  of  the  British  seaman,  always  replied,  "  No, 
never ;  I  will  deliver  up  not  one  of  them,  and  you 
may  blow  my  ship  in  pieces  if  you  like,  but  that  will 
only  precipitate  your  own  doom,  as  it  would  send 
forth  the  English  Navy  to  put  an  end  to  you  utterly." 
In  point  of  fact  they  did  not  meddle  with  him.  A 
good  way  up  the  hill  a  retired  merchant  of  the  name 
of  Gordon  resided  in  a  house  beautifully  situated. 
He  was  a  very  humane  man.  He  had  got  himself 
appointed  conservator  of  animals,  so  that  he  was 
constantly  on  the  look-out  for  cases  of  cruelty  to  be 
punished.  It  was  a  real  instance  of  benevolence  of 
natural  instinct.  He  was  also  very  hospitable.  One 
day  Captain  Canning  went  up  the  hill  to  the  house, 
in  front  of  which  was  a  tank  of  fresh  water.  Being 
greatly  heated  he  threw  off  his  clothes,  plunged  into 
the  tank,  was  seized  with  cramp,  and  never  came  out 
alive.  Thus  perished  one  whose  younger  brother  be- 
came the  first  Viceroy  of  India.*  Among  the  Consti- 
tutionalists there  was  throughout  the  island  universal 
lamentation. 

Mr.  Duff  held  Sabbath  services  in  the  hall  of  one 
the    boarding-houses,   which    were   attended  by  most 


*  Shall  we  never  see  a  memoir  of  Charles  John  Earl  Canning,  K.G., 
and  his  more  noble  wife  r  Their  name  seeras  likely  to  perish  mosb 
undeservedly,  absorbed  in  that  of  the  De-Burghs  or  Burkes,  of  whom 
is  their  nephew,  the  Marquis  of  Clauricarde. 


^0  LIFE    OV    DR.    DUFF.  1830. 

of  tbe  English  people  in  FuncLal ;  and  there  was  no 
hearer  more  attentive  than  Captain  Marry  at,  who  used 
to  boast  that  one  of  his  ancestors  was  a  martyr  to  the 
Christian  faith.  After  three  weeks  one  and  another  of 
the  missing  ships  began  to  return,  and  on  the  3rd 
December  the  Lady  Holland  set  sail  in  company  with 
one  of  the  British  frigates  which  had  been  ordered 
to  the  equatorial  regions  to  look  after  pirates.  This 
necessitated  a  detour  to  the  port  of  the  principal 
of  the  Cape  Yerd  islands,  where  the  captain  of  the 
frigate  had  to  consult  the  British  Consul,  and  learn 
from  him  all  that  was  known  about  the  proceedings 
of  the  pirates.  There  the  ship  was  again  detained 
a  week.  At  that  time  the  islands,  instead  of  realizing 
what  their  name  implies,  were  suffering  from  long- 
continued  drought,  so  that  everything  on  the  surface 
was  literally  burned  up. 

One  morning,  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  the 
vessel  there  passed,  scudding  before  the  wind,  one 
of  the  famous  pirate  ships  with  at  least  fifty  men 
on  deck,  and  the  British  frigate  in  full  pursuit. 
The  Lady  Holland^  thus  saved  from  what  otherwise 
would  have  been  destruction  to  passengers  and  ves- 
sel, rapidly  proceeded  on  her  voyage,  leaving  the 
frigate  to  deal  with  the  pirate.  After  having  been 
driven  by  the  south-east  trade-wind  very  near  to  the 
coast  of  Buenos  Ayres,  she  at  last,  early  in  February, 
approached  the  coast  of  South  Africa,  for  the  captain 
intended  to  call  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  For 
a  whole  week  the  weather  had  been  cloudy  and  bois- 
terous, so  that  no  accurate  observation  could  be  ob- 
tained as  to  the  position  of  the  ship  ;  still,  the  captain 
knew  that  he  was  within  no  great  distance  of  the 
coast.  Three  times,  by  contrary  winds,  he  was  driven 
considerably  to  the  south  of  Table  Bay,  and  returned 
with  the  view  of  going  into  it. 


iEt.  24.  THE    FIRST    SllirWRECK.  7 1 

From  the  Cape  coast  there  shoots  out  into  the  sea,  for 
forty  or  fifty  miles,  a  sandbank  on  which  soundings  may 
be  had,  but  along  which  a  tremendous  current  sweeps 
round  from  the  Cape.  By  soundings,  on  Saturday 
evening,  13th  February,  the  captain  knew  that  he  had 
entered  on  tliis  bank.  His  intention,  therefore,  was 
to  avoid  risks  by  turning  his  vessel  back  to  sea  about 
eight  o'clock.  But  having  then  sounded,  his  conclu- 
sion was  that  he  might  safely  go  on  for  other  two 
hours,  and  his  fixed  determination  was  by  ten  o'clock 
to  turn  back  or  heave  to  and  stay  till  morning.  But 
as  four  bells  announced  ten  o'clock,  and  he  rose  to 
give  the  order  to  turn  the  vessel  back,  she  bumped 
with,  alarming  violence  upon  rocks.  The  concussion 
was  tremendous,  and  from  the  first  moment  her  case 
seemed  hopeless.  It  was  not  upon  a  precipice,  but 
on  reefs  of  rock  over  which  the  waves  and  billows 
dashed  furiously,  so  that  at  once  her  back  was 
broken  and  the  fore  part  sank  down  between  the  reefs. 
As  in  all  East  Indiamen  in  those  days  lights  were 
put  out  at  ten,  almost  all  the  passengers  had  retired 
to  their  berths.  The  violent  collision,  as  it  seemed, 
at  once  roused  them  up,  and  they  rushed  to  the 
cuddy,  wrapped  up  in  blankets,  sheets,  or  whatever 
they  could  lay  hold  of.  Occupying  one  of  the  back- 
most poop  cabins,  Mr.  DufF  was  half  undressed  when 
the  shock  took  place.  He  ran  out  into  the  cuddy, 
crossed  the  cabin,  met  the  captain  on  the  deck,  and 
heard  him  exclaim  in  agony,  *'  Oh,  she's  gone,  she's 
gone ! " 

Seeing  that  the  condition  of  the  vessel  was  hopeless, 
the  command  was  promptlj^  given  to  cut  down  the  masts 
in  order  to  relieve  the  pressure  of  the  wind  on  the  sails, 
and  then,  in  case  there  might  be  a  way  of  escape,  to  caulk 
the  seams  of  the  lonof-boat,  which  was  in  the  centre  of  the 
vessel,  and  in  which  were  forty  sheep  when  it  loft  Eng- 


72  LIFE    OP   Dlt.    DUFF.  1830. 

land.  Meanwhile  almost  all  the  passengers  assembled 
in  the  cuddy,  but,  from  the  violence  of  the  motion,  they 
could  neither  sit  nor  stand  without  clinging  to  some  ob- 
ject. At  first  consternation  was  depicted  in  every  coun- 
tenance at  the  suddenness  of  so  terrible  a  catastrophe, 
for  all  had  joyfully  made  their  arrangements  to  go  on 
shore  at  Cape  Town  next  forenoon.  In  one  of  the 
cabins  adjoining  the  cuddy  there  was  a  captain  who  was 
heard  crying  out  in  bitter  agony,  "  What  shall  become 
of  me,  I  have  been  such  a  hypocrite!"  The  explan- 
ation of  this  was,  that  he  had  been  married  to  a 
godly  lady,  and  while  she  lived  he  tried  to  pay  at 
least  outward  homage  to  the  observances  of  religion, 
but,  after  her  death,  he  relapsed  into  the  follies  of 
the  world.  Mr.  Duff  was  wont  to  hold  a  religious 
service  every  Lord's-day,  which  all  the  passengers 
attended  except  this  officer,  who,  to  show  his  con- 
tempt used  to  pace  the  poop  deck  over  their  heads. 
One  of  the  ladies,  who  was  a  Christian,  happened  to 
notice  that  another  of  the  passengers,  a  colonel  who 
occupied  one  of  the  poop  cabins,  was  not  among 
the  number  present,  and  her  remark  was,  "  Let 
us  not  allow  him  to  go  down  without  at  least  his 
knowing  it."  Two  or  three  entered  his  cabin  and 
found  him  profoundly  asleep.  Waking  him  up,  they 
dragged  him  into  the  cuddy.  Astonished  he  began 
to  cry  out,  "  Are  you  all  crazed  ? "  and  then  he 
suddenly  broke  out  into  a  bacchanalian  song.  This 
surprised  every  one,  because  it  was  not  known  that  he 
could  sing  at  all.  He  was  naturally  a  most  affable  and 
courteous  man,  who  was  a  general  favourite  with  the 
passengers.  But  it  turned  out  that  he  had  a  habit, 
unknown  to  most  of  them,  of  nightly  taking  a  very 
copious  draught  of  brandy,  and  then  retiring  to  his 
berth.  Having  slept  it  off,  the  next  morning  he  would 
appear  cheerful  as  usual.     The  disaster  having  taken 


^t.  24.  THE    FIRST    SHIPWRECK.  73 

place  about  ten  o'clock,  there  liad  not  been  time  for 
him  to  recover  from  the  eflfects  of  tlio  draught. 

A  few  of  the  passengers  were  God-fearing  people, 
and  thej  were  calmly  resigned  to  what  seemed  to 
be  their  inevitable  fate.  As  was  often  the  case  in  these 
long  voyages,  several  of  them  were  not  even  on  speak- 
ing terms.  To  introduce  a  mollifying  element,  Mr. 
Duff  was  accustomed  daily  to  have  a  number  of  them  in 
his  cabin,  to  whom  he  read  portions  of  the  history  of 
India  and  other  works.  Now  all,  oppressed  with  the 
conviction  that  they  might  immediately  appear  before 
the  judgment  seat  of  God,  became  suddenly  reconciled, 
shaking  each  other  by  the  hand  and  imploring  forgive- 
ness. Others  thought  of  the  friends  whom  they  had 
left  at  home,  and  gave  varied  utterance  to  their  feel- 
ings. The  whole  scene,  Mr.  DufF  used  to  say  after- 
wards, tended  to  suggest  the  marvellous  revelations 
which  shall  take  place  at  the  Day  of  Judgment.  In 
about  half  an  hour,  when  the  first  convulsive  agonies 
of  feeling  began  to  abate,  he  suggested  that,  as  all 
might  suddenly  be  called  together  to  give  their  final 
account,  they  should  join  as  best  they  could  in  prayer 
to  God  for  their  deliv^erance,  if  it  were  His  holy  will, 
and  if  otherwise  that  they  might  be  prepared  to  meet 
Him.  All  responded,  clustering  around  him  and  hold- 
ing by  what  objects  they  could,  while  the  missionary 
poured  out  his  soul  in  fervent  supplications. 

While  such  was  the  scene  below,  the  captain  and 
the  sailors  were  eagerly  doing  their  part  on  the  deck. 
All  around  the  wreck  there  was  one  mass  of  white 
foam,  except  immediately  behind.  The  captain  had, 
at  the  very  outset,  ordered  one  of  the  gig  boats 
hanging  over  the  side  of  the  vessel  to  be  launched. 
He  put  three  seamen  into  her,  with  the  order  to 
follow  this  darker  part,  and,  if  possible,  get  round  the 
mass  of  white  foam  to  ascertain  whether  there  was 


74  UIB  COf  DB.  DUFF.  iSja 

anj  landing  place  available.  For,  at  the  time,  it  was 
not  known  whether  the  vessel  had  struck  on  a  sunken 
reef,  on  an  island,  or  on  the  mainland.  It  was  a 
desperate  endeavour.  The  sea  was  running  mountains 
high,  and  it  seemed  impossible  that  a  small  boat  could 
live  in  it.  Three  hours  had  passed  and  the  boat  was 
given  up  as  lost,  when  it  appeared  and  the  seamen 
announced  that,  round  the  mass  of  white  foam,  they 
had  found  a  small  sandy  bay,  on  which,  if  it  could  be 
reached,  a  landing  would  be  practicable.  This  inten- 
sified the  desire  to  launch  the  long-boat,  but,  sur- 
rounded as  the  wreck  was  by  masts,  spars  and  broken 
bulwarks,  it  seemed  more  than  doubtful  whether  this 
could  be  done.  Every  wave  was  now  rolling  over  the 
main  deck. 

At  last,  watching  their  opporttmity,  the  sailors  got 
the  boat  afioat  by  the  help  of  one  of  the  waves. 
When  they  saw  it  fairly  off  at  a  short  distance  from 
the  wreck,  they  raised  the  shout,  "  There  goes  our 
last  hope,"  meaning,  there  it  is  safe  among  the  floating 
fragments  of  the  wreck.  But  scarcely  had  the  cry 
been  uttered  when  the  rope  snapped,  and  the  boat  was 
seen  like  a  dark  speck  moving  away  into  the  mass  of 
white  foam.  By  this  time  the  moon  gave  a  dim 
flickering  light.  Though  the  last  hope  of  dehver- 
ance  thus  seemed  gone,  not  a  word  was  uttered  by 
any  one  of  the  passengers,  who  had  become  so  ex- 
hausted that  their  only  desire  was  for  a  speedy  end. 
To  their  surprise,  however,  the  dark  speck  in  the 
foam,  which  had  disappeared,  began  to  approach,  and 
a  human  voice  was  heard  from  it  calling  for  a  rope. 
It  turned  out  that  a  wretched  sailor,  who  had  seemed 
to  be  the  worst  man  on  board,  confessed  that  he 
had  resolved,  if  any  one  were  to  be  saved  he  would. 
Amid  the  uproar  and  darkness  he  had  concealed 
himself  lengthways  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat.     When 


.€t-  24.  THE   GREAT  DKLIYEBA5CK.  75 

it  approached  the  dark  line  of  rock-  he  saw  it  migh^ 
be  dashed  in  pieces,  and  so  he  seized  an  oar  and  held 
it  ap  against  the  rock,  thas  turning  the  boat  round 
into  a  small  cove.  There  the  next  ware  threatened 
to  dash  him  to  pieces,  so  with  the  energy  of  despair 
he  grasped  a  second  oar,  and  snceeeded  in  rowing 
back  to  the  wreck. 

The  long-boat  could  not  contain  above  a  third  part 
of  those  on  board ;  the  question  therefore  was,  who 
should  go  first.  Had  it  been  at  the  outset  there 
might  have  been  a  rush  for  the  boat,  but  by  this 
lime  all  tumultnous  feelings  were  assuaged.  The 
prevalent  feeling  was,  that  all  the  lady  passengers 
should  if  possible  ger  on  board.  Then  a  very  strik- 
ing scene  occurred  :  some  of  these  were  married,  some 
unmarried.  The  unmarried  ones  went  to  the  married 
men,  saying,  "  You  go  with  your  wives, — joa  are  two, 
we  are  only  one," — because  the  wives  had  said  that 
they  would  not  leave  without  their  husbands.  Event- 
ually all  the  ladies  and  married  m^i  got  on  board. 
Manned  by  a  few  strong  sailors,  with  the  gig  leading 
the  way,  the  long-boat  at  length  reached  the  shallow 
sandy  beach-  The  wind  after  midnight  had  begnz 
considerably  to  abate,  and  all  were  landed. 

Soon  after  the  last  boat  arrived  daylight  began  to 
appear.  Before  this  there  was  no  means  of  knowing 
whether  the  place  was  inhabited ;  bat  sounds  in  end- 
less variety  were  heard,  amongst  which  all  agreed  that 
they  could  distinguish  the  braying  of  asses.  Ii  was 
found  that  the  shipwrecked  party  had  reached  an 
island,  of  which  the  only  tenantfj  were  myriads  of  pen- 
guins who  had  given  forth  these  discordant  noises. 
The  penguin  is  a  bird  in  size  intermediate  between  a 
duck  and  a  goose,  with  short  flappers  which  assist  it 
in  swimming  and  in  running  quickly  along  the  shore. 
Soon  also  it  was  found  that,  since  at  that  season  the 


76  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1830. 

penguins  laid  tbeir  eggs  in  holes  burrowed  in  the 
sandy  surface  of  the  island,  there  were  two  Dutchmen 
on  the  spot  sent  from  Cape  Town  to  collect  the  spoil. 
The  passengers  bargained  with  these  men  for  the  use 
of  their  cooking-pot,  and  then  divided  themselves  into 
companies — one,  to  collect  eggs ;  another,  to  gather 
withered  grass  and  sea- weed  for  the  fire ;  and  a  third, 
to  remain  by  the  pot  and  constantly  boil  the  eggs  as 
their  only  food. 

Soon  after  this  a  sailor,  walking  along  the  beach, 
noticed  an  object  cast  ashore.  Going  up  to  it,  he  found 
it  was  a  quarto  copy  of  Bagster's  Bible  and  a  Scotch 
Psalm-book,  somewhat  shattered  but  with  Mr.  Duff's 
name  written  distinctly  on  both.  The  precious  volumes 
had  not  been  used  on  the  voyage  out.  Wrapped  in 
chamois  leather  they  had  been  put  with  other  books 
in  a  box,  which  must  have  been  broken  to  pieces.  The 
sailor  who  found  the  volumes  high  and  dry  on  the 
beach  had  been  the  most  attentive  at  the  service  which 
the  missionary  had  held  with  the  crew  every  Sabbath. 
Taking  Bible  and  Psalter  to  the  hovel  where  the  pas- 
sengers sought  shelter,  with  a  glowing  face  he  pre- 
sented them  to  their  owner.  All  were  deeply  affected 
by  what  they  regarded  as  a  message  from  Grod.  Led 
by  Mr.  Duff  they  kneeled  down,  and  there  he  spread 
out  the  precious  books  on  the  white  bleached  sand. 
What  a  meaning  to  each  had  the  travellers'  Psalm,  the 
107th  which  he  read,  as  to  all  exiles,  captives  and 
stormtossed  wanderers  since  the  days  when  its  first 
singers  were  gathered  from  all  lands  to  rebuild  Jeru- 
salem !  What  fervent  prayer  and  thanksgiving  followed 
its  words,  as  the  band  of  shipwrecked  but  delivered  men 
and  women  lifted  their  wearied  faces  to  the  heavens  : 

"  Whoso  is  wise  and  will  observe  these  things. 

Even  they  shall  understand  the  loviugkinduess  of  the  Lord.^' 


JEt.  24.  THE    LOSS    OF    HIS    LIBRARY.  yj 

For  the  missionary  himself  the  apparent  miracle 
had  a  very  special  meaning,  which  influenced  his  after- 
life. His  letters,  so  far  as  we  have  given  extracts  from 
them,  have  shown  that  when  in  all  the  flush  of  his 
college  successes  he  anew  devoted  himself  to  God, 
for  what  was  then  dreaded  as  a  missionary  career, 
he  counted  learning  as  nothing  in  comparison  of 
winning  Christ  for  himself  and  for  others.  As  to 
some  of  the  greatest  of  the  Fathers  on  their  turn- 
ing from  Paganism,  Homer,  Virgil  and  Horace  had 
been  dear  companions,  whose  lines  lingered  on  the 
tongue  and  rang  in  the  ear  when  their  books  were 
not  in  the  hands,  so  was  it  to  Alexander  Duff".  He 
loved  these  less  only  because  he  cared  for  the  old  and 
never  to  be  dethroned  queen  of  the  sciences  more.  He 
had  but  half  parted  with  their  companionship,  and  he 
could  never  lose  the  culture  they  gave  him — the  sym- 
pathy with  all  literature  by  which  he  was  marked  till 
his  last  days  when  he  read  to  his  grand-children  the 
"  Paradise  Lost,"  which  classical  associations  made 
more  dear  to  him.  So  when  going  forth  to  found  a  col- 
lege, a  Christian  Institute,  like  Bishop  Berkeley  at  the 
Bermudas,  he  had  taken  with  him  a  library  of  more 
than  eight  hundred  volumes,  representing  "every 
department  of  knowledge."  All  were  swallowed  up  in 
the  shipwreck  save  forty.  And  of  these  forty  the  only 
books  not  reduced  nearly  to  pulp  were  the  Bible,  in 
the  best  edition  of  those  days,  solemnly  presented  to 
him  by  friends  in  St.  Andrews  on  his  ordination ;  and 
the  Psalter  with  which  Moses  and  David,  Asaph  and  the 
other  authors  of  the  five  books  of  the  original  Hebrew 
lays,  have  ever  since  fed  the  Church  of  God  and  com- 
forted sinning,  penitent  humanity.  With  the  books 
had  gone  all  his  journals,  notes,  memoranda  and 
essays,  dear  to  an  honest  student  as  his  own  flesh. 
The  instinct  which  had  led  all  the  passengers,  even  the 


78  LIFE   OF   DE.    DUFF.  1830. 

least  devout  of  the  twenty-two,  to  recognise  in  tlie 
preservation  of  the  Bible  and  Psalter  a  message  from 
God,  became  in  his  case  a  conviction  that  henceforth 
human  learning  must  bo  to  him  a  means  only,  not  in 
itself  an  end.  That  the  word  of  God  abideth  for  ever, 
was  afresh  written  upon  his  soul.  The  man  to  whom 
purely  secular  scholars  in  the  next  generation  bore 
this  testimony  as  the  highest  they  could  give,  that  he 
was  afraid  of  no  truth  but  sanctified  all  truth,  did  not 
cease,  even  then,  his  allegiance  to  learning  in  every 
form  when  of  his  boohs  and  journals  he  wrote  to  Dr. 
Tnglis  :  '*  "  They  are  gone,  and,  blessed  be  God,  I  can 
say,  gone  without  a  murmur.  So  perish  all  earthly 
things  :  the  treasure  that  is  laid  up  in  heaven  alone  is 
unassailable.  God  has  been  to  me  a  God  full  of  mercy, 
and  not  the  least  of  His  mercies  do  I  find  in  cheerful 
resignation." 

The  land  proved  to  be  Dassen  Island,  in  the  Atlantic, 
forty  miles  N.N.W.  of  Cape  Town  and  ten  miles  from 
the  mainland  of  Africa.  From  afar  they  saw  the 
white  mist  which  forms  the  '  table-cloth '  of  Table 
Mountain.  The  shipwrecked  people  planned  to  cross 
the  strait  and  find  their  way  on  foot  to  the  town,  but 
the  Dutchmen's  skiff  was  too  small  to  do  the  work  of 
ferrying  in  less  than  a  mouth.  So  the  Irish  surgeon  of 
the  ship  set  out  alone,  and  in  four  days  a  brig  of  war 
rescued  them,  sent  by  the  humane  Governor,  Sir  Lowrie 
Cole,  although  it  was  just  weighing  anchor  for  other 
duty  at  Port  Elizabeth.  The  surgeon  had  sought  an 
immediate  interview  with  his  Excellency,  who  had  just 
finished  his  despatches.  The  gallant  soldier,  who  had 
been  one  of  Wellington's  generals  in  the  Peninsular 

*  Extract  of  a  Letter  respecting  the  WrecJc  of  the  "  Lady 
Holland,"  East  Indiaman,  from  the  Rev.  Alexaudcr  Duff.  Edin- 
burgh, 1830. 


^t.  24.  AT    OAPE    TOWN.  79 

war,  declared,  "  humanity  has  the  first  claim."  Tlio 
weather-beaten  party  landed  in  the  midst  of  the  British 
and  Dutch  inhabitants,  who  crowded  to  express  their 
sympathy. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Duff  were  received  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Adamson,  son  of  that  minister  at  Cupar  Fife  who 
had  been  colleague  of  Dr.  Campbell,  father  of  tlie 
Lord  Chancellor.  For  weeks  the  passengers  were  de- 
tained. The  next  East  Indiaman  was  so  full  that  three 
of  them  paid  a  hundred  guineas  each  to  be  allowed  to 
swing  their  cots  in  the  steerage.  Furlough  rules  make 
no  allowance  for  even  shipwreck,  and  high  salaries 
draw  belated  officials.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Duff  could  get 
a  passage  in  the  last  ship  of  the  season,  the  Moira, 
and  that  only  on  payment  of  3,000  rupees  !  This  sum 
was  equal  to  £262  IO5.  in  gold,  such  was  the  rate  of 
exchange  then  as  now.  From  Cape  Town  he  thus 
addressed  Dr.  Chalmers  : — 

"  Cape  Town,  March  6th,  1830. 

"  Mt  Dear  Doctoe, — I  know  your  time  is  precious 
and  I  shall  not  detain  you,  as  my  tale  may  be  briefly 
told  :  On  Saturday  night,  February  13th,  the  Ladij 
Holland  was  wrecked  off  Dassen  Island,  forty  miles 
north  from  Cape  Town,  but  not  a  life  was  lost,  not 
even  a  personal  injury  sustained  by  any  one  of  the 
passengers  or  crew.  This  is  the  fact :  for  a  detail  of 
the  fact  and  its  consequences  I  refer  you  to  a  com- 
munication of  this  date,  addressed  to  Dr.  Inglis  as  the 
official  organ  of  the  Assembly's  committee.  You  will 
there  have  an  account  of  the  nature  of  our  danger  and 
deliverance,  our  severe  loss  and  future  prospects. 
And  the  object  of  my  writing  to  you  separately,  is — 
that  a  circumstance  so  calamitous  in  its  aspect  may 
not  be  permitted  to  cool  zeal  or  damp  exertion,  but 
may  be  improved,  to  kindle  a  new  flame  throughout 


So  LIFE   OF   DR.    DUFF.  1830 

the  Churcli  and  cause  it  to  burn  inextinguishably. 
As  remarked  in  the  communication  referred  to, '  though 
part  of  the  first-fruits  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  in 
the  great  cause  of  Christian  philanthropy  has  perished 
in  the  total  wreck  of  the  Lady  Holland,  the  cause  of 
Christ  has  not  perished.  The  former,  like  the  leaves 
of  autumn,  may  be  tossed  about  by  every  tempest ;  the 
latter,  more  stable  than  nature,  ever  reviving  with 
the  bloom  of  youth,  will  flourish  when  nature  herself 
is  no  more. 

"  The  cause  of  Christ  is  a  heavenly  and  divine 
thing,  and  shriuks  from  the  touch  of  earth.  Often 
has  its  high  origin  been  gloriously  vindicated.  Often 
has  it  cast  a  mockery  on  the  mightiest  efforts  of 
human  power.  Often  has  it  gathered  strength  amid 
weakness,  become  rich  amid  losses,  rejoiced  amid 
dangers,  and  triumphed  amid  the  fires  and  tortures  of 
hell-enkindled  men.  And  shall  the  Church  of  Scotland 
dishonour  such  a  cause,  by  exhibiting  any  symptoms 
of  coldness  or  despondency  in  consequence  of  the 
recent  catastrophe !  God  forbid.  Let  her  rather 
arouse  herself  into  new  energy;  let  her  shake  off 
every  earthly  alliance  with  the  cause  of  Christ,  as  a 
retarding,  polluting  alliance ;  let  her  confide  less  in 
her  own  resources  and  more  in  the  arm  of  Him  who 
saith, '  Not  by  power,  nor  by  might,  but  by  My  Spirit.' 
From  her  faithful  appeals  let  the  flame  of  devotedness 
circulate  through  every  parish,  and  prayers  ascend  to 
*  the  Lord  of  the  harvest, '  from  every  family ;  and 
then  may  we  expect  her  fountains  to  overflow,  for  the 
watering  and  fertilizing  of  many  a  dry  and  parched 
heathen  land. 

"  This  is  the  improvement  suggested ;  and  of  all 
men  living  you,  my  dear  Doctor,  are,  with  God's 
blessing,  the  individual  most  capable  of  making  it. 
Let  the  committee  be  awakened,  and,  from  the  awaken- 


Mt.  24.  SAILS    FROM    CAPE   TOWN.  8 1 

ing  appeals  of  the  committee,  let  the  Church  be  aroused. 
Who,  that  has  heard  it,  can  ever  forget  your  own 
vivid  description  and  eloquent  improvement  of  the 
magnificent  preparation  and  total  failure  of  the  first 
great  missionary  enterprise  ?  From  it  ours  stands  at 
an  immeasurable  distance ;  but  the  principle  is  the 
same.  I  fear  that  much  of  calculating  worldliness  is 
apt  to  enter  into  the  schemes  and  preparations  of  the 
Assembly.  And  now  Heaven  frowns  in  mercy,  and 
buries  a  portion  of  its  fruits  in  the  depths  of  ocean, 
to  excite,  if  possible,  to  the  cherishing  of  a  holier 
spirit,  and  a  more  prayerful  waiting  on  the  Lord  for 
the  outpouring  of  His  grace. 

"  Mrs.  Duff  desires  her  kindest  remembrance  to 
you,  and  with  kindest  regards  to  Mrs.  Chalmers  and 
family,  I  remain,  my  dear   Doctor,  yours   most    sin- 

^^®  ^'  "Alexander  Duff." 

"  Sunday  sail,  never  fail,"  was  the  chant  to  which 
the  sailors  lifted  the  anchor  for  Calcutta.  But  the 
day  proved  to  be  no  better  omen  than  the  derelict 
timber-ship  which  had  crossed  the  bows  of  the  Lady 
Holland  in  the  English  Channel.  Contrary  winds 
drove  the  Moira  to  fifty  degrees  of  south  latitude,  and 
then  for  weeks  she  was  beaten  out  of  her  course  by 
westerly  gales,  culminating  off  Mauritius  in  a  hur- 
ricane which  threatened  the  foundering  of  the  ship. 
Although  the  year  1830  was  well  advanced,  and  Lord 
William  Bentinck  had  not  been  satisfied  with  the  first 
attempt  to  send  a  steamer  from  Bombay  to  Suez,  all 
the  rewards  offered  had  failed  to  discover  the  course 
and  the  tacking  which  have  since  reduced  the  Cape 
voyage  from  an  uncertainty  that  might  spread  beyond 
half  the  year,  to  an  average  of  a  hundred  days.  Not 
till  near  the  end  of  May  did  the  Moira  sight  the  hardy 
little  pilot  brig  which,  far  out  in  the  Bay  of  Bengal 

o 


82  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1830. 

but  still  in  tlie  muddy  waters  of  the  united  Ganges 
and  Brahmapootra  rivers,  is  the  advanced  post  of 
British  India  proper. 

The  hot  sun  was  blazing  with  intensest  power 
as  the  belated  East  Indiaman  was  carefully  navi- 
gated into  the  estuary  of  the  Hooghly,  the  most 
westerly  of  the  so-called  mouths  of  the  Ganges. 
Hardly  had  she  been  moored  in  the  rapid  stream 
off  the  long,  low  muddy  flat  of  Saugar  Island,  when 
the  south-west  monsoon  was  upon  her  in  all  that 
splendid  fury  which  the  Hiadoo  epics  describe  with 
almost  Homeric  realism.  The  clouds  hid  the  sun,  and 
sfave  birth  to  a  storm  which  soon  chanored  into  the 
dreaded  cyclone.  It  seemed  a  portentous  welcome  at 
the  very  threshold  of  India,  after  the  previous  wreck 
at  its  then  outmost  gate.  In  spite  of  three  anchors 
thrown  out  the  Moira  was  dragged,  tossed  and — as 
we  have  twice  since  seen  in  similar  cases — lifted  by 
the  wind  and  the  storm- wave  on  to  the  muddy  shore 
of  the  Saugar,  the  sagara  or  Coblentz  or  confluence  of 
Gunga  with  the  ocean.  The  river  was  of  unusually 
vast  volume,  the  low  delta  land  was  flooded.  Poised 
on  the  very  edge  of  Saugar  bank,  with  some  ten  feet 
of  water  on  the  shore  and  sixty  or  seventy  on  the 
river-side,  and  wedged  in  this  position  by  the  force  of 
the  hurricane,  the  Moira  worked  for  herself  a  bed  in 
the  clay.  There  is  no  time  for  calculation  when  the 
genius  of  the  cyclone  rides  the  rotary  storm  so  that 
no  living  thing  can  stand  upright.  But  instinct  takes 
the  place  of  thought,  and  the  love  of  life  develops 
daring  which,  in  calmer  hours,  were  madness.  The 
vessel  was  soon  found  to  be  very  slowly  heeling  over 
into  the  deep  water.  But  nothing  could  be  done,  for 
the  great  wind  of  heaven  was  still  loose,  and  the  mid- 
night darkness  that  might  be  felt  was  broken  only  by 
the  flash  of  the  forked  lightning.    The  captain  managed 


.-Et.  24.      THE    CYCLONE    AND   TQE    SECOND    SHIPWRECK.         8 


o 


to  secure  the  ship's  papers  on  his  person,  and  waited 
for  the  dawn,  which  revealed  the  vessel  leaning  over  at 
a  sharp  angle,  but  still  kept  from  disappearing  by  the 
wedge-like  compression  of  the  silt  of  the  bank.  Often 
afterwards  did  Alexander  Duff  describe  the  scene  on 
which  that  May  morning  broke,  and  the  deliverance. 

The  appearance  of  the  river  from  the  cuddy  por- 
tion of  the  hull  was  very  awful.  The  wind,  in 
mighty  whirling  eddies,  raised  up  columns  of  water 
which  came  down  like  so  many  cataracts.  From  the 
extremely  perilous  position  of  the  ship  it  was  necessary 
that  all  should  be  put  on  shore,  but  that  meant  deep 
water.  One  large  tree,  however,  was  espied,  and  to 
that  the  pilot  and  the  natives  succeeded  in  making  a 
hawser  fast,  by  swimming  to  its  branches.  Along  this 
a  boat  was  moored  to  the  tree,  and  there,  on  somewhat 
higher  ground,  the  passengers  were  "  landed  "  up  to 
the  waist  in  water,  at  the  time  rolling  in  billows. 
The  wind  drove  all,  passengers  and  crew,  inland  to  a 
village  where  caste  forbade  the  natives  to  give  them 
shelter.  The  island  stretches  for  ten  miles  in  length 
and  five  in  breadth,  and  at  that  time  had  a  population 
of  some  ten  thousand  persons,  who  lived  by  the  manu- 
facture of  salt,  and  on  the  offerings  of  the  pilgrims  at 
the  annual  bathing  festival  of  the  wir^ter  solstice, 
which  used  to  attract  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  devotees 
from  all  parts  of  India.  Denied  access  to  the  few  huts 
that  were  not  flooded,  the  shipwrecked  party  took 
possession  of  the  village  temple.  Whether  it  was  that 
of  the  sage  Kapilmoonnee,  whose  curse  had  destroyed 
the  eponymous  Sagar,  king  of  Oudh,  with  its  great 
banyan  tree  in  front,  or  the  tiger-haunted  pagoda 
which  forms  the  centre  of  the  fair,  we  know  not.  But 
it  was  thus  that  the  first  missionary  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland  was,  with  his  wife  and  fellows,  literally 
thrown  on  the  mud-formed  strand  of  Bengal,   where 


84  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1830. 

the  last  land  of  the  holy  goddess,  Gunga,  receives  her 
embrace,  and  many  a  mother  was  then  wont  to  commit 
her  living  child  to  the  pitiless  waters. 

When  the  tidings  reached  the  capital,  a  hundred 
miles  up  the  Hooghly,  numerous  small  boats  of  the 
covered  "dinghy"  class  began  to  appear.  In  one 
of  these  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Duff  arrived  at  the  City  of 
Palaces,  drenched  with  mud,  and  terribly  exhausted 
after  twenty -four  hours  in  the  temple  following  such  a 
day  and  night  of  storm.  Young  Durand,  too,  found 
his  way  to  the  city,  to  the  palace  of  the  Bishop,  where 
the  tall  lieutenant  for  some  days  excited  amusement 
by  appearing  in  the  epicene  dress  of  his  kind  host. 
The  Duffs  were  hospitably  entertained  by  Dr.  Brown, 
the  junior  Scottish  chaplain.  In  due  time  three 
steamers  dragged  the  Moira  oflP  Saugar  shore,  sorely 
shattered,  but  thus  the  baggage  was  saved.  It  was 
on  the  27th  May,  1830,  that  they  reached  the  scene 
of  the  next  third  of  a  century's  triumphs,  having  left 
Edinburgh  on  the  19th  September,  1829,  more  than 
eight  months  before. 

The  first  to  visit  Mr.  Duff  the  evening  on  which 
he  landed  were  his  old  St.  Andrews  companion,  the 
Rev.  J.  Adam,  and  his  afterwards  life-long  friend 
and  greatly  beloved  brother,  the  Eev.  A.  F.  Lacroix, 
both  of  the  London  Missionary  Society.  Next  day 
came  the  venerable  Archdeacon  Corrie,  fruit  of 
Simeon's  work ;  also  Dr.  Bryce,  the  senior  chaplain ; 
General  Beatson,  and  other  Christian  strangers,  who, 
with  the  more  than  freemasonry  that  has  not  yet  died 
out  of  Anglo-India,  desired  to  welcome  Duff  to  Bengal. 
His  own  letters  of  introduction,  preserved  on  his 
person  in  the  two  shipwrecks,  he  duly  presented. 
With  his  wife  he  lost  no  time  in  calling  at  Government 
House  on  Lady  William  Bentinck,  who  received  them 
not  merely  with  courtesy  but  with  genial  Christian 


^t.  24.  LANDS    AT    CALCUTTA.  85 

sympathy.  Tho  Governor-General  himself  did  nob 
need  the  letter  from  a  personal  friend  at  home,  to 
give  the  young  missionary  a  warm  reception.  His 
Excellency  sent  for  him,  spoke  encouragingly  to  him, 
and  at  a  private  dinner  fully  entered  into  his  plans. 
AYas  Lord  William  not  tho  greatest  of  the  Bentincks, 
tlie  best  of  all  the  Governor-Generals  ? 

Alexander  Duff  was  little  more  than  twenty-four 
years  of  age  when,  a  tall  and  handsome  man,  with 
flashing  eye,  quivering  voice,  and  restless  gesticulation, 
he  first  told  the  ruler  of  India  what  he  had  given  his 
life  to  do  for  its  people.  Heir  of  Knox  and  Chalmers, 
he  had  to  begin  in  the  heart  of  Hindooism  what  they 
had  carried  out  in  the  medisevalism  of  Rome  and  the 
moderatism  of  the  Kirk  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
He  had  also  to  make  it  a  missionary  Kirk.  His  work 
was  to  be  twofold — in  East  and  West. 

Need  we  wonder  that,  when  the  Calcutta  news- 
papers told  the  story  of  the  repeated  shipwrecks,  the 
very  natives  remarked — "  Surely  this  man  is  a  favourite 
of  the  gods,  who  must  have  some  notable  work  for 
him  to  do  in  India  ?" 


CHAPTER  ly. 

1830. 
CALCUTTA  AS  IT  WAS. 

Duff  dlsolieys  tlie  only  Order  of  his  Churcli. — Calcutta  a  fourth  of 
Loudon. — Bengal. — Job  Charnock  selects  Kalkatta. — The  First 
European  Settlers. — Growth  of  the  City. — Natives  beginning  to 
learn  English. — Founders  of  the  great  Bengalee  Families. — The 
leading  Natives  on  Duff's  Arrival. — The  washerman  who  first 
taught  English.' — Adventure  Schools. — Matrimonial  Value  of 
Penmanship  then  and  of  the  M.A.  Degree  now. — The  Oriental 
Colleges  and  Orientalists. — Despatches  Written  by  James  Mill. — 
Duff's  Account  of  the  Origin  of  the  First  English  College  in 
India. — Tentative  Efforts  of  the  Early  Missionaries. — The  Work 
of  Destruction  Begun,  who  shall  Construct  ? 

Having  secured  full  power  to  carry  out  his  own  plans 
unfettered  by  conditions  in  Scotland  or  on  the  spot, 
and  having  failed  to  obtain  from  his  Church  any  in- 
structions for  his  guidance  save  one,  Mr.  Duff's  first 
duty  was  to  refuse  to  give  effect  to  that  one.  He 
had  been  forbidden  to  open  his  mission  in  Calcutta. 
Why,  it  is  difficult  to  understand,  in  the  absence  of 
all  reasons  assigned  for  such  a  prohibition.  So  the 
agents  of  the  Scottish  Missionary  Society  before  Dr. 
Wilson  had  neglected  Bombay  city,  while  shut  out  from 
the  Maratha  capital  of  Poona,  and  had  wasted  years 
in  the  obscure  villages  of  the  Konkan.  The  example 
of  the  Apostles,  beginning  at  Jerusalem,  might  have 
sufficed.  The  first  of  all  Protestant  missions  and 
colleges  in  Bengal  had,  indeed,  been  established  out- 
side of  the  capital,  but  that  was  because  the  East 
India  Company's  early  intolerance  had  driven  Carey 


JEt  24.  THE    MODlilvN    CALCUTTA.  87 

and  Marshraan  to  the  protection  of  the  little  Danish 
Government  at  Serampore.  Bishop  Middleton  had 
followed,  spontaneously,  the  unfortunate  precedent,  by 
building  his  Gothic  pile  so  far  down  the  right  bank  of  the 
Hooghly  that  his  college  has  proved  useless  for  its  great 
object  ever  since.  This  only  had  been  determined  on 
by  Dr.  Inglis  and  Mr.  Dujff,  that  the  first  missionary 
was  to  open  a  school  or  college,  just  because  that  line  of 
proselytising  work  had  been  neglected  by  the  few  other 
missionaries  then  in  Calcutta.  When  Duff  had  seen 
these  at  work,  in  the  city  and  all  round  it  to  Carey 
at  Serampore,  and  twcut3'^-five  miles  up  the  river  to 
Chinsurah  and  the  old  factory  of  Hooghly,  he  resolved 
to  begin  his  career  by  disobeying  the  one  order  he  had 
received.  It  was  the  resolve  of  genius,  the  beginning 
of  an  ever-growing  success,  without  which  failure, 
comparatively,  was  inevitable.  The  young  Scot  had 
vowed  to  kill  Hiudooism,  and  this  he  could  best  do  by 
striking  at  its  brain.  Benares,  Pooree,  Bombay  more 
lately,  might  have  been  its  heart ;  but  Calcutta  was  its 
brain.  Let  others  pursue  their  own  methods  in  their 
own  places,  he  would  plant  his  foot  down  here,  among 
the  then  half-million  eager,  fermenting  Bengalees, 
feeling  after  God  if  haply  they  might  find  Him  with 
"Western  help,  and  about  to  be  used  by  the  English 
Government  as  instruments  for  carrying  its  civilization 
all  over  Eastern,  Central  and  North-western  India. 

Calcutta,  the  metropolis  of  the  British  Empire  in 
the  southern  half  of  Asia,  now  covers  an  area  of 
thirty-one  square  miles,  and  has  a  fixed  population  of 
900,000,  exclusive  of  the  hundreds  of  thousands  who 
daily  visit  the  port,  the  markets,  the  offices,  the  ware- 
houses, the  domestic  homes  and  the  schools  for  trade, 
service  and  education.  That  is,  the  greatest  city 
of  the  English  in  the  East  is  just  one  fourth  the  size, 
in  area  and  inhabitants,  of  London  itself  within  the 


88'  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1830. 

jurisdiction  of  the  Metropolitan  Board  of  Works  or 
the  district  of  the  School  Board.  London  had  the 
same  population  at  the  beginning  of  this  century  as 
Calcutta  now  has.  To  what  point  Calcutta  will  reach 
in  the  next  century,  under  the  same  wise  and  peaceful 
administration  which  has  made  it  what  it  is,  he  may 
conjecture  who  best  realizes  its  unparalleled  position. 
It  is  at  once  the  centre  of  the  most  densely  packed 
and  fast-breeding  rural  population  in  the  world,  and 
of  a  network  of  rivers,  canals  and  railways  compared 
with  which  those  that  have  created  Holland  are  micro- 
scopic. It  is  the  focus  of  our  whole  political  system 
in  Asia. 

Itself  impregnable  by  nature  and  the  entrepot  of  the 
wealth  of  Bengal,  Calcutta  has  sent  forth  triumphant 
expeditions  to  Burma,  to  Java,  to  Canton  and  to  Peking 
in  the  far  East.  It  has  been  prepared  to  civilize  the 
Maories  of  Australasia,  as  it  had  previously  pushed 
the  edge  of  the  sword  that  separates  evil  from  good 
into  the  heart  of  the  Pathans  of  the  Suleiman  range 
and  the  Western  Himalayas.  From  Calcutta,  Mauri- 
tius and  even  the  Cape  have  been  started  on  a  new 
career.  Embassies  from  the  palace  of  its  Governor- 
General,  still  known  simply  as  Government  House, 
seventy  years  ago  dictated  terms  of  peace  and  pro- 
gress, against  the  barbarous  aggression  of  Russian 
and  French  absolutism,  to  the  Shah  of  Persia,  the 
Ameer  of  Cabul,  and  the  Maharaja  of  the  Sikhs,  when 
the  Sutlej  was  our  only  frontier  besides  the  sea. 
Were  we  basely  to  retire  from  the  responsibilities  of 
empire,  and  confine  our  administrative  system  to  the 
one  Lieutenant-Governorship  of  Bengal,  its  swarming 
sixty  millions  would  enable  Calcutta  to  send  to  the 
mother  country  a  clear  annual  surplus  of  from  four 
to  six  millions  sterling.  For  it  is  with  the  twelve  mil- 
lions of  revenue  yielded  every  year  by  Bengal,  that 


^t.  24.  JOB    CHAENOCK    TOUNDS    CALCUTTA.  89 

Calcutta    has   spread   the    British   Empire    all    over 
Southern  Asia. 

In  the  Old  World  there  is  no  example  of  the  growth 
of  a  capital  so  rapid.  In  1596  this  mighty  metro- 
polis figures  on  the  rent-roll  of  the  Emperor  Akbar 
as  Kalkatta,  one  of  three  villages  in  the  district  of 
Hooghly  which  together  paid  an  annual  tax  of  £2,841. 
The  great  temple,  still  in  its  suburbs,  is  that  of  the 
black  destroying  goddess  of  Kaleeghat.  Driven  from 
the  factory  at  Hooghly  by  the  Mussulman  officer  of 
Aurungzeb,  the  East  India  Company's  agent,  the 
notorious  Mr.  Job  Charnock,  with  his  council,  sailed 
down  the  river  in  search  of  another  site.  Oolabaria, 
on   the   same   rio-ht   bank   and    somewhat   below   the 

O 

present  Botanical  Garden,  was  tried.  But,  though 
the  ferry  town  on  the  high  road  to  the  shrine  of 
Jugganath,  in  Orissa,  that  place  had  the  two  disad- 
vantages of  bad  anchorage  and  exposure  to  the  raids 
of  the  Marathas.  Not  so  the  high  ground  immedi- 
ately to  the  north  of  Kalkatta.  There  the  river  was 
deep ;  its  expanse,  a  mile  broad  at  high  water,  protected 
the  place  from  the  western  devastators ;  and  the  sur- 
rounding inhabitants  were  a  prosperous  brotherhood 
of  weavers  for  the  Company's  trade.  Under  "  a  large 
shady  tree,"  somewhere  between  the  present  Mint  and 
the  most  orthodox  quarter  of  Sobha  Bazaar,  Job 
Charnock  set  up  the  Company's  flag  and  his  own 
zanana.  For  he  had  taken  to  himself  the  beautiful 
Suttee  or  Hindoo  widow  whom  he  rescued  from 
cremation  only  to  be  himself  Hindooized,  and  on 
whose  tomb  he  used  afterwards  to  sacrifice  a  cock, 
according  to  that  contemporary  gossip,  Captain 
Alexander  Hamilton.  It  is  significant  that  the 
second  college  which  Duff  built  as  the  Free  Church 
Institution  stands  in  the  great  thoroughfare  leading 
down   to    the    oldest   burniDg   ghaut,  Neemtolla,  tho 


90  LIFE    OP    DR.    CtJFI)'.  1830. 

place  of  the  neem-tree,  which  name  probably  em- 
balms the  tradition  of  that  "  large  shady  tree."  Many 
a  suttee  must  have  taken  place  within  ear-shot  of  the 
founder  of  Calcutta,  who  used  to  have  his  sentences 
of  whipping  executed  on  native  offenders  "  when  he 
was  at  dinner,  so  near  his  dining-room  that  the  groans 
and  cries  of  the  poor  delinquent  served  him  for 
music." 

The  days  of  the  glorious  Revolution  had  come ;  the 
new  East  India  Company  got  a  new  and  most  Chris- 
tian charter ;  the  old  church  of  St.  John  was  raised 
with  a  proud  steeple  only  to  be  cast  down  by  the  next 
cyclone ;  and  the  Fort,  of  Black  Hole  memory,  was 
built  in  Kalkatta  village  under  William  the  Third's 
name.  The  Court  of  Directors,  too,  under  revolu- 
tion influences,  became  Christian  once  more,  and 
directed  their  agent  at  Calcutta  to  use  this  mis- 
sionary form  of  prayer  :  "  That  these  Indian  nations 
among  whom  we  dwell,  seeing  our  sober  and  righteous 
conversation,  may  be  induced  to  have  a  just  esteem 
for  our  most  holy  profession  of  the  gospel."  Char- 
nock's  rough  and,  towards  the  natives,  revengeful 
administration  ceased  five  or  six  years  after  his  first 
settlement  at  Kalkatta.  Sir  John  Goldsborough  was 
sent  by  the  older  and  then  superior  Government  of 
Madras  to  reform  the  little  colony,  which  he  began 
to  do  by  sending  the  Roman  Catholic  priests  off  to 
Bandel,  because  they  encouraged  the  civilians  to  form 
connections  with  the  half-breed  Portuguese  under  their 
influence.  "  In  Calcutta  a»ll  religions  are  tolerated 
but  the  Presbyterians,  and  they  are  browbeat,"  wrote 
Hamilton.  By  1706  there  were  1200  Enghsh  in  the 
infant  capital ;  but  such  were  the  excesses  of  many 
of  them,  and  such  the  absence  of  sanitary  arrange- 
ments adapted  to  the  climate,  that  460  burials  were 
registered  in  that  year.     Hamilton  blames  the  site  of 


JEt.  24.  THE    BLACK    HOLE    AND    I'LASSKY.  9 1 

the  factory,  and  especially  tlie  neighbouring  saltwater 
lakes  or  swamps.  But  time  and  science  have  proved 
that  Job  Charnock  selected  a  position  on  which  nearly 
a  million  of  human  beings,  many  of  them  foreigners 
from  the  cold  north,  live  and  labour  with  a  rate  of 
mortality  little  higher  than  that  of  London.  The 
water,  the  drainage,  the  gas,  the  conservancy  arrange- 
ments of  the  modern  Calcutta  may  compare  favour- 
ably with  those  of  the  other  capitals  of  the  world. 

By  1752  the  population  had  grown,  according  to 
Holwell,  to  400,000,  when  the  irate  Governor  of 
Bengal,  Sooraj-ood-Dowla,  made  a  swoop  upon  them 
from  his  capital  of  Moorshedabad.  Of  the  English 
who  did  not  flee  to  the  ships  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
three  perished  within  twenty  feet  square  of  the  guard- 
room called,  by  the  soldiers  usually  confined  there,  the 
Black  Hole.  Instead  of  the  Hindoo  Ghaut  of  Kalee, 
the  city  was  re-named  the  Muhammadan  place  of  Alee, 
Aleenuggur.  But  the  sack  and  the  burning  proved 
only  new  sources  of  wealth,  when  Clive  and  Watson 
had  chased  the  tyrant  back  to  his  capital,  and 
had  defeated  him  at  Plassey.  In  1758  a  long  pro- 
cession of  a  hundred  boats,  laden  with  seven  hundred 
chests,  and  then  a  second  despatch,  brought  to  Cal- 
cutta the  largest  prize  that  the  British  people  had 
ever  taken,  or  £1,110,000  in  silver  rupees.  From 
much  of  that,  sent  as  compensation,  the  citizens, 
English,  Armenian,  Portuguese  and  Bengalee,  built  the 
present  city  of  Calcutta  and  Fort  William.  The  reign 
of  extravagance  began ;  but  also  that  of  health,  be- 
nevolence, education  and,  gradually,  outward  respect 
for  religion.  There  were  two  thousand  Europeans  in 
the  new  city,  many  of  whom  had  spent  twenty  or 
thirty  years  in  India  without  once  attending  public 
worship.  For  them  a  new  St.  John's  arose  in  the 
old   cemetery.     Friends   of   Cecil,    Simeon,    and    the 


92  LIFE    OF   DFv.    DUFF.  1830. 

Clapham  men  were  sent  out  as  chaplains,  after 
Clive  had  purged  the  services.  He  himself  invited 
the  missionary  Kiernander,  when  Lally  had  broken 
up  the  Lutheran  settlement  at  Cuddalore,  to  instruct 
the  natives  and  bury  the  Europeans  in  Calcutta,  after 
the  only  chaplain  there  had  perished  in  the  Black 
Hole.  The  Company's  ships  carried  his  annual  sup- 
plies free,  and  he  raised  the  building  which  still 
flourishes,  under  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  as 
the  old  mission  church,  thanks  to  Charles  Grant's 
foresight.  The  jungle,  termed  forest,  around  the  new 
Fort  William  was  cleared  away,  and  Calcutta  obtained 
that  magnificent  plain  called  by  the  Persian  name 
Maidan,  around  which  are  its  great  public  buildings 
and  its  Chowringhee  palaces.  By  the  close  of  last 
century,  when  the  Marquis  Wellesley  planted  down 
on  its  edge  the  fine  reproduction  of  Keddlestone 
Hall  in  Derbyshire,  designed  by  the  brothers  Adams, 
which  is  still  called  Government  House,  defying  the 
Court  of  Directors,  Calcutta  was  worthy  of  the 
position  given  it  in  the  days  of  Warren  Hastings  as 
the  seat  of  the  central  government.  By  that  time 
it  had  become  the  outlet  and  the  inlet  for  the 
trade  of  all  Eastern  and  Northern  India  up  to  the 
Sutlej,  so  far  as  the  Company's  monopolies  allowed 
trade  to  follow  a  natural  course. 

The  necessities  of  intercourse  with  the  natives, 
diplomatically  with  the  court  at  Dacca  and  Moor- 
shedabad  and  commercially  with  the  capitalists  and 
manufacturers,  had  early  created  a  class  of  interme- 
diaries and  assistants  between  the  English  and  the 
people  of  the  country.  Of  the  former  was  the 
Punjabee  Omichund,  the  wealthy  intriguer  who  tried 
to  cheat  both  Clive  and  the  Muhammadan  ruler, 
whom  he  had  instigated  to  the  destruction  of  the 
English,  and  was  defeated  by  his  own  weapons.     Of 


.Et.  24.         CALCUTTA    UNDEll   CLIVE    AND    HASTINGS.  93 

the  latter  were  nearly  all  the  great  Hindoo  families 
which  are  still  the  heads  of  native  society.  Lord 
Olive's  moonshee  was,  to  his  countrymen,  more  power- 
ful than  the  great  Governor  liimself.  Raja  Nobokissen 
founded  a  house  like  the  Barings  of  England.  More 
famous  at  the  time,  though  now  forgotten,  was  dive's 
dewan,  E-amchaud.  In  the  year  of  the  victory  of 
Plassey  each  of  these  men  had  a  salary  of  £72 
pounds;  yet  on  his  death,  in  1767,  ten  years  after, 
the  latter  left  a  fortune  of  a  million  and  a  quarter 
sterling.  Nobokissen  spent  ninety  thousand  pounds 
on  his  mother's  obsequies.  The  various  ghauts, 
or  bathing  places,  on  both  banks  of  the  Ilooghly, 
from  Calcutta  to  Serampore,  commemorate  at  once 
the  wealth  and  the  superstition  of  the  men  who,  in 
those  days,  lived  on  the  ignorant  foreigners  whom 
they  assisted,  and  on  their  own  less  educated  country- 
men whom  they  oppressed.  Many  a  Bengalee  proverb 
has  come  down  from  the  times  of  Clive,  Verelst  and 
Hastings,  such  as  the  triplet  which  Mr.  J.  0.  Marshman 
used  thus  to  render — 

"  Who  does  not  know  Govindram^s  club. 
Or  the  house  of  Bonmalee  Sirkar, 
Or  the  beard  of  Omichund?^'' 

Govindram  Mitter  was  the  "black  zemindar"  who 
for  thirty  years  was  the  nominal  subordinate  of  the 
English  collector  of  the  taxes  of  Calcutta  on  from 
£S6  to  £60  a  year,  and  whom  only  the  brave  Hoi  well, 
hero  of  the  Black  Hole  time,  finally  deprived  of  the 
power  to  oppress  like  a  Turkish  pasha.  The  cruel 
exactions  of  Raja  Daby  Sing  under  Warren  Hastings 
have  been  handed  down  to  everlasting  shame  by  the 
eloquence  of  Sheridan. 

The  advance  merchants  known  as  "  Daduny," 
through  whom  the  Company  made  its   contracts  with 


94  MFB    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1830. 

tlie  native  weavers  for  ttieir  calicoes  and  muslins,  wliicli 
Lancasliire  soon  learned  to  manufacture  from  Indian 
cotton  for  export,  were  tlie  first  to  learn  as  much 
English  as  was  necessary  for  their  intercourse  with 
the  masters  they  defrauded.  A  lower  class  were  the 
panders  and  agents  whom  ship  captains  were  forced 
to  use,  and  who  still,  as  from  the  seventeenth  century, 
mislead  our  sailors  to  their  too  frequent  destruc- 
tion. These  were  termed  "  dobhasias "  or  two- 
language  natives,  a  word  used  in  the  earlier  commercial 
transactions  at  the  Portugruese  Calicut  and  the  Eno^lish 
Madras.  Ram  Komul  Sen,  the  author  of  the  first 
English  and  Bengalee  dictionary,  tells  in  his  preface 
how  the  first  English  captain  who  sailed  to  the  infant 
Calcutta  sent  ashore  asking  for  a  dhobasia.  The 
Setts,  the  Bengalee  middlemen  who  helped  Job 
Charnock  to  buy  the  Company's  piece  goods,  in 
isfnorance  of  the  word  sent  a  "  dhobee  "  or  washerman 
on  board,  with  propitiatory  gifts  of  plantains  and 
sugar-candy.  To  that  washerman,  who  made  good 
use  of  the  monopoly  of  English  which  he  acquired, 
the  native  lexicographer  ascribes  "  the  honour  of 
having  been  the  first  English  scholar,  if  scholar  he 
could  be  called,  amongst  the  people  of  Bengal."  The 
mere  vocabulary  of  nouns,  adverbs,  and  interjections, 
which,  for  nearly  a  century,  constituted  the  English 
of  the  Bengalees,  as  it  still  forms  that  of  the  domestic 
servants  of  Madras,  became  improved  when  Sir  Elijah 
Impey  went  out  to  establish  the  Supreme  Court  in 
1774.  Cases  like  the  trial  and  hanging  of  Nuncomar 
for  forgery,  and  the  growing  business  of  the  Court 
which  included  all  the  citizens  of  Calcutta  in  its 
jurisdiction,  while  the  judges  strove  to  extend  their 
power  far  into  the  interior,  made  the  next  generation 
of  middle-class  Bengalees  a  little  more  familiar  with 
English.     Interpreters,  clerks,  copyists,  and  agents  of 


^t.  24.  TUE    GREAT    BENGALEE    FAMILIES.  95 

a  respectable  class  were  in  demand,  alike  by  the 
Government  and  the  great  mercantile  houses.  For  a 
time  Lord  Cornwallis  pursued  the  illiberal  and,  as  it 
proved,  impossible  policy  of  employing  only  Europeans. 
Hence  the  greatest  native  of  the  time,  whom  we  shall 
learn  to  admire  hereafter,  Raja  Rammohun  Roy,  did 
not  begin  to  learn  English  till  he  was  twenty-two,  nor 
did  he  master  it  till  he  was  thirty. 

He  stood  at  the  head  of  the  leading  Hindoo  families 
of  Calcutta  at  the  time  of  Duff's  appearance  there. 
After  winning  the  gratitude  of  the  Government  as 
"  dewan  "  or  principal  native  assistant  to  the  Collector 
of  Rungpore,  he  had  settled  in  the  city  in  1814.  Others 
worthy  of  note  were  Dwarkanath  Tagore,  of  the  mer- 
cantile firm  of  Carr,  Tagore  &  Co.,  and  his  cousin,  Pro- 
sunno  Coomar  Tagore,  great  landholder  and  lawyer. 
Ram  Komul  Sen,  already  alluded  to,  was  "dewan" 
of  the  Bank  of  Bengal.  Russomoy  Dutt  was  at  that 
time  "  banian "  or  broker  to  Messrs.  Cruttenden, 
Mackillop  &  Co.,  and  afterwards  honoured  judge  of 
the  Small  Cause  Court.  Raja  Radhakant  Deb  was 
head  of  the  orthodox  party.  Ram  Gopal  Ghose  was 
a  member  of  the  firm  of  Messrs.  Kelsall,  Ghose  &  Co. 
These  were  the  principal  English-speaking  native 
gentlemen,  the  most  active  in  the  education  of  their 
countrymen,  the  reformers  before  that  reformation 
of  which  the  young  Scottish  missionary  became  the 
apostle.  We  shall  see  how  the  Christianity  that  he 
brought  and  applied,  in  a  form  adapted  to  the  wants 
of  the  time,  tested  them  and  sifted  their  families,  and 
still  tries  their  descendants  as  a  divine  touchstone. 

How  did  these  men  and  the  other  respectable  Ben- 
galee families  get  their  English,  such  as  it  was,  before 
the  educational  as  well  as  spiritual  revolution  begun 
by  Duff?  First,  a  keen  self-interest  drove  them  to 
find   it   at   the   hands   of  Eurasians,  Armenians,  and 


96  LIFJ^    OF   DC.    DUFF.  1830. 

English  adventurers.  Then  Government,  which  had 
ignored  and  even  opposed  the  EngUsh  education  of 
the  natives,  was  forced  by  Parliament  to  patronise  it. 
Then  a  very  few  of  the  missionaries  at  that  time 
in  Bengal  lent  their  aid.  But  all  proceeded  on  the 
same  mechanical,  utilitarian,  and  routine  system  which 
marked  English  schools  till  the  days  of  Lancaster  and 
Bell. 

Sherborne,  a  Eurasian,  kept  a  school  in  the  Jo- 
rasanko  quarter,  where  Dwarkanath  Tagore  learned 
the  English  alphabet.  Martin  Bowl,  in  Araratolla, 
taught  the  founder  of  the  wealthy  Seal  family.  Ara- 
toon  Petroos  was  another  who  kept  a  school  of  fifty 
or  sixty  Bengalee  lads.  The  best  of  the  pupils  be- 
came teachers  in  their  turn  like  the  blind  Nittyanund 
Sen  in  Colootolla,  and  the  lame  Udytchurn  Sen,  who 
was  the  tutor  of  the  millionnaire  Mulliks.  Their  text- 
books were  such  pitiful  productions  as  those  of  Dytche 
and  Enfield,  Cooke's  letters  and  Greenwood's  gram- 
mar. To  write  a  good  hand  was  far  more  important 
than  to  understand  what  was  read,  for  to  be  a  copyist 
or  book-keeper  was  the  destiny  of  the  majority.  One 
of  the  Mullik  family,  when  in  1869  reviewing  that 
period  of  dim  twilight,  stated  in  his  own  English, 
*'  that  the  betrothment  of  a  maid  to  a  youth  fit  to 
wear  the  laurel  of  Hymen,  was  chiefly  influenced  by 
the  oapability  of  the  latter  in  point  of  his  English 
penmanship,  a  specimen  of  which  was  invariably  called 
for  by  the  parent  of  the  girl."  Now  the  possession  of 
the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  is  the  test,  a  fact  that 
gauges  the  whole  intellectual  and  social  progress  which 
Duff  had  come  to  set  in  motion  for  far  higher  religious 
ends.  As  the  vernaculars  of  the  country  were  neglected 
by  the  British  Government  for  the  Persian  of  its 
Muhammadan  predecessor,  so  English  had  to  give  way 
to  a  vicious  orientalism.     In  1780  Warren  Hastings 


^t.  24.  THE  ORIENTAL  COLLEGES.  97 

had  founded  the  Madrissa  or  Muhammadan  college  iu 
Calcutta,  to  conciliate  the  Moulvies  by  teaching  the 
whole  range  of  the  religion  of  Islam,  and  preparing 
their  sons  as  officials  of  the  law  courts.  In  1791 
Jonathan  Duncan,  of  philanthropic  memory,  did  the 
same  for  the  Hindoos,  by  establishing  the  Benares 
Sanscrit  College  avowedly  to  cultivate  their  "  laws, 
literature  and  religion."  From  Plassey  to  the  char- 
ter of  1813  was  the  most  evil  time  of  the  East  India 
Company's  intolerance  of  light  in  every  form,  so  much 
did  it  dread  the  overturning  of  a  political  fabric  which 
had  sprung  up  in  spite  of  it.  But  then  the  Court 
of  Directors  was  compelled  by  Parliament,  expressing 
weakly  the  voice  of  the  Christian  public,  to  write  the 
despatch  of  the  6th  September,  1813,  which  com- 
municated the  order  that  "  a  sum  of  not  less  than  one 
lakh  of  rupees  (£10,000)  in  each  year  shall  be  set 
apart  and  applied  to  the  revival  and  improvement  of 
literature,  and  the  encouragement  of  the  learned 
natives  of  India,  and  for  the  introduction  and  pro- 
motion of  a  knowledge  of  the  sciences  among  the  in- 
habitants of  the  British  territories  of  India."  Weakly, 
we  say,  for  Charles  Grant  had,  in  1792,  sketched  in 
detail,  and  had  continued  all  these  years  to  press  on 
the  court  and  in  Parliament,  a  scheme  of  tolerant 
English  and  vernacular  education,  of  such  far-sighted 
ability  and  benevolence  that  all  subsequent  progress 
to  the  present  hour  is  only  a  commentary  upon  his 
su  Of  Questions.* 

In  spite  of  the  charter  of  1813,  that  order  was  not, 
in  its  spirit  and  intention,  carried  out  till  Duff  landed 


*  Observations  on  the  State  of  Society  among  the  Asiatic  Subjects  of 
Great  Britain,  particularly  with  respect  to  Morals,  and  on  the  Means 
of  Improving  it.  Written  cbiefly  in  the  yoar  1792.  Ordered  by  the 
House  of  Commons  to  be  printed,  l-5th  June,  1813. 

H 


98  LIFE   OF   DR.    DUFF.  1 830. 

in  Calcutta.  First,  Colebrooke — tlie  greatest  orien- 
talist who  has  yet  lived — when  a  member  of  Lord 
Minto's  Council,  and  then  Dr.  H.  H.  "Wilson — who, 
in  England,  comes  only  second  to  him — directed  the 
Parliamentary  instructions  to  tlie  establishment  of 
another  Sanscrit  college,  this  time  in  Calcutta.  The 
directors'  despatch  of  3rd  June,  1814,  was  all  in  favour 
of  such  orientalism,  but,  though  ignoring  English,  it 
deserves  the  credit  of  having  urged  the  establishment 
of  a  system  of  vernacular  schools,  on  Bell's  principles, 
from  a  cess  on  the  land.  Had  that  been  attended  to  as 
each  province  was  added  to  the  empire  or  settled  in  its 
land  revenue  and  tenures,  the  whole  work  of  national 
education  for  which  Duff  laboured  side  by  side  with 
his  Englisli  system,  as  we  shall  see,  might  have  been 
done.  Instead  of  either,  the  public  money  was  so 
misapplied  as  to  call  forth  a  despatch  on  the  18th 
February,  1824,  in  which  James  Mill,  in  the  name  of 
the  directors,  reviewed  the  fruitless  and  wasteful  past, 
usinof  this  lansruaffe  : — 

"  The  great  end  should  not  Lave  been  to  teach  Hindoo  learn- 
ing, but  useful  learning.  No  doubt  in  teaching  useful  learning 
to  the  Hindoos  or  Muhammadans,  Hindoo  'media  or  Muham- 
madan  media,  so  far  as  they  were  found  the  most  effectual, 
would  have  been  proper  to  be  employed,  and  Hindoo  and 
Muhammadan  prejudices  would  have  needed  to  be  consulted, 
while  everything  which  was  useful  in  Hindoo  or  Muhammadan 
literature  it  would  have  been  proper  to  retain ;  nor  would 
there  have  been  any  insuperable  difficulty  in  introducing, 
under  these  reservations,  a  system  of  instruction  from  which 
great  advantage  might  have  been  derived.  In  professing,  on 
the  other  hand,  to  establish  seminaries  for  the  purpose  of 
teaching  mere  Hindoo  or  mere  Muhammadan  literature,  you 
bound  yourselves  to  teach  a  great  deal  of  what  was  frivolous, 
not  a  little  of  what  was  purely  mischievous,  and  a  small  re- 
mainder indeed  in  which  utility  was  in  any  way  concerned. 
In  the  new  college  which  is  to  be  instituted,  and  which  we 


^t.  24.  THE  DIRECTORS  CONDEMN  THE  ORIENTAL  COLLEGES.      99 

think  you  have  acted  judiciously  in  placing  at  Calcutta  instead 
of  Nuddca  and  Tirhoot  as  originally  sanctioned,  it  will  be 
much  farther  in  your  power,  becanso  not  fettered  by  any  pre- 
ceding practice,  to  consult  the  principle  of  utility  in  the  course 
of  study  which  you  may  prescribe." 

Three  years  Later,  on  the  5th  September,  1827,  the 
directors  took  a  stronger  position,  wlien  pointing  out 
that  the  course  of  education  must  not  merely  "  pro- 
duce a  higher  degree  of  intellectual  fitness,  but  that  it 
will  contribute  to  raise  the  moral  character  of  those 
who  partake  of  its  advantages."  The  writer,  charac- 
teristically, could  not  find  "  the  best  security  against 
deorradino:  vices"  elsewhere  than  in  "that  rational 
self-esteem  "  of  which  his  greater  son's  autobiography 
gives  us  such  sad  glimpses.  But  that  despatch  had 
hardly  been  discussed  and  angrily  answered  by  the 
orientalists  around  the  Grovernor-General,  when  Duff 
gave  himself  to  the  life  task  of  supplying  the  only 
motive  power  which  would  secure  "  the  last  and 
highest  object  of  education  "  to  the  natives  of  India. 

Fortunately  we  have  his  own  account  of  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  first  English  college  in  India,  the 
Vidyalaya,  or  Anglo-Indian,  or  Hindoo  College,  as 
given  in  his  evidence  before  the  select  committee  of 
the  House  of  Commons  previous  to  the  Company's  last 
charter  of  1853.  The  immediate  precursor  of  that 
movement  was  the  minute  of  2nd  October,  1815,  in 
which  Lord  Hastings,  declaring  his  solicitude  for  the 
moral  and  intellectual  condition  of  the  natives,  pro- 
jected a  system  of  public  instruction,  and  thereafter 
visited  Serampore  to  inspect  its  schools  and  encour- 
age its  missionaries.  The  David  Hare  mentioned  was 
the  son  of  a  watchmaker  in  London,  who  and  whose 
brothers  made  a  modest  fortune  in  India. 

"  The  system  of  English  education  commenced  in  the  follow-^r^-^ 


lOO  LIFE    OF   DB.    DUFF.  1830. 

ing  very  simple  way  in  Bengal.  There  were  two  persons  who 
had  to  do  with  it, — one  was  Mr.  David  Hare,  and  the  other 
was  a  native,  Rammohun  Roy.  In  the  year  1815  they  were  in 
consultation  one  evening  with  a  few  friends  as  to  what  should 
be  done  with  a  view  to  the  elevation  of  the  native  mind  and 
character.  Rammohun  Roy^s  proposition  was  that  they  should 
establish  an  assembly  or  convocation,  in  which  what  are  called 
the  higher  or  purer  dogmas  of  Vedantism  or  ancient  Hindooism 
might  be  taught;  in  short  the  Pantheism  of  the  Yedas  and 
their  Upanishads,  but  what  Rammohun  Roy  delighted  to  call 
by  the  more  genial  title  of  Monotheism.  Mr.  David  Hare  was 
a  watchmaker  in  Calcutta,  an  ordinary  illiterate  man  himself ; 
but  being  a  man  of  great  energy  and  strong  practical  sense, 
he  said  the  plan  should  be  to  institute  an  English  school  or 
college  for  the  instruction  of  native  youths.  Accordingly  he 
soon  drew  up  and  issued  a  circular  on  the  subject,  which 
gradually  attracted  the  attention  of  the  leading  Europeans, 
and,  among  others,  of  the  Chief  Justice  Sir  Hyde  East.  Being 
led  to  consider  the  proposed  measure,  he  entered  heartily  into 
it,  and  got  a  meeting  of  European  gentlemen  assembled  in 
May,  1816.  He  invited  also  some  of  the  influential  natives  to 
attend.  Then  it  was  unanimously  agreed  that  they  should 
commence  an  institution  for  the  teaching  of  English  to  the 
children  of  the  higher  classes,  to  be  designated  '  The  Hindoo 
College  of  Calcutta/  A  large  joint  committee  of  Europeans 
and  natives  was  appointed  to  carry  the  design  into  effect.  In 
the  beginning  of  1817  the  college,  or  rather  school,  was 
opened,  and  it  was  the  very  first  English  seminary  in  Bengal, 
or  even  in  India,  as  far  as  I  know.  In  the  joint  committee 
there  was  a  preponderance  of  natives,  and  partly  from  their 
inexperience  and  inaptitude,  and  partly  from  their  absurd 
prejudices  and  jealousies,  it  was  not  very  well  managed  nor 
very  successful.  Indeed,  had  it  not  been  for  the  untiring 
perseverance  of  Mr.  Hare,  it  would  have  soon  come  to  an  end. 
The  number  of  pupils  enrolled  at  its  first  opening  was  but 
small — not  exceeding  twenty — and  even  all  along,  for  the 
subsequent  five  or  six  years,  the  number  did  not  rise  above 
sixty  or  seventy.  Then  it  was,  when  they  were  well-nigh  in 
a  state  of  total  wreck,  and  most  of  the  "Europeans  had  retired 
from  the  management  in  disgust,  that  Mr,  Hai-e  and  a  few 
others  resolved  to  apply  to  the  Government  for  help  as  the  only 


JEt  24.         THE    FIEST   ENGLISH    SCHOOL    IN    INDIA.  lOI 

means  of  saving  the  sinking  institution  from  irretrievable  ruin. 
The  Government,  when  thus  appealed  to,  did  come  forward  and 
proffer  its  aid  upon  certain  reasonable  terms  and  conditions  ; 
and  it  was  in  this  way  that  the  British  Government  was  first 
brought  into  an  active  participation  in  the  cause  of  English 
education. 

"The  Government  then  came  forward  and  said  in  substance, 
— '  If  you  will  allow  us  to  appoint  a  duly  qualified  visitor,  so 
as  to  give  us  some  control  over  the  course  of  instruction,  we 
will  help  you  with  a  considerable  pecuniary  grant/  But, 
however  equitable  the  proposal  that  they,  as  large  subscribers 
to  the  funds,  should  have  an  influential  voice  in  the  manage- 
ment, such  was  the  blindfold  bigotry  of  the  larger  moiety  of 
the  native  committee,  that  the  interposition  of  the  Govern- 
ment, even  in  the  mild  form  proposed,  was  at  first  very  stoutly 
resisted.  At  length  the  sober  sense  of  the  smaller  moiety 
prevailed.  The  first  visitor  happened  to  be  Mr.  Horace 
Hayman  Wilson,  the  famous  Sanscrit  scholar.  It  was  not, 
perhaps,  an  appointment  altogether  congenial  to  his  other 
pursuits,  he  being  thoroughly  wrapped  up  in  Sanscrit  and 
Sanscrit  lore  of  every  sort.  But  still,  as  his  influence  with  the 
natives  was  deservedly  great,  he  was  appointed  to  the  office ; 
and,  as  an  honourable  man,  he  rigorously  resolved  to  do  his 
duty.  He  very  soon  threw  new  life  into  the  system,  and  got 
it  very  much  improved ;  the  number  of  pupils  soon  also  greatly 
increased,  so  that  altogether  there  was  a  great  deal  of  zeal 
manifested,  and  a  considerable  degree  of  success  attained.  At 
the  same  time,  so  far  as  the  Government  were  concerned,  their 
views  at  the  outset,  with  regard  to  the  best  mode  of  communi- 
cating European  literature  and  science,  were  somewhat  peculiar 
and  contracted ;  in  other  words,  their  views  seemed  to  be  that 
whatever  of  European  literature  and  science  might  be  con- 
veyed to  the  native  mind  should  be  conveyed  chiefly  through 
native  media,  that  is  to  say,  the  learned  languages  of  India — 
for  the  Muhammadans,  Ai'abic  and  Persian ;  and  for  the  Hindoos, 
Sanscrit.  This  was  the  predominant  spirit  and  intent  of  the 
British  Government." 

The  college,  which  had  upwards  of  a  hundred 
students  and  an  endowment  of  £15,000  on  Duff's 
arrival,  lost  all  its  capital  in  the  commercial  collapse 


I02  LIFE    OP   DE.    DUFF.  *        1830 

wbicli  occurred  soon  after.  Then,  too,  perished  the 
Calcutta  School  Society,  established  about  the  same 
time  and  on  the  same  principles  intolerant  of  Chris- 
tianity. Its  committee  had,  in  1823,  opened  an  English 
school  as  a  feeder  to  the  college,  in  which  it  maintained 
thirty  free  students  out  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
in  attendance  in  1829.  The  object  was  the  then 
far-sighted  one  of  encouraging  the  purely  vernacular 
schools,  in  which  the  public  subscriptions  were  more 
beneficially  used,  to  train  their  pupils  well  in  Bengalee 
before  drafting  them  into  English  classes.  But  the 
fifth  report  of  that  society,  and  the  official  investiga- 
tions of  Mr.  Adam  soon  after,  show  that  there  were  not 
more  than  five  thousand  native  children  at  school  in  the 
whole  city  of  Calcutta  when  Duff  landed.  Not  more 
than  five  hundred  of  these  learned  English,  and  that 
after  the  straitest  sect  of  secularists  of  the  Tom  Paine 
stamp.  Such  was  the  educational  destitution  of  Cal- 
cutta, low  and  high,  seventeen  years  after  the  Clapham 
philanthropists  had,  through  Parliament,  forced  the 
Court  of  Directors  to  promise  to  educate  the  natives. 

Outside  of  Calcutta  the  few  missionaries  had  made 
somewhat  fitful  attempts  to  use  English  as  the  best 
medium  for  the  conveyance  of  truth.  A  Hindoo  who 
was  *'  almost  a  Christian,"  Jeynarain  Ghosal,  in  1814 
left  20,000  rupees  to  found  that  college  in  Benares  which 
the  Church  Missionary  Society  still  conducts  so  well. 
In  the  same  year,  at  Chinsurah,  the  London  Missionary 
Society's  agent,  Mr.  May,  opened  a  high  school,  which 
received  the  first  grant-in-aid.  Helped  by  Rammohun 
Roy  and  Dwarkanath  Tagore,  Dr.  Marshman  estab- 
lished many  native  schools  in  1816  ;  but  it  was  in  1818 
that  the  great  college  of  the  Serampore  missionaries 
was  projected  to  do  on  the  Christian  side  what  the 
Calcutta  Hindoos  were  attempting  on  the  purely 
secular.    Unhappily,  that  was  not  in  Calcutta.     There 


^t.  24.  THE    WORK    OF    DESTRUCTION    BEGUN.  I03 

suttee,  infanticide,  and  the  choking  of  the  dying  with 
Ganges  mud  were  as  common  as  in  the  time  of 
its  apostate  founder,  Job  Charnock.  Mr.  G.  Pearce, 
who  landed  there  three  years  before  Duff,  as  a  mis- 
sionary of  the  Baptist  society,  was  even  then  required 
to  report  himself  to  the  police  and  to  make  oath  that 
he  would  behave  himself  peaceably.  Sunday  was  blot- 
ted out  of  the  calendar.  Caste  and  idolatry  revelled 
under  the  protection  of  the  Company.  Human  sacri- 
fices and  Thug  murder  by  strangling  were  common. 
Only  four  societies,  represented  by  a  dozen  foreign 
missionaries,  were  at  work  in  Calcutta  and  all  Bengal : 
— the  Baptist,  the  London,  the  Church,  and  the  Orissa 
General  Baptist.  In  1827  there  were  only  nine  Baptist 
and  half  a  dozen  Anglican  converts  in  all  Calcutta,  and 
of  these  but  a  portion  were  Hindoos,  and  one  had 
been  a  Muhammadan.  This  was  the  fruit  of  ten  years' 
labour. 

Thus  far  the  work  of  destruction  had  begun,  and 
Hindoo  hands  had  been  the  first  to  try  to  pull  down 
their  Dagon  of  falsehood,  while  Government  officials 
had  been  active,  more  or  less  unconsciously,  in  prop- 
ping it  up.  The  Bengalees,  beginning  to  leave  even 
the  glimmering  and  reflected  light  of  natural  religion 
as  embodied  in  the  varied  concrete  of  their  own 
system,  were  groping  in  the  still  darker  region  where 
all  was  doubt,  wdiere  the  old  was  gone  and  nothing 
had  taken  its  place.  Who  was  to  arrest  the  demoral- 
ization ?  Who  could  so  guide  the  fermenting  process 
as  to  work  into  the  mass  the  leaven  which  is  slowly 
leavening  the  whole  lump  ?  Who  should  begin  the 
work  of  construction  side  by  side  with  that  of  a  dis- 
integration such  as  even  the  nihilists  of  the  Hindoo 
College  had  not  dared  to  dream  of? 


CHAPTER  V. 

1830-1831. 
THE   MINE   PBEPABED. 

Preliminary  Researches. — Duff's  first  Interview  ■wltli  Carey. — They 
Agree  as  to  the  best  System  of  Aggression  on  Hindooism. — That 
System  confirmed  by  Experience.  —  Preparing  the  Mine  and 
Setting  the  Train. — The  Bible  the  Base  and  Crown  of  the  System. 
— Why  Previous  Attempts  Failed. — Buchanan's  Christian  In- 
stitution in  the  East. — Serampore  College. — Bishop's  College  and 
Dr.  Mill's  Sanscrit  Christiad. —  All  Providential  Advantages 
centred  in  Daff". — His  Bengalee  Ally,  the  Raja  Rammohun  Roy, 
the  Erasmus  of  Hindooism. —  The  Brumho  Sobha  and  Dhai'ma 
Sobha. — Duff's  Treatment  of  Rammohun  different  from  that  by 
Dr.  Marshman. — The  Theist  finds  for  the  Christian  a  School  and 
five  Pupils. — The  first  Day. — The  Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Gospels 
in  Bengalee. — Opposition  of  the  other  Missionaries. — Duff  teach- 
ing the  English  Alphabet.  —  Contemporaneous  teaching  of 
Bengalee  and  English.  —  Removes  to  College  Square.  — First 
Public  Examination  of  the  School  converts  all  Opponents. — 
Branch  Institution  at  Takee. — A  new  Educational  Era  in  India. — 
Rev.  W.  S.  Mackay  joins  Duff. — Letter  introducing  Rammohun 
Roy  to  Dr.  Chalmers. — Story  of  an  English  Adventurer. — Duff 
the  first  to  teach  Political  Economy  in  India. — The  Home  Com- 
mittee remonstrate,  confounding  it  with  Politics. 

With  tlie  exhaustless  energy  which  marked  his  whole 
life,  Alexander  Duff  spent  the  hottest  and  wettest 
period  of  the  Bengal  year,  the  six  weeks  from  the 
end  of  May  to  the  middle  of  July,  in  preliminary  in- 
quiries. From  early  morning  till  latest  eve  he  visited 
every  missionary  and  mission  station  in  and  around 
Calcutta,  from  the  southern  villages  on  the  skirts  of 
the  malarious  Soonderbun  forests  to  the  older  settle- 
ments of  the  Dutch  at  Ohinsurah  and  the  Danes  at 


^t.  24.       duff's  fibst  meetlng  with  cakey.  105 

Seramppre,  There  was  not  a  school  which  he  did  not 
inspect ;  not  one  of  those  thatched  bamboo  and  wicker- 
work  chapels,  in  whicli  apostolic  men  like  Lacroix 
preached  night  and  morning  in  Bengalee  to  the  passers- 
by  in  the  crowded  thorouglifares  of  the  capital,'  in  which 
he  did  not  spend  hours  noting  the  people  and  the 
preaching  alike.  For  he  had  at  once  begun  that  study 
of  the  vernacular  without  which  half  his  knowledge  of 
and  sympathy  with  the  natives  must  have  been  lost. 
He  was  especially  careful  to  visit  in  detail  represen- 
tative rural  villages,  that  he  might  satisfy  himself  and 
the  committee.  From  such  minute  investigations,  and 
from  frequent  conferences  with  the  more  experienced 
men  already  in  the  field,  he  arrived  at  two  conclu- 
sions. These  were,  that  Calcutta  itself  must  be  the 
scene  of  his  earliest  and  principal  efforts,  from 
which  he  could  best  operate  on  the  interior ;  and  that 
the  method  of  his  operations  must  be  different  from 
that  of  all  his  predecessors  in  India. 

With  one  exception  the  other  missionaries  discour- 
aged these  two  conclusions.  He  had  left  to  the  last 
the  aged  Carey,  then  within  three  years  of  the  close  of 
the  brightest  of  missionary  careers  up  to  that  time,  in 
order  that  he  might  lay  his  whole  case  before  the  man 
whose  apostolic  successor  he  was  to  be,  even  as  Carey 
had  carried  on  the  continuity  from  Schwartz  and  the 
baptism  of  the  first  Protestant  convert  in  1707. 
Landing  at  the  college  ghaut  one  sweltering  July 
day,  the  still  ruddy  Highlander  strode  up  to  the  flight 
of  steps  that  leads  to  the  finest  modern  building  in 
Asia.  Turning  to  the  left,  he  sought  the  study  of 
Carey  in  the  house — "  built  for  angels  "  said  one,  so 
simple  is  it — where  the  greatest  of  missionary  scholars 
was  still  workiuQf  for  India.  There  he  beheld  what 
seemed  to  be  a  little  yellow  old  man  in  a  white  jacket, 
"who  tottered  up  to  the  visitor  of  whom  he  had  already 


I06  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1830 

often  heard,  and  witli  outstretclied  hands  solemnly 
blessed  him.  A  contemporary  soon  after  wrote  thus 
of  the  childlike  saint — 

"  Thoii'rt  in  our  hearts — with  tresses  thin  and  grey, 
And  eye  that  knew  the  Book  of  Life  so  well. 
And  brow  serene,  as  thou  wert  wont  to  stray 
Amidst  thy  flowers,  like  Adam  ere  he  fell." 

The  result  of  the  conference  was  a  double  blessing, 
for  Carey  could  speak  with  the  influence  at  once  of  a 
scholar  who  had  created  the  best  college  at  that  time 
in  the  country,  and  of  a  vernacularist  who  had  preached 
to  the  people  for  half  a  century.  The  young  Scots- 
man left  his  presence  with  the  approval  of  the  one 
authority  whose  opinion  was  best  worth  having.  The 
meeting,  as  Dufi"  himself  once  described  it  to  us,  was 
the  beginning  of  an  era  in  the  history  of  the  Church 
of  India  which  the  poet  and  the  painter  might  well 
symbolize. 

Though  for  two  years  the  Kirk's  committee  han- 
kered after  a  station  in  the  interior,  we  may  at  once 
dismiss  the  decision  to  begin  first  at  Calcutta.  But 
the  determination,  confirmed  by  all  he  had  seen 
and  heard,  to  open  an  English  school,  in  time  to  be 
developed  into  a  college  different  from  any  then  in 
existence,  and  yet  only  the  nucleus  of  a  great  spiritual 
campaign  against  Hindooism,  proved  too  fruitful  in  its 
consequences  to  be  merely  stated. 

Duff's  object  was,  in  the  strength 'of  Grod  and  the 
intensity  of  a  faith  that  burned  even  more  brightly  to 
his  dying  hour,  nothing  less  than  the  destruction  of  a 
system  of  beliefs,  life,  and  ancient  civilization  of  the 
highest  type,  based  on  a  great  literature  expressed  in 
the  most  elaborate  language  the  world  has  seen.  Up 
to  that  time,  missionaries  in  the  less  Hindooized  south 
of  India  had  been  at  work  for  more  than  a  century,  and 


^t.  24.  HIS   MISSIONAEY   POLICY.  IO7 

liad  been  driven  to  evangelize  the  non-Brahmanical 
tribes.  The  system  remained  untouched — nay,  re- 
mains so  to  the  present  day,  according  to  the  most 
scholarly  authority,  Mr.  Burnell.*  In  the  coast  settle- 
ments of  Eastern  and  Western  India,  after  some  twenty 
years'  labour  a  few  missionaries  had  detached  a  few 
units  from  the  mass  by  ill-taught  vernacular  schools 
generally  under  heathen  masters,  and  by  addressing 
fluctuating  and  promiscuous  groups  in  the  streets  and 
villages  amid  the  contempt  of  the  learned  and  the  scorn 
of  the  respectable  classes.  Up  to  that  time  the  converts 
had  not  only  been  few,  but  their  new  faith  had  not 
been  self-propagating.  It  had  died  out  with  them. 
Of  the  hundreds  of  Kiernander's  converts  during  his 
long  work  in  Calcutta  Simeon's  chaplains  found  hardly 
a  trace,  so  that  the  biographer  of  Thomas, f  the  surgeon 
who  brought  Carey  to  Bengal,  doubts  their  existence. 
Of  the  tens  brought  over  by  the  evangelical  clergy  of 
whom  Martyn  was  the  type  the  earlier  missionaries 
found  none.  The  first  fact  forced  on  Duff  was,  that,  as 
against  the  Brahmanized  Hindoos,  the  prevailing  mis- 
sionary method  had  failed  both  in  immediate  results  and 
in  self-developing  power.  The  logical,  if  also  anti- 
spiritual  conclusion,  was  undoubtedly  that  of  the  Abbe 
Dubois,  who  knew  no  other  method — that  it  was  impos- 
sible to  convert  the  Hindoos,  and  needless  to  try. 

Long  after  that  time  we  have  heard  the  greatest 
vernacular  preacher  Bengal  has  seen.  Duff's  dear  friend, 
Lacroix,  confess  that  during  fifty  years  he  did  not 
know  that  he  had  been  the  means  of  making  one 
convert  from  Hindooism.  And  so  recently  as  this 
year  an  equally  typical  missionary  to  Islam,  the  Rev. 
T.  P.  Hughes,  warns  us  that  there  is  very  little,  if  any, 

*  See  Academy  for  Dec.  28th,  1878,  page  G04. 
t  The  Life  of  John  Thomas,  First  Baptist  Missionary  to  Bengal,  by 
C.  B.  Lewis.     London.  1873. 


Io8  •  LIFi']    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1830. 

analogy  between  street  preacliing  in  England  and  in 
an  Indian  city.  "  There  the  evangelist  stands  up  not 
as  a  recognised  religious  teacher,  and  the  doctrinal 
terms  he  uses  will  either  seem  strange  to  the  ears  of  his 
listeners,  or  will  convey  a  meaning  totally  at  variance  to 
the  one  he  wishes  to  impart.  But  in  private  interviews 
the  evangelist  stands  face  to  face,  eye  to  eye,  and  heart 
to  heart  with  the  opponent  or  the  inquirer,  and  can 
speak  as  one  fallen  sinner  should  speak  to  another. 
There  is  a  chord  of  sympathy  in  such  meetings  which  is 
not  to  be  found  in  the  public  market-place,  and  it  needs 
but  the  touch  of  love  and  the  power  of  Grod's  Spirit  to 
awaken  its  emotions  !  "*  Still  stronger  and  yet  more 
sensitive  and  true  is  that  chord  when  it  is  in  the  heart 
of  ingenuous  and  grateful  youth,  and  day  after  day  in 
the  class-room,  and  night  after  night  in  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  lecture-room  or  in  the  heavenly  contagion  of 
the  secret  conversation,  the  missionary  plays  upon  it 
with  the  art  of  the  Master  in  the  synagogue  or  by  the 
well,  and  in  the  oft-frequented  places  by  the  sea-shore 
or  on  the  hill-side. 

We  have  Duff's  own  statement  of  his  divine  strategy 
when,  ten  years  afterwards,  he  told  the  people  of 
Scotland,  "  In  this  way  we  thought  not  of  individuals 
merely ;  we  looked  to  the  masses.  Spurning  the  no- 
tion of  a  present  day's  success,  and  a  present  year's 
wonder,  we  directed  our  view  not  merely  to  the  pre- 
sent but  to  future  generations."  Admitting  the  pro- 
priety of  the  direct  policy  adopted  by  his  fellow- 
labourers  of  every  sect  in  other  circumstances,  he 
thus  "joyfully  hailed"  them  :  "While  you  engage  in 
directly  separating  as  many  precious  atoms  from  the 
mass  as  the  stubborn  resistance  to  ordinary  appliances 
can  admit,  we  shall,  ivith  the  blessing  of  God,  devote  our 

•  The  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer  for  January,  1879. 


JEt  24-   THE  BIBLE  THE  CENTRE  OP  EDUCATIONAL  MISSIONS.    IO9 

timo  and  ytreii'jfh  to  the  jjreparing  of  a  mine,  and  ilw 
setting  of  a  train  which  shall  one  day  explode  and  tear 
up  the  ivhole  from  its  lowest  depths.''*  So  John  Wilson 
reasoned  on  independent  grounds,  and  acted  on  de- 
tailed plans  adapted  to  AYestern  India.  So,  as  against 
the  Brahmanical  and  Muhammadan  systems,  all  the 
Protestant — now  the  only  aggressive — missions  in 
Northern  India,  have  gradually  come  to  do.  In  this 
sense,  education,  saturated  with  the  Bible,  became  the 
most  evangelical  and  evangelistic  agency  ever  adopted 
against  the  ancient  Aryan  faiths. 

When  reviewing  this  period  in  the  last  weeks  of  his 
life,  Du:ff  declared  that  he  was  resolutely  determined 
on  this  one  thing  :  Whatever  scheme  of  instruction 
he  might  adopt  must  involve  the  necessity  of  read 
ing  some  portion  of  the  Bible  daily  by  every  class 
that  could  read  it,  and  of  expounding  it  to  such  as 
could  not,  with  a  view  to  enlightening  the  understand- 
ing, spiritually  impressing  the  heart  and  quickening 
the  conscience,  while  the  teacher  prayed,  at  the  same 
time,  that  the  truth  might  be  brought  home,  by  the 
grace  of  the  Spirit,  for  the  real  conversion  to  God  of 
at  least  some  of  them.  As  he  read  Scripture  and  the 
history  of  the  Church,  he  did  not  expect  that  all  or 
the  majority  of  these  Bengalee  youths  would  certainly 
be  thus  turned,  for  in  nominal  Christendom  he  felfc 
that  few  have  been,  or  are,  so  changed  under  the  most 
favourable  circumstances.  That  "  many  are  called  but 
few  chosen,"  however,  only  quickened  his  zeal.  But 
he  did  expect  that,  if  the  Bible  were  thus  faithfully 
taught  or  preached,  some  at  least  would  be  turned 
from  their  idols  to  serve  the  living  God. 

While  religion  was  thus  to  be  in  the  forefront,  his 
resolution  was,  from  the  first,  to  teach  every  variety  of 
useful  knowledge,  first  in  elementary  forms,  and,  as  the 
pupils  advanced,  in  the  higher  branches,  which  might 


i 


t 


1  TO  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1830. 

ultimately  embrace  the  most  advanced  and  improved 
studies  in  history,  civil  and  sacred,  sourd  litera- 
ture, logic,  mental  and  moral  philosophy  after  the 
Baconian  method,  mathematics  in  all  departments, 
with  natural  history,  natural  philosophy  and  other 
sciences.  In  short,  the  design  of  the  first  of  Scot- 
tish missionaries  was  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  system 
of  education  which  might  ultimately  embrace  all  the 
branches  ordinarily  taught  in  the  higher  schools  and 
colleges  of  Christian  Europe,  but  in  inseparable  com- 
bination with  the  Christian  faith  and  its  doctrines, 
precepts  and  evidences,  with  a  view  to  the  practical 
regulation  of  life  and  conduct.  Eeligion  was  thus 
intended  to  be,  not  merely  the  foundation  upon 
which  the  superstructure  of  all  useful  knowledge  was 
to  be  reared,  but  the  animating  spirit  which  was  to 
pervade  and  hallow  all,  and  thus  conduce  to  the 
highest  welfare  of  man  in  time  and  for  eternity,  as 
well  as  to  the  glory  of  Cod.  These  sentiments  he  was 
wont  to  inculcate  in  the  case  of  all  whom  he  consulted 
on  the  subject  at  that  time.  All  truth,  directed  by 
the  two-edged  sword  of  the  very  word  of  Cod,  was 
that  which  was  to  pierce  to  the  vitals  of  Brahman- 
ism,  save  the  Hindoo  people,  and  make  them  in- 
struments of  truth  to  the  rest  of  Asia,  even  more 
widely  than  their  Buddhist  fathers  had  sought  to  be. 

Wherein  did  this  differ  from  previous  attempts? 
When,  on  the  24th  June,  1806,  Dr.  Claudius  Buchanan, 
fruit  of  the  Cambuslang  revival,  looked  back  on  the 
horrors  of  Jugganath  worship  from  an  eminence  on 
the  pleasant  banks  of  the  Chilka  Lake,  he  projected 
"The  Christian  Institution  in  the  East,"  which,  "  being 
fostered  by  Britain,  my  Christian  country,  might  grad- 
ually undermine  this  baleful  idolatry,  and  put  out  the 
memory  of  it  for  ever."  This  was  to  be  a  catholic  col- 
lege for  translating  the  Bible  into  the  oriental  tongues 


JEt  24.  FAILURE    OF    PREVIOUS   COLLEGES.  Ill 

by  planting  a  professor  in  every  province  witli  a  lan- 
guage and  literature  of  its  own,  to  report  on  botli  and 
to  teach  the  natives  printing.  So  far  as  that  was  not 
premature,  it  was  being  done  by  the  immortal  tliree  of 
Serampore,  who  refused  to  impede  their  own  organ- 
ization by  this  untried  project.  Buchanan  thereupon 
turned  himself  to  the  creation  of  tlie  ecclesiastical  estab- 
lishment of  a  bishop,  three  archdeacons,  and  more 
numerous  chaplains.  Just  as  Buchanan  had  looked  to 
Jews  and  Armenians  as  his  best  missionaries,  the  men 
who  made  the  great  stride  of  establishing  the  Seram- 
pore College  depended  on  Eurasians  or  Christians 
born  in  the  country.  Nobly  did  their  agents  work, 
from  Ava  to  Peshawur ;  but  here,  too,  there  was  no 
self-development  in  the  system.  The  distance  of  the 
college  from  Calcutta  shut  it  out  from  taking  its  place 
as  the  counteractive  of  the  false  philosophy  and  im- 
pure literature  taught  by  the  Hindoo  College. 

When  ecclesiastical  rivalry  stirred  up  Bishop  Middle- 
ton  to  erect  of  his  college,  he  made  the  same  mistake. 
He  pictured  a  second  grove  of  Academe,  in  which — 
that  is,  in  the  neighbouring  avenues  of  the  Botanic  Gar- 
den— the  professors  and  students  would  walk,  but  he 
left  the  sweltering  class-rooms  and  debating  societies 
of  the  Chitpore  quarter  of  Calcutta  to  atheism  and 
Voltaire.  Hence,  the  only  good  fruit  of  the  vast  ex- 
pense lavished  to  this  day  on  Bishop's  College  has 
been  the  Christ  a  Sangita,  the  Christian  epic  in  Sans- 
crit of  the  learned  Dr.  Mill,  its  first  principal.  What 
one  of  the  early  missionaries,  who  shared  the  dream, 
wrote  in  1844  is  still  true  :  "  Sure  I  am,  that  if  sainted 
spirits  can  weep.  Bishop  Middleton  is  now  weeping  in 
heaven  over  the  idol  of  his  heart."*     Men  make  sy^s- 

•  Sketches  of  Christianity  in  North  India,  by  the  Rev.  M.  Wilkin- 
son.    London,  1844. 


112  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1830. 

terns,  and  some  men  can  work  In  spite  of  systems 
doomed  to  failure.  Duff  might  have  in  time  trans- 
formed even  Bishop's  College,  for  its  two  fundamental 
objects  were  to  raise  native  preachers  and  teachers, 
and  to  teach  "  the  elements  of  useful  knowledge  and 
the  English  language  to  Muhammadans  and  Hindoos." 
But  it  was  more  than  a  fortunate,  it  was  a  directly 
providential  combination  of  circumstances,  which  cul- 
minated in  the  Scottish  evangelization  of  the  Hindoos 
by  education.  These  were,  the  sermon  of  Dr.  Inglis  in 
1818;  the  call  of  Alexander  Duff  in  1828;  his  wise 
independence  and  his  wiser  disobedience  of  the  only 
command  laid  upon  him ;  his  unrivalled  educational 
experience  as  well  as  spiritual  energy ;  the  revolution 
in  belief  and  opinion  begun  by  the  Hindoo  College ;  the 
official  toleration  and  personal  friendship  shown  by 
the  Governor- Greneral ;  and,  lastly,  that  to  which  we 
now  come,  the  help  of  the  one  Hindoo  whom  English 
teaching  had  led  to  find  the  living  Grod. 

In  a  pleasant  garden  house  in  the  leafy  suburbs  of 
Calcutta,  the  Raja  Rammohun  Roy,  then  fifty-six  years 
of  age,  was  spending  his  declining  days  in  earnest 
meditation  on  divine  truth,  broken  only  by  works  of 
practical  benevolence  among  his  countrymen,  and  soon 
by  preparations  for  that  visit  to  England,  where,  in 
1834,  he  yielded  to  the  uncongenial  climate.  "  You 
must  at  once  visit  the  Raja,"  said  General  Beatson, 
when  Mr.  Duff  presented  his  letter  of  introduction, 
"and  I  will  drive  you  out  on  an  early  evening.'* 
Save  by  Duff"  himself  afterwards,  justice  has  never 
been  done  to  this  Hindoo  reformer,  this  Erasmus  of 
India.  He  was  early  misunderstood  by  the  Serampore 
missionaries  in  his  own  country,  and  he  was  thus 
driven  into  the  arms  of  the  Unitarians  when  he  was 
lionized  in  Great  Britain.  Had  the  truth-seeking 
Bengalee  and    the   Scottish   apostle   met   when    the 


JEt.  24.  THE    YOUNG    RAMMOHUN    ROY.  II3 

former  was  yet  young,  Eastern  and  Northern  India 
might  have  been  brought  to  Christ  by  a  Bengalee 
Luther,  greater  than  their  own  Chaitunya,  instead  of 
their  more  earnest  youth  being  kept  from  Him  by  the 
Vedic  dreams  of  the  Brumho  Sobha,  and  now  by  the 
vague  ethical  naturalism  of  its  successor,  the  Brumho 
Somaj. 

At  the  close  of  the  administration  of  Warren 
Hastings,  when  the  bleached  bones  of  the  victims 
of  the  great  famine  were  beginning  to  disappear,  in 
1774,  a  Brahman  landholder  and  his  most  orthodox 
wife  had  a  son  born  to  them  on  the  ancestral  estate 
in  the  county  of  Burdwan,  some  fifty  miles  from  the 
English  capital  of  Calcutta.  Rammohun  Roy's  father 
had  retired  in  disgust  from  the  service  of  the 
tyrant,  Sooraj-ood-Dowla;  his  predecessors  had  been 
holy  ascetics  or  sacerdotal  lords,  till  the  intolerant 
Aurungzeb  forced  one  of  them  to  take  office  at  court. 
Their  spirit,  withdrawing  from  worldly  wealth  and 
distinction,  came  out  in  the  young  Rammohun,  who, 
though  trained  in  all  the  asceticism  of  his  mother's 
breviary,  the  "Ahnika  Tattina,"  renounced  idolatry  at 
the  age  of  sixteen,  when  he  wrote  but  did  not  pub- 
lish an  attack  on  "  the  idolatrous  system  of  the  Hin- 
doos." That  is,  he  gave  up  his  father's  love,  his 
mother's  care  and  his  rights  of  inheritance,  and  he 
braved  the  loss  of  caste  and  the  persecution  of  his 
friends.  To  this  he  had  been  led  by  too  intimate  a 
knowledofe  of  the  Benoralee  and  Sanscrit  literature,  in 
his  own  home,  followed  by  a  course  of  Arabic  and  Per- 
sian at  Patna,  and  by  the  study  of  Muhammadanism. 
From  Patna  the  young  and  truth-loving  tlieist  went 
to  Benares,  where  he  learned  that  the  Brahmanism 
of  his  day  was  a  corruption  of  what  seemed  to  him 
the  monotheism  which  underlay  the  nature-worship  of 
the   Vedas.      Captivated   for   a  time   by   philosophic 


114.  ^IFE   OF   DR.    DUrP.  1830. 

Buddhism,  he  visited  Tibet,  where  its  practical  Lamaic 
form  disgusted  him.  Recalled  by  his  father,  he  tried 
to  influence  the  old  man  who  died  in  1803,  and  he  so 
succeeded  in  convincing  his  mother  of  the  folly  of  her 
life-lonof  austerities  that  she  confessed  her  disbelief  in 
Hindooism  before  her  death.  But  he  had  no  Divine 
Saviour  to  reveal  to  her.  The  widow  died  in  the  service 
of  the  idol  Jugganath  at  Pooree,  having  declared  before 
she  set  out  on  the  hideous  pilgrimage :  "  Rammohun, 
you  are  right,  but  I  am  a  weak  woman,  and  am  grown 
too  old  to  give  up  rites  which  are  a  comfort  to  me." 

In  a  brief  autobiography  which  he  wrote  in  England, 
he  states  that  he  was  about  twenty  when  he  began  to 
associate  with  Europeans.  "  Finding  them  generally 
more  intelligent,  more  steady  and  moderate  in  their 
conduct,  I  gave  up  my  prejudice  against  them  and 
became  inclined  in  their  favour,  feeling  persuaded  that 
their  rule,  though  a  foreign  yoke,  would  lead  more 
speedily  and  surely  to  the  amelioration  of  the  native 
inhabitants." 

Seeking  a  liveHhood  in  the  service  of  the  English, 
as  his  fathers  had  done  in  that  of  the  Delhi  emperors 
and  their  Bengal  lieutenant-governors,  Rammohun 
Roy  became  an.  example  of  rectitude  to  the  corrupt 
native  officials  who  made  our  name  detested,  and  he 
won  the  friendship  of  his  British  superiors.  At  fifty 
he  retired  to  philosophic  ease  and  spiritual  meditation, 
and  became  the  centre  of  the  Calcutta  reformers.  But 
he  was  far  ahead  of  his  timid  contemporaries,  who 
while  approving  the  better  followed  the  worse.  The 
English  language  had  introduced  him  to  the  English 
Bible,  and  the  necessity  of  mastering  that  led  him  to 
the  original  Hebrew  and  Greek.  It  was  all  eclecticism 
at  first,  for  he  admired  in  the  law  of  the  Old  and  the 
gospel  of  the  New  Testament  only  the  same  doctrine 
of  the  Adwaita  or  unity  of  God,  which  he  had  held 


^t.  24.  THE    EAliLlEli    VEDANTIC    AVOnSIIIP.  II5 

up  to  liis  Hindoo  aud  Muliammadan  countrymen  as 
the  teaching  of  the  TJpanishads  and  the  Mesnavi,  till 
they  denounced  him  as  nastlh  or  atheist.  Of  this  time 
he  afterwards  wrote : — "  This  roused  such  a  feeliuo* 
against  me,  that  I  was  at  last  deserted  by  every  person 
except  two  or  three  Scotch  friends,  to  whom  and  the 
nation  to  which  they  belong  I  always  feel  grateful." 

In  the  very  year,  1814,  in  which  he  took  up  his 
residence  in  Calcutta,  he  opened  the  Brnmlio  Sobha, 
in  order  to  teach  and  to  practise  the  worship  of  one 
supreme  undivided  and  eternal  God.  At  first  in  his 
own  house,  aud  then  in  the  thoroughfare  of  Chitpore 
road,  he  and  his  pundits  expounded  in  the  vernacular 
the  purer  teaching  of  the  Vedas,  once  a  week,  but  on 
each  day  of  the  week  in  rotation  in  seven  years.  They 
sang  hymns  to  the  sound  of  drum  (tohlah)  and  cym- 
bals, {'inondeere),  guitar  (tomburu)  and  violoncello  (bea- 
lah),  such  as  this:  "All  is  vain  without  the  blessing 
of  God.  Remember  Him  Who  can  deprive  you  of 
wife,  children,  friends,  relatives  and  wealth.  He  is 
the  Supreme,  separate  from  the  triune  deity  (Brumha, 
Vishnoo  and  Siva) ;  to  Him  belong  no  titles  or  dis- 
tinctions. It  is  written  :  '  Blessed  is  he  whose  soul 
dwelleth  on  Him.'  "  Again :  "  Thine  own  soul  is 
thine  only  refuge ;  seek  to  cherish  it  in  its  proper 
abode  composed  of  five  elements,  and  guided  by  six 
passions.  Why  dost  thou  distrust  thine  own  soul? 
God  dwelleth  even  in  thine  own  heart."  Christ 
was  shut  out  from  Rammohun  Roy  by  inability  or  un- 
willinorness  to  believe  His  own  revelation  of  the  Father 
and  promise  of  the  Spirit.  But  he  set  Him,  as  a 
practical  teacher,  far  above  all  others,  when,  in  1820, 
he  published  anonymously  that  chrestomathy  of  the 
synoptic  Gospels  which  he  termed,  "  The  Precepts  of 
Jesus  the  Guide  to  Peace  and  Happiness." 

His  attitude  to  Brahmanism  was  still  that  of  Erasmus 


Il6  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1830. 

towards  Romanism.  He  believed  he  could  purify  the 
popular  religion  of  its  "  perversion  "  while  falling  back 
on  its  early  purity.  His  attacks  on  idolatry,  his  decla- 
ration of  the  equality  of  all  living  creatures,  without 
distinction  of  caste,  rank,  or  wealth,  under  the  moral 
government  of  God,  and  of  their  duty  to  worship  Him 
according  to  the  most  sacred  mysteries  of  the  Veds, 
roused  at  once  the  superstitious  fear  and  the  aristo- 
cratic selfishness  of  the  orthodox  famiUes.  They  met 
the  Brumho  Sobha  by  instituting  the  Dharma  Sobha, 
to  uphold  Brahmanism  and  all  its  consequences,  such 
as  suttee  and  the  denial  of  civil  and  religious  liberty, 
of  property  and  marriage  to  dissidents  from  idolatry. 
Thus  Hindoo  society  became  divided  into  opposing 
camps,  while  the  Hindoo  College  youths  formed  a  third 
entrenchment  in  support  of  pure  atheism  and  libertin- 
ism. These  were  the  three  powers  at  work,  unconnected 
by  any  agency  save  the  slow  and  indirect  influence  of 
English  literature  in  the  hands  of  vicious  teachers,  un- 
opposed by  Christianity  in  any  form,  denounced  at 
a  distance,  and  not  once  fairly  grappled  with  by  any 
Christian  man,  from  the  Bishop  to  the  Baptist  mission- 
aries, who  had  been  telegraphed  from  the  Sandheads  as 
"papists"  requiring  the  special  attention  of  the  police. 
The  Serampore  missionaries,  indeed,  had  taken  a  part 
in  the  conflict,  and  their  quarterly  Friend  of  India  had 
given  voice  to  Christ's  teaching  on  all  subjects,  human 
and  divine.  But  they  were  not  on  the  spot ;  and,  as 
we  shall  see,  they  made  the  mistake  of  fighting 
Rammohun  Roy  instead  of  first  using  him  as  an  ally 
against  the  common  foe,  and  then  educating  him  up 
to  the  revealed  standard.  If  Rammohun  Roy  had 
found  Christ,  what  a  revolution  there  would  have  been 
in  Bengal !  But  God  works  by  His  own  method,  and  He 
sent  Alexander  Duff  to  its  people  and  its  government, 
when  He  had  thus  prepared  the  Hindoo  to  help  him. 


^t.   24.  RAMMOHUN    ROYS    SUPPORT.  11/ 

Having  listened  to  the  young  Scotsman's  statement 
of  his  objects  and  plans,  Rammohun  Roy  expressed 
general  approval.  All  true  education,  the  reformer 
emphatically  declared,  ought  to  be  religious,  since  the 
object  was  not  merely  to  give  information,  but  to 
develop  and  regulate  all  the  powers  of  the  mind,  the 
emotions  of  the  heart,  and  the  workings  of  the  con- 
science. Though  himself  not  a  Christian  by  profession 
he  had  road  and  studied  the  Bible,  and  declared  that, 
as  a  book  of  religious  and  moral  instruction  it  was 
unequalled.  As  a  believer  in  God  he  also  felt  that 
everything  should  be  begun  by  imploring  His  blessing. 
He  therefore  approved  of  the  opening  of  the  proposed 
school  with  prayer  to  God.  Then,  of  his  own  accord, 
he  added  that,  having  studied  the  Vedas,  the  Koran 
and  the  Tripitakas  of  the  Buddhists,  he  nowhere  found 
any  prayer  so  brief  and  all-comprehensive  as  that 
which  Christians  called  the  Lord's  Prayer.  Till,  there- 
fore, Mr.  Duff  had  sufficiently  mastered  the  Bengalee 
and  his  pupils  the  English,  he  recommended  him  to 
study  and  daily  use  the  Lord's  Prayer  in  the  Ben- 
galee or  English,  according  to  circumstances.  But  he 
entirely  approved  of  using  the  English  language,  and 
not  the  Bengalee,  Persian,  Arabic  or  Sanscrit,  for  con- 
veying sound  European  knowledge.  This  led  him  also 
to  remark  that  he  entirely  disapproved  of  Government 
having  established  a  new  Sanscrit  college  in  Calcutta, 
against  which,  at  the  time  of  its  establishment,  he 
solemnly  protested,  on  the  ground  that  instead  of 
thereby  enlightening  the  native  mind  according  to  the 
intention  of  the  British  Parliament,  the  authorities 
were  confirming  it  in  error  and  prejudice,  and  rivet- 
ing upon  it  the  chains  of  darkness.  He  declared  of 
the  Indian  Government  that  it  had  acted  just  as  if 
the  English  Government,  professing  to  enlighten  the 
natives  of  the  British  Isles,  instead  of  setting  up  a 


Il8  LIFE   OF   DR.    DUFF.  1830. 

school  or  college  for  improved  literature,  science,  and 
philosophy,  had  established  a  great  seminary  for  the 
teaching  of  all  the  scholastic,  legendary,  and  other 
absurdities  of  the  middle  ages. 

"  As  a  youth,"  he  said  to  Mr.  Duff,  "  I  acquired  some 
knowledge  of  the  English  language.  Having  read 
about  the  rise  and  progress  of  Christianity  in  apostolic 
times,  and  its  corruptions  in  the  succeeding  ages, 
and  then  of  the  Christian  Reformation  which  shook  off 
these  corruptions  and  restored  it  to  its  primitive  purity, 
I  began  to  think  that  something  similar  might  havo 
taken  place  in  India,  and  similar  results  might  follow 
here  from  a  reformation  of  the  popular  idolatry.'* 
Till  his  study  of  the  Gospels,  Rammohun  Roy  had  not 
distinguished  between  the  one  universal  entity  of  Pan- 
theism and  the  personal  and  supreme  God  of  Theism. 
When  he  engaged  the  Baptist  missionary,  Mr.  Adam,  to 
teach  him  Greek  and  Hebrew,  he  so  shook  his  tutor's 
faith  in  the  revealed  Trinity  of  Scripture  that  the 
Christian  relinquished  his  oflBce,  became  Editor  of  tho 
India  Gazette,  and  was  generally  known  in  Calcutta 
as  "  the  second  fallen  Adam."  Then  came  the  contro- 
versy with  Serampore.  Christ  had  drawn  Rammohun 
so  far  as  to  a  personal  God  in  the  Christian  sense. 
Had  he,  at  this  stage,  fallen  into  the  hands  of  a  theo- 
logian of  comprehensive  views  and  wide  sympathies 
with  inquirers  struggling  to  ascertain  truth,  especially 
religious  truth,  in  its  highest  forms,  he  might  have 
been  led  to  realize,  not  merely  the  perfect  humanity 
but  the  Divinity  of  Christ  as  set  forth  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  on  their  divine  authority.  Though  the 
nature  of  the  incarnation  and  of  the  Trinity  was  incom- 
prehensible to  finite  and  spiritually  blinded  reason,  the 
facts  might  have  been  believed  on  suflBcient  authority. 

It  so  happened  that  one  of  the  Serampore  mission- 
aries took  him  up  rather  sharply  from  the  title  of  his 


ALi.  24-  RAJA    RAilMOHUN    ROYS    CHRISTIANITY.  II9 

pamphlet,  "  The  Precepts  of  Jesus  the  Guide  to  Hap- 
piness," which  seemed  to  imply  that  moral  precepts 
alone  are  sufficient  to  attain  to  supreme  felicity.  This 
was  exposed  as  a  system  of  mere  legalism.  Had 
Rammohun  Roy  been  an  orthodox  Christian,  and,  re- 
linquishing orthodoxy,  he  had  come  to  profess  theism 
and  published  such  a  treatise  with  such  a  title,  it 
would  indubitably  have  been  a  sign  of  his  falling  from 
the  truth.  But  it  was  overlooked  that  he  had  been 
born  and  brought  up  an  idolater,  so  that  to  renounce 
polytheism  in  all  its  forms,  and  attain  to  a  clear  belief 
in  the  existence  of  one  God,  Creator  of  all  things, 
was  an  evidence  of  his  having  made  considerable 
strides  upwards  towards  the  attainment  of  truth.  This 
provoked  him  to  publish  an  elaborate  reply,  which 
again  called  forth  a  rejoinder,  and  that  another  from 
him,  so  that  the  controversy  became  bitter,  and  he  was 
kept  back  from  the  higher  doctrines  of  the  Christian^ 
faith.  Such  was  his  attitude  towards  Christianity  when 
Mr.  Duff  first  made  his  acquaintance  ;  but  he  never  lost 
his  extreme  veneration  for  the  character  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  his  admiration  of  the  supreme  purity  and  subli- 
mity of  His  moral  teachings.  Subsequently  Mr.  Duff 
and  he  had  many  earnest  and  solemn  discussions  on 
the  subject.  The  testimony  of  John  Foster  shows  that 
this  remarkable  Hindoo  died  believing  in  the  divinity 
of  the  mission  of  Jesus  Christ,  including  His  miracles, 
but  had  not  attained  to  an  assurance  of  the  deity  of 
His  person. 

Greatly  cheered  by  the  emphatic  concurrence  of 
Rammohun  Roy,  Mr.  Duff  said  the  real  difficulty  now 
was,  where,  or  how,  to  get  a  hall  in  the  native  city 
in  which  to  commence  operations ;  for  the  natives, 
owing  to  caste  prejudices,  were  absolutely  averse  to 
letting  any  of  their  houses  to  a  European  for  European 
purposes.     Then,  if  a  suitable  place  could  be  got,  how 


I20  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1830. 

could  youths  of  the  respectable  classes  be  induced  to 
attend,  since  he  was  resolved  to  teach  the  Bible  in  every 
class,  and  he  was  told  that  this  would  constitute  an 
insuperable  objection.  For,  at  that  early  period,  the 
ignorant  Hindoos  regarded  the  Bible  with  something 
like  loathing  and  hatred,  as  the  great  antagonist  of 
their  Sh  asters  ;  they  were  also  actuated  by  the  super- 
stitious belief  that  to  take  the  Bible  into  their  hands, 
and  read  any  portion  of  it,  would  operate  upon  them, 
like  a  magical  spell,  forcing  them  to  become  Christians. 
Raramohun  Roy  at  once  offered  the  small  hall  of  the 
Brumho  Sobha,  in  the  Chitpore  road,  for  which  he 
had  been  paying  to  the  five  Brahman  owners  five 
pounds  a  month  of  rental.  The  few  worshippers  were 
about  to  use  a  new  building  which  he  had  himself 
erected  before  leaving  for  England,  with  the  honour 
of  Raja,  on  a  mission  from  the  titular  Emperor  of 
Delhi  to  represent  certain  complaints  against  the  East 
India  Company.  As  to  pupils,  his  personal  friends 
were  sufiiciently  free  from  prejudice  to  send  their  sons 
at  his  request.  Driving  at  once  to  the  spot,  the  gener- 
ous Hindoo  reformer  secured  the  hall  for  the  Christian 
missionary  from  Scotland  at  four  pounds  a  month ;  the 
liberal  Dwarkanath  Tagore,  who  also  afterwards  died  in 
England,  being  one  of  the  five  proprietors.  Point- 
ing to  a  punkah  suspended  from  the  roof,  Rammohun 
said  with  a  smile,  "  I  leave  you  that  as  my  legacy." 
After  a  few  days  five  bright-eyed  youths  of  the 
}f^  higher  class,  mostly  Brahmanical,  called  upon  Mr.  Duff, 
at  Dr.  Brown's  where  he  still  resided,  with  a  note  of 
introduction  from  Rammohun  Roy  stating  that  these 
five,  with  the  full  consent  of  their  friends,  were  ready 
to  attend  him  whenever  he  might  open  the  school.  One 
of  these,  a  Koolin  named  Khettur  Mohun  Chatterjee, 
turned  out  a  first-rate  scholar,  entered  the  Govern- 
ment service,   and    attained    to    one  of    the   highest 


^t.  24.  THE    FIRST   DAY   OF   DUFFS    COLLEGE.  121 

offices  which  a  native  could  then  hold.  Pie  was  long: 
greatly  respected  and  trusted  for  his  intelligence  and 
integrity.  Having  met  in  the  hall  with  the  five 
on  a  day  appointed,  by  the  aid  of  an  interpreter 
Mr.  Duff  explained  to  them,  in  a  general  way,  his  in- 
tentions and  plans.  They  seemed  highly  delighted, 
and  went  away  resolved  to  explain  the  matter  to 
their  friends.  In  a  day  or  two  several  new  youths 
appeared  along  with  them,  requesting  admission. 
On  every  successive  morning  there  was  a  fresh  suc- 
cession of  applicants,  till  classification  and  weeding 
out  became  necessary.  When  that  had  been  done, 
a  day  was  fixed  for  the  public  opening  of  the  school, 
at  ten  a.m.,  when  Rammohun  Roy  was  present  to  ex- 
plain difficulties,  and  especially  to  remove  the  prejudice 
against  reading  the  Bible.  The  eventful  day  was  the 
13th  of  July,  1830. 

Having  been  meanwhile  busy  with  Bengalee,  having 
obtained  from  the  Bible  Society's  depository  copies 
of  the  four  Gospels  in  Bengalee  and  English,  and 
having  borrowed  some  English  primers  from  the 
Eurasian  teacher  of  an  adventure  school,  Mr.  Duff  was 
ready.  Standing  up  with  Rammohun  Roy,  while  all  the 
lads  showed  the  same  respect  as  their  own  Raja,  the 
Christian  missionary  prayed  the  Lord's  Prayer  slowly 
in  Bengalee.  A  sight,  an  hour,  ever  to  be  remem- 
bered !  Then  came  the  more  critical  act.  Himself 
putting  a  copy  of  the  Gospels  into  their  hands, 
the  missionary  requested  some  of  the  older  pupils 
to  read.  There  was  murmuring  among  the  Brah- 
mans  among  them,  and  this  found  voice  in  the 
Bengalee  protest  of  a  leader — "  This  is  the  Christian 
Shaster.  We  are  not  Christians  ;  how  then  can  we  read 
it  ?  It  may  make  us  Christians,  and  our  friends  will 
drive  us  out  of  caste."  Now  was  the  time  for  Ram- 
mohun Roy,  who  explained  to  his  young  countrymen 


122  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUPP.  1830. 

that  they  were  mistaken.  *'  Christians,  like  Dr.  Horace 
Hay  man  Wilson,  have  studied  the  Hindoo  Shasters, 
and  you  know  that  he  has  not  become  a  Hindoo.  I 
myself  have  read  all  the  Koran  again  and  again,  and 
has  that  made  me  a  Mussulman  ?  Nay,  I  have 
studied  the  whole  Bible,  and  you  know  I  am  not  a 
Christian.  Why,  then,  do  you  fear  to  read  it  ?  Eead 
and  judge  for  yourself.  Not  compulsion,  but  enlight- 
ened persuasion  which  you  may  resist  if  you  choose, 
constitutes  you  yourselves  judges  of  the  contents  of 
the  book."  Most  of  the  remonstrants  seemed  satisfied. 
Daily  for  the  next  month  did  the  Hindoo  reformer 
visit  the  school  at  ten  for  the  Bible  lesson,  and  fre- 
quently thereafter  till  he  left  for  England,  when  his 
eldest  son  continued  to  encourage  the  boys  by  his 
presence  and  their  teacher  by  his  kindly  counsel.  But 
all  the  Christian  missionaries  kept  aloof  when  they 
did  not  expostulate  with  the  young  teacher,  whose 
weapon  of  English  seemed  to  them  as  unbiblical  as 
his  aUiance  with  the  author  of  "  The  Precepts  of 
Jesus "  was  unholy.  In  vain  did  Duff  reiterate  to 
them  his  leading  object,  which  was,  by  proper  culture, 
to  awaken,  develop,  stimulate  and  direct  the  various 
powers  and  susceptibilities  of  the  human  mind,  and 
for  this  end  to  employ  the  English  language  as  the 
most  effective  instrument ;  to  imbue  the  whole  know- 
ledge thus  imparted  with  the  spirit  of  true  religion ; 
and  at  the  same  time  to  devote  daily  a  portion  of  time 
in  every  class  to  the  systematic  study  of  the  Bible 
itself — not  in  the  way  of  formal  scholastic  exercise, 
but  of  devotional  and  instructive  study,  not  merely 
with  a  view  to  intellectual  illumination  but  with  a  view 
also,  by  the  advocacy  of  the  grace  of  God's  Spirit,  to 
the  conversion  of  the  soul  to  God.  It  was  vain  for 
him  thus  to  show  that  if  what  is  ordinarily  called 
secular  useful  knowledge  should  be  largely  communi- 


^t.  24.         OPPOSITION    OF   THE    EARLY    MISSIONARIES.  1 23 

cated,  that  •would  be  in  inseparable  alliance  with  divine 
truth.  It  was  vain  for  hira  to  state  that  lie  not  only 
did  not  disapprove,  but  on  the  contrary  wholly  approved 
of  tlieir  modes  of  operation,  as  probably  the  only  means 
which  at  an  early  stage  could  be  practised.  In  the  then 
backward  state  of  things  these,  he  said,  were  carried  on 
under  great  disadvantages  and  consequently  compara- 
tive inefficiency  ;  still,  as  progress  advanced,  the  time 
might  come  when  they  could  be  worked  more  effec- 
tively, therefore  his  own  intention  was  to  master  the 
vernacular  langruao-e  with  a  view  to  usefulness  in  vari- 
ous  forms  through  that  medium.  It  was  vain  for  him 
to  explain  that  while  the  English  language  would  thus 
be  used  as  the  channel  of  conveying  all  higher  and  im- 
proved knowledge,  he  was  determined  that  the  vernac- 
ular should  be  thoroughly  taught  to  the  pupils  at  the 
same  time,  as  a  channel  of  distribution  for  the  masses. 
The  other  missionaries  constantly  harped  on  this  fact, 
that  many  of  the  low  natives  in  Calcutta  sought  a  smat- 
tering of  English  only  to  carry  on  dealings  with  the 
sailors,  whom  they  allured  to  low  taverns,  there  to 
revel  in  all  manner  of  wickedness,  contriving  at  the 
same  time  to  rob  them  of  what  money  they  possessed, 
and  often  even  stripping  them  of  their  clothes,  and 
throwing  them  into  the  street  to  be  taken  up  by  the 
police.  English  had  thus  come  to  be  in  bad  odour  with 
the  early  missionaries,  as  regarded  these  low  caste 
natives  on  the  one  hand,  and  its  apparent  effect  in 
leading  the  children  of  the  better  class  natives  into  the 
wildest  infidelity. 

With  regard  to  the  natives  who  wished  to  learn 
English  for  such  purposes,  Mr.  Duff's  reply  was  that, 
even  on  the  low  ground  of  the  principles  of  political 
economy,  he  would  soon  by  the  multiplication  of  these 
overstock  the  market,  and  make  it  necessary  for  those 
who  wished  to  obtain  better  positions  to  remain  longer 


124  I'^FE    OP   DR.    DUFF.  1830. 

at  school,  SO  as  to  gain  a  higher  degree  of  knowledge, 
which  might  not  only  enlarge  the  intellect  but  regu- 
late the  morals  and  manners.  With  regard  to  the 
children  of  the  higher  classes,  his  trust  was  that  the 
thorough  inculcation  of  God's  word,  with  prayer, 
would  have  the  effect  of  preventing  them  from  becom- 
ing utter  unbelievers  or  atheists,  and  in  all  respects 
make  them  better  men  and  members  of  society,  even  if 
they  did  not  outwardly  and  formally  embrace  the 
Christian  faith.  On  the  evening  before  the  day  of 
opening  the  school,  one  of  the  missionaries,  who  had 
become  his  dearest  friend,  came  to  his  house  vehe- 
mently to  expostulate  with  him  at  the  eleventh  hour. 
When  his  friend  saw  that  he  could  make  no  impression 
on  the  far-seeing  Scotsman,  he  rose,  and,  shaking  him 
by  the  hand,  looked  imploringly  in  his  face,  saying 
that  he  was  sorely  grieved  that  his  coming  to  India 
might,  by  the  course  he  intended  to  pursue,  prove  a 
curse  rather  than  a  blessing.  The  simple  remonstrant 
exclaimed,  as  a  parting  shot,  "You  will  deluge  Cal- 
cutta with  rogfues  and  villains." 

The  school  thus  fairly  started,  let  us  look  at  its 
founder  at  work.  The  student  who  had  passed  out 
of  St.  Andrews  University  its  first  scholar,  its  most 
brilHant  essayist,  its  most  eloquent  debater;  the 
preacher  whose  fervent  utterances  had  thrilled  the 
coldest  assemblies  by  addresses  which  promised  a  rival 
to  Chalmers  himself,  and  were  afterwards  hardly  ex- 
celled by  Edward  Irving's ;  the  man  who  had  been 
the  stay  and  the  counsellor  of  all  on  board  the  two 
wrecked  vessels,  is  doing — what  ?  Destitute  of  assis- 
tants, save  an  untrained  Eurasian  lad,  and  despised 
by  his  brother  missionaries,  he  is  spending  six  hours 
a  day  in  teaching  some  three  hundred  Bengalee  youths 
the  English  alphabet,  and  many  an  hour  at  night  in 
preparing  a  series  of  graduated  school-books,  named 


JEt  24.  WRITING  TRIMERS  AND  TEACHING  THE  ALPHABET.    I  25 

"  Instructors,"  which  held  their  place  in  every  Chris- 
tian English  school  in  Bengal  for  the  third  of  a 
century.  Men,  wise  in  their  own  narrow  sphere  and 
unable  to  comprehend,  because  unwilling  to  study, 
circumstances  so  different  as  those  of  the  educated 
Hindoos,  ask  if  the  powers  of  a  minister  of  the  gospel 
are  to  be  degraded  by  such  work  ?  Yet  without  that 
sowing  of  seed  the  great  tree  would  still  have  to  be 
planted.  Without  that  humility  Duff  would  have 
been  like  the  average  of  his  fellows,  whose  incon- 
derate  short-sightedness  was  soon  turned  into  admir- 
ation and  then  imitation.  It  was  the  genius  of 
Duff,  sanctified  by  the  purest  self-sacrifice,  that  led 
him  to  begin  thus,  as  his  Master  taught,  in  the  spirit 
of  a  little  child. 

His  school-books  were  constructed  on  a  system. 
The  first  contained  lessons  on  interesting  common 
subjects,  in  which  the  pupils  might  be  drilled  not 
only  in  reading  but  in  grammatical  and  other  exer- 
cises. The  second  consisted  of  religious  lessons, 
taken  for  the  most  part  from  the  Bible  itself, — 
especially  the  historical  portions,  and  put  into  forms 
adapted  to  the  opening  intelligence  of  the  youth. 
These  were  carefully  read,  expounded  and  enforced 
on  the  understanding,  heart  and  conscience,  as  purely 
religious  exercises,  without  reference  to  construing 
which  would  only  desecrate  the  subject  matter. 

As  to  the  English  alphabet,  which  most  of  the  pupils 
had  to  begin  for  the  first  time.  Duff  devised  a  plan  for 
teaching  a  large  number  simultaneously.  He  got  a 
board  supported  by  an  upright  frame,  and  along  the 
board  a  series  of  parallel  grooves.  He  then  got  the 
letters  of  the  English  alphabet  painted  on  separate 
slips  of  wood.  Around  this  upright  frame  a  large 
class  was  arranged  in  a  semi-circle.  The  first  letter 
with  which  he  uniformly  began  was  the  letter  "  0,'* 


126  IIFE   OF   DE.    DUFF.  1830. 

because  of  tlie  simplicity  of  its  form  and  sound,  and 
because  tlie  sound  and  tlie  name  are  the  same,  as  is 
the  case  in  Sanscrit  and  Sanscrit-derived  vernaculars. 
When  this  letter  was  thoroughly  mastered,  which  was 
soon  done,  the  next  letter  which  he  usually  put  into 
one  of  the  grooves  was  "  X."  He  would  then 
bring  the  two  letters  together,  and  pronouncing 
them  would  say,  "  0,  X,  Ox."  He  then  would  tell 
the  pupils  that  this  was  the  name  in  English  for  an 
animal  with  which  they  were  all  well  acquainted,  and 
would  give  them  the  corresponding  word  in  Bengalee. 
This  always  delighted  them,  as  they  said  they  nob 
only  knew  two  letters  of  the  English  alphabet,  but 
had  already  got  hold  of  an  English  word.  So  over- 
joyed they  were  at  this,  that  when  they  went  out 
into  the  street,  and  met  an  ox  pulling  a  native  cart 
(which  they  were  sure  soon  to  do),  they  went  along 
gleefully  shouting  at  the  top  of  their  voice,  "  Ox, 
Ox."  But  the  new  missionary  was  not  satisfied 
with  giving  the  Bengalee  or  the  English  word.  He 
began  to  question  the  boys  as  to  the  properties 
and  the  uses  of  the  objects,  or  different  parts  of  the 
objects,  which  the  word  represented.  This  exercise 
always  delighted  them,  for  it  was  fitted  to  draw 
out  what  information  they  already  possessed,  and  to 
stimulate  the  powers  of  observation.  In  this  way 
the  intellect  was  fairly  awakened,  and  the  boys  de- 
lighted in  thinking  that  they  had  acquired  something 
like  a  new  power  or  faculty.  In  a  word,  they  had 
become  thinking  beings.  The  same  process  of  minute 
interrogation  was  carried  on  in  all  the  classes.  The 
boys,  in  their  exuberance  of  delight,  would  be  con- 
stantly speaking  of  it  to  their  friends  at  home,  to  the 
pupils  of  other  schools,  and  to  acquaintances  whom 
they  might  meet  in  the  street.  In  this  way,  as  well 
as  for  other  reasons,  the  school  soon  acquired  an  ex- 


^t.  24.      THE    INTELLECTUAL    METHOD    OF   TEACHING.  12/ 

tensive  popularity  among  the  native  community,  and 
the  pressure  for  admission  increased  far  beyond  what 
the  little  hall  could  accommodate.  In  the  face  of  the 
old  mechanical  and  monotonous  style  of  teaching  then 
universally  prevalent,  this  method  was  felt  to  be  a  real 
novelty.  In  the  course  of  time  it  led  others,  so  far 
as  they  could,  to  imitation,  so  that  ere  long  the  new 
system  was  fairly  initiated  in  most  of  the  Calcutta 
and  in  many  of  the  Bengal  schools.* 

We  have  Duflf's  own  account  of  the  genesis  of  his 
educational  system,  given  to  the  students  who  had 
been  made  by  it  all  they  became  the  third  of  a  century 
afterwards,  when  he  was  bidding  them  farewell.  His 
method  was  the  same  to  which  John  Wilson  was  led  in 
Bombay.  "  A  passage  in  the  introduction  to  the  cele- 
brated Lectures  on  Mental  Philosophy  by  the  late  Dr. 
Thomas  Brown,  the  successor  of  the  famous  Dugald 
Stewart,  relative  to  Education  being,  when  properly 
conducted,  the  grandest  practical  application  of  mental 
science,  first  drew  my  attention,  theoretically,  while 
yet  a  student,  to  the  real  philosophical  basis  of  a  sound 
and  enlightened  education.  A  personal  inspection,  at  a 
much  later  period,  of  the  Edinburgh  Sessional  School, 
then,  in  the  absence  of  Normal  schools,  the  most  re- 
nowned in  the  kingdom,  showed  me  what  the  intel- 
lectual and  interrogatory  system  of  education  might 
and  ought  to  be  in  practice.  With  adaptations  and 
modifications  specially  suited  to  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances of  India  as  it  then  was,  this  was  essentially 
the  system  introduced  and  wrought  out,  from  the 
very  first  day  on  which  our  school  was  opened." 

•  A  similar  process  was  going  on  in  Scotland  where  Dr.  Andrew 
Thomson  condescended  to  the  same  humble  but  then  necessary  tusk 
of  primer-writing,  alphabet-teaching  and  map- illustration,  and 
trained  Mr.  Thomas  Oliphant  to  make  English  education  what  it 
has  since  become  in  Edinburgh  and  in  Glasgow. 


t 


128  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUPP.  183a 

Increased  accommodation  was  secured,  and  the  next 
step  was  taken.  The  decree  went  forth  that  none 
would  be  allowed  to  begin  English  who  could  not  read 
with  ease  their  own  vernacular.  The  purely  Bengalee 
department  was  then  created,  in  a  bamboo  shed  with 
tiled  roof  erected  in  the  back  court.  Under  pundits 
carefully  supervised  by  the  missionaries,  that  has  ever 
since  formed  an  essential  part  of  the  organization. 
But,  for  the  first  time  in  Bengal,  the  English-learning 
classes  also  were  required  to  attend  it  for  an  hour 
daily.  This  contemporaneous  study  had  two  results  of 
vast  national  importance, — it  tended  to  the  enriching 
of  the  vernacular  language  with  words,  and  the  then 
barren  literature  with  pure  and  often  spiritual  ideas. 
This  system  developed  into  that  study  of  Sanscrit 
which,  in  due  time,  the  University  was  enabled  to  in- 
sist on  in  even  its  undergraduate  examinations,  with 
the  happiest  effects  on  both  the  language  and  the  litera- 
ture. Thus,  too,  Mr.  Duff  carried  on  his  own  Bengalee 
studies,  the  rivalry  between  teacher  and  taught,  and 
the  marvellous  aptitude  of  the  taught,  adding  to  his 
one  over-mastering  motive  a  keen  intellectual  stimulus. 
That  could  not  be  drudgery  which  was  thus  conducted, 
and  was  in  reality  the  laying  of  the  foundations  of 
the  Church  of  India  broad  and  deep  in  the  very  mind 
and  conscience  of  each  new  generation. 

Thus  the  first  twelve  months  passed.  The  school 
became  famous  in  the  native  city  ;  the  missionary  had 
come  to  be  loved  with  that  mixture  of  affection  and 
awe  which  his  lofty  enthusiasm  and  scorn  of  ineffi- 
ciency ever  excited  in  the  Oriental ;  and  the  opposition 
of  his  own  still  ignorant  brethren  was  not  abated.  For 
this  was  no  gourd  to  grow  in  a  night  and  perish  in 
a  night;  and  till  vulgar  success  comes  commonplace 
people  do  not  perceive  the  gifts  of  others,  as  Pascal 
remarks.     Duff  now  resolved  that  he  must  live  as  well 


^t.  24.  IN    COLLEGE    SQUARE.  I2g 

as  work  m  the  very  midst  of  the  natives,  and  bo  in 
hourly  contact  with  them  in  the  street  as  well  as  in 
his  own  house.  No  European  had  ever  before  resided 
there,  nor  was  any  Hindoo  prepared  to  let  a  house  to  ( 
one  who  would  pollute  it  by  the  consumption  of  beef, 
and  cast  an  evil  spell  on  the  neighbourhood.  Many 
a  week  passed  in  fruitless  endeavours  to  find  an 
abode,  when  a  two-storied  tenement,  uninhabited  for 
twelve  years  because  of  the  belief  that  it  was  haunted, 
was  with  much  entreaty  obtained  in  College  Square. 
The  locality,  fronting  the  Hindoo  and  Sanscrit 
Colleges,  was  so  central,  that  it  was  long  afterwards 
secured  by  Mr.  Barton  for  the  Cathedral  Mission 
College,  and  the  Medical  College  and  University  have 
been  built  on  the  third  side  of  the  square.  Up  to  this 
time  he  had  lived  to  the  south,  on  the  same  line  of 
road,  in  Wellesley  Square,  fronting  the  Muhammadan 
College  and  close  to  the  site  of  the  future  Free 
Church  building.  Ho  thus  fairly  planted  himself  in 
the  citadel  of  the  enemy,  and  he  was  driven  from 
it  to  another  quarter  only  by  the  unhealthiness  of 
the  house.  He  subsequently  built  his  first  college, 
still  known  as  the  General  Assembly's  Institution  of 
the  Established  Church  of  Scotland,  and  his  own 
dwellyug-place — succeeded,  after  18i3,  by  another 
close  "by — in  Cornwallis  Square,  to  the  north. 

Despairing  of  inducing  the  European  community  to 
follow  him,  in  order  to  test  the  results  of  his  first 
year's  labour  he  announced  the  examination  of  his 
pupils  in  the  Freemasons'  Hall.  To  remove  the  pre- 
judice that  his  work  was  low  and  fanatical,  he  secured 
Archdeacon  Corrie  as  president  on  the  occasion.  It 
was  an  experiment,  but  Mr.  Dufi'felt  confident  that  the 
pupils  would  so  acquit  themselves  as  to  recommend 
the  school  and  its  system.  In  this  he  was  not  disap- 
pointed.    The  reading  of  the  boys  ;  their  acquaintance 

K 


130  LIFE    OP    DR.    DUFF.  183a 

witli  tlie  elements  of  EnglisTi  grammar,  geograpTiy  and 
arithmetic ;  the  manner  in  which  they  explained  words 
and  sentences,  and  illustrated  their  meaning  by  ap- 
posite examples  ;  the  promptitude  and  accuracy  with 
which  they  answered  the  questions  put  to  them — all 
took  the  auditors  by  surprise  and  filled  them  with 
admiration,  seeing  that  the  school  had  been  only  a 
twelvemonth  in  operation.  But  what  astonished  them 
most  of  all  in  those  early  days  was  the  ease  and 
freedom  with  which  the  Hindoos  read  such  portions 
of  the  Bible  as  were  named  to  them,  as  well  as  the 
readiness  and  accuracy  with  which  they  answered  all 
questions,  not  merely  on  the  historical  parts  but  on 
the  doctrines  and  principles  of  the  Christian  faith  and 
morals,  to  which  their  attention  had  been  directed  in 
the  daily  lessons. 

Altogether  the  effect  produced  by  that  examination 
was  very  striking.  By  those  present  it  was  pronounced 
absolutely  marvellous.  The  three  daily  English  news- 
papers of  Calcutta  had  their  reporters  present,  who 
gave  such  accounts  of  the  examination  and  the  new 
and  felicitous  modes  of  instruction  pursued  in  the 
school,  that  European  Calcutta  talked  of  nothing  else. 
The  opinions  of  the  English  residents,  official  and 
independent,  reacted  on  the  leaders  of  the  native 
community,  till  in  the  second  year  hundreds  were 
refused  admittance  to  the  school  from  want  of  ac- 
commodation, and  the  number  of  European  visitors 
interfered  so  seriously  with  the  regular  discipline  of 
the  classes  that  Saturday  was  set  apart  for  such  in- 
spection. The  elder  pupils  now  consented  to  act  as 
monitors,  native  assistants  pressed  their  services  upon 
the  missionary,  and  the  elementary  teaching  fell  to 
these  as  the  English  classes  passed  on  to  collegiate 
studies  in  sacred  and  secular  truth. 

There  was  another  immediate   result.      Dr.  Inglia 


Mi.  24.  THE   TAKEI^    DRAXCU    MISSION.  I3I 

and  the  Edinburgh  committee  liad  their  desire  as  to  a 
school  in  the  interior.  While  visitors  from  all  parts 
of  India,  including  far  Bombay  as  we  shall  see, 
carried  away  with  them  the  principles  of  the  system 
to  establish  schools  elsewhere,  Mr.  Duff  was  implored 
to  open  a  similar  school  at  the  purely  Bengalee  town 
of  Takee,  forty  miles  off.  There  was  the  ancestral 
seat  of  Kaleeuath  Roy  Chowdery,  one  of  the  principal 
followers  of  Rammohun  Roy.  He  and  his  brothers 
offered  all  the  buildings  and  appliances  for  an  English, 
Bengalee  and  Persian  school,  to  be  supervised  by  Mr. 
Duff,  and  taught  by  men  of  his  own  selection  and  on 
his  own  Christian  system,  whom  in  the  Bengalee  and 
Persian  departments  the  brothers  would  pay.  The 
triumph  was  complete.  There  a  vigorous  mission 
school  arose,  long  conducted  by  the  Rev.  W.  C.  Fyfe, 
now  head  of  the  Calcutta  Mission,  and  aided  by  Dr. 
Temple,  whose  widow  (now  Mrs.  W.  S.  Mackay)  and 
family  have  ever  since  been  most  closely  identified 
with  spiritual  and  mission  work.  The  examination  of 
the  school  and  the  example  of  the  Chowdery  family  led 
not  a  few  of  their  wealthy  co-religionists  in  Calcutta 
to  open  new  schools  or  improve  the  old  mechanical 
establishments. 

At  this  time  Mr.  Duff  supplied  the  Hindoo  reformer 
with  the  following:  letter  of  introduction  to  Dr.  Chal- 
mers.  Had  they  met  during  the  brief  remainder  of 
Raja  Rammohun  Roy's  life,  which  was  spent  almost 
exclusively  in  the  society  of  English  Unitarians,  the 
sympathetic  Christian  divine,  who  had  himself  passed 
through  the  last  spiritual  conflict  left  for  the  truth- 
seeking  Hindoo,  might  have  led  him  to  the  only  wise 
God,  the  Saviour.  As  it  was,  the  Raja  died  in  1833, 
declaring  that  he  was  neither  Christian,  Muhammadan, 
nor  Hindoo.  To  the  last  he  preser\ted  his  caste,  that 
be  might  secure  his  civil  rights  of  property  and  in- 


132  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1830. 

heritance   and  retain   his  nationality.     His  best  bio- 
grapher pronounces  him  "  a  religious  Benthamite." 

•*  Calcutta,  College  Square,  18th  Nov.,  1830. 

**  My  Dear  Sir, — This  may  probably  be  delivered  to 
you  by  the  celebrated  E-ammohun  Roy.  His  general 
character  and  acquirements  are  too  well  known  to  re- 
quire any  description  on  my  part.  And  when  I  say  that 
he  has  rendered  to  me  the  most  valuable  and  efficient 
assistance  in  prosecuting  some  of  the  objects  of  the 
General  Assembly's  Mission,  I  feel  confident  I  have 
said  enough  to  secure  from  you  towards  him  every 
possible  attention  in  your  power.  Any  further  parti- 
culars illustrative  of  the  accompanying  document,  which 
is  a  copy  of  what  I  originally  inserted  in  a  religious 
periodical  published  in  Calcutta,  you,  as  a  member  of 
the  Assembly's  committee,  may  learn  from  Dr.  Inglis. 
I  would  write  to  you  more  frequently  and  more  fully, 
were  it  not  that  I  ever  cherish  the  impression  that 
whatever  is  addressed  to  Dr.  Inglis,  as  chairman  of 
the  Assembly  committee,  is  equally  addressed  to  every 
individual  member  of  it.  Remember  me  kindly  to  Mrs. 
Chalmers  and  family.  Yours  most  sincerely  and  grate- 
fully, "  Alexander  Duff." 

Dr.  Inglis  and  the  Church  of  Scotland,  sorely  tried 
by  the  disasters  which  befell  the  first  missionary,  and 
even  before  they  could  learn  his  safe  arrival  at  Cal- 
cutta, determined  to  pursue  their  original  plan  of 
sending  out  two  colleagues  to  assist  him  whom  they 
had  appointed  "  the  head  master  of  a  seminary  of 
education  with  branch  schools."  One  was  most 
happily  found  in  a  tall,  slightly  bent  and  pale  youth 
from  Thurso,  who,  having  studied  at  Aberdeen  Univer- 
sity, completed  his  course  at  St.  Andrews  a  year  after 
Duff,  but  in  time  to  know  well  the  man  whom  he  ever 


^t.  24.  HIS   FIEST   ENGLISH    ASSISTANT.  1 33 

afterwards  worked  along  with  in  loving  harmony. 
The  Rev.  VV.  S.  Mackay,  who  joined  the  infant  mission 
in  the  autumn  of  1831,  was  so  accomplished  and 
elegant  a  scholar  that  it  is  difficult  to  say  whether  he 
became  more  remarkable  as  a  learned  theologian,  as 
a  master  of  English  literature  and  style,  or  as  an 
astronomer.  A  lofty  and  intense  spirituality  marked 
all  his  work,  and  only  a  robust  physique  was  wanting 
to  him.  But  even  his  assistance  was  not  enoufrh,  as 
the  school  developed  into  a  college,  and  branch  schools 
like  Takee  demanded  organization  and  supervision, 
while  other  duties  than  that  of  daily  teaching  denied 
the  missionary  a  moment's  leisure.  Competent  lay 
teaching  of  secular  subjects  was  required,  and  for  this 
the  acute  but  imitative  Bengalee  intellect  had  not  yet 
been  sufficiently  trained. 

Mr.  Duff  thus  found  his  first  English  assistant.  \ 
Among  the  passengers  of  the  ilfoiVa"^ily'  a  Mr.  CliU,  T 
the  son  of  an  English  squire,  who  was  going  out  to 
one  of  the  great  mercantile  houses  of  Calcutta.  Beinsf 
of  a  combative  disposition  he  was  placed  by  the  captain 
next  to  the  missionary,  who  soon  discovered  that  he 
was  highly  educated  and  well  read,  especially  in  the 
then  little  studied  science  of  political  economy.  On 
the  failure  of  the  firm  in  which  the  youth  became  an 
assistant,  he  sought  the  advice  of  Mr.  Duff,  who  at 
once  offered  him  the  position  of  assistant  master  on 
sixty  pounds  a  year — the  highest  salary  he  was  em- 
powered to  give,  but  invited  him  to  his  house  as  a 
guest.  Mr.  Clift  did  his  work  in  the  higher  classes 
well.  In  the  house  his  conduct  was  upright,  and  at 
least  respectful  in  reference  to  religion,  on  which,  how- 
ever, he  maintained  a  studied  silence.  He  was  sent  to 
the  Takee  branch  school  as  its  first  master.  Thence 
he  returned,  stricken  with  jungle  fever,  to  the  tender 
ministrations  of   Mrs.   Duff.     In  the  delirium  of  tlio 


134  I^IFE   OF   DR.    DUFF.  1831. 

disease  lie  was  licard  repeating  Cowper*s  hymn,  "  There 
is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood."  As  he  recovered  he 
confessed  that  he  had  been  trained  by  pious  parents, 
and  that  he  had  led  a  careless  life.  He  became  a 
changed  man  on  his  return  to  Takee,  from  which 
Government  took  him  subsequently  to  make  him  prin- 
cipal of  an  English  college.  The  incident  powerfully 
confirmed  the  young  missionary  in  his  conviction  of 
what  was  then  little  recognised  in  educational  systems, 
the  importance  of  saturating  the  young  mind  with 
divine  truth. 

But  the  episode  has  a  twofold  interest  apart  from 
that.  This  youth  was  only  one  of  many  of  that  class 
of  adventurers  who,  like  Meadows  Taylor  in  Western 
India,  and  hundreds  of  well-educated  lads  who 
enlisted  in  the  East  India  Company's  Artillery  es- 
pecially, sought  in  service  in  the  East,  mercantile, 
military  and  uncovenanted,  the  career  denied  to  their 
roving  and  romantic  spirits  elsewhere.  Sir  Henry 
Lawrence,  after  he  published  his  marvellous  sketch  of 
the  lives  of  such  military  adventurers  in  the  Punjab,* 
more  than  once  promised  us  to  write  a  book  on  the 
prominent  English,  Scotch  and  Irish  adventurers 
in  India,  for  none  knew  them  so  well  seeing  that  none 
assisted  them  so  generously.  But  Mr.  Clif t  had  even 
a  closer  interest  for  Alexander  Duff,  introduced  as  the 
missionary  had  been  into  the  practical  and  theoretical 
teaching  of  political  science  by  Dr.  Chalmers,  who 
had  in  Glasgow  just  before  given  a  new  illustration 
of  the  meaning  and  the  working  of  economics  in  the 
highest  sense.  In  his  determination  to  use  all  truth 
for  the  good  of  the  people  of  India,  and  through  it  to 


*  Adventures  of  an  Officer  in  the  Service  of  Eunjeet  Singh,  by  Major 
H.  M.  L.  Lawrence,  Bengal  Artillery :  1846,  The  book  is  now  as 
rare  as  it  is  valuable. 


JEt.  25.     TOE    FIRST   TEACHER    OP    POLITICAL    ECONOMY.      1 35 

educate  tliem  to  recognise  and  love  the  highest  truth, 
DuflP  projected  a  manual  of  political  economy  more 
elementary  than  the  writings  of  Adam  Smith  and  J.  R. 
McCulloch.  Even  at  the  outset  he  began  to  suspect, 
what  every  year  and  many  a  woful  blunder  like  the 
mortality  of  the  Orissa  famine  have  since  proved, 
that  without  the  data  supplied  by  the  old  civiliza- 
tions, the  so-called  'pre-historic '  customs  and  the 
social  systems  of  the  East,  political  economy  must 
be  partial  in  its  generalizations  and  one-sided  in  its 
principles.  Still,  even  as  it  was  in  1831,  the  science 
might  be  a  powerful  armoury  against  the  caste,  the 
social  exclusiveness,  the  commercial  apathy,  the  in- 
dustrial antipathy,  which  marked  the  Hindoos. 

Recalling  his  talk  at  the  cuddy  table  of  the  Moira, 
Duff  proposed  to  Mr.  Clift  the  drafting  of  such  a 
manual.  The  manuscript  he  expanded  with  new  illus- 
trations and  vivid  contrasts,  all  leading  up  to  Christian 
teaching.  The  book  became  most  popular,  as  taught 
in  the  spirit  in  which  it  was  written.  Thus  Mr.  Duff's 
school  was  the  first  in  which  political  economy  was 
expounded  in  a  country  where,  indeed,  the  Permanent 
Settlement  of  Cornwallis  and  the  famous  '  Fifth  Re- 
port '  had  groped  in  the  dark  after  a  just  and  self- 
developing  system  of  land  revenue  and  treatment  of 
land  tenures  ;  but  where  Holt  Mackenzie  and  Mertins 
Bird,  Thomason  and  John  Lawrence  were  yet  bene- 
volently to  dogmatize  in  favour  of  thirty  years'  leases, 
which  each  changing  Government  uses  to  screw  more 
and  more  out  of  the  peasantry,  and  thus  chiefly  makes 
them  unable  to  withstand  famine  when  it  comes.  But 
the  story  is  not  complete.  So  little  had  political 
economy  been  mastered  in  the  land  of  Adam  Smith 
and  in  the  kirk  of  Thomas  Chalmers,  that  the  com- 
mittee condemned  the  enthusiastic  missionary,  when 
he  joyfully  reported  his  success,  for  teaching  a  subject 


136  LIFE    OP   DR.    DUFF.  1831. 

wMcli  tlie  monopolist  Government  of  tlie  East  India 
Company  might  confound  with,  politics  ! 

Alexander  Dafif  was  not  only  in  the  citadel  of  Hindoo- 
ism  ;  he  had  already  dug  his  mine  and  laid  the  powder. 
The  fire  from  heaven  was  about  to  fall,  as  he  invoked  it 
in  the  prayer  of  Lord  Bacon*:  — "  To  God  the  Father, 
God  the  Word,  God  the  Spirit,  we  pour  most  humble 
and  hearty  supplications ;  that  He,  remembering  the 
calamities  of  mankind,  and  the  pilgrimage  of  this  our 
life,  in  which  we  wear  out  days  few  and  evil,  would 
please  to  open  unto  us  new  refreshments  out  of  the 
fountains  of  His  goodness  for  the  alleviation  of  our 
miseries.  This  also  we  humbly  and  earnestly  beg, 
that  human  things  may  not  prejudice  such  as  are 
divine ;  neither  that,  from  the  unlocking  of  the  gates 
of  sense,  and  the  kindling  of  a  greater  natural  light, 
anything  of  incredulity  or  intellectual  night  may  arise 
in  our  minds  towards  divine  mysteries.  But  rather 
that, — by  our  mind  thoroughly  cleansed  and  purged 
from  fancy  and  vanities,  and  yet  subject  and  perfectly 
given  up  to  the  divine  oracles, — there  may  be  given 
up  unto  faith  the  things  which  are  faith's. — Amen." 

•  Quoted  in  India  and  India  Missions  as  tlie  "  appropriate  con- 
clusion "  of  the  book. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

1831—1833. 
THE  FIRST  EXPLOSION   AND    THE    FOUR   CONVERTS. 

Eagerness  of  the  Bengalee  Yonth  to  learn  English. — Self-evidenc- 
ing Power  of  Christ's  Teaching. — The  Pharisees  of  Brahmanism. 
— The  Disintegrating  Effect  of  true  Science. — The  Cry  raised 
of  "  Hiudooism  in  Danger." — Projected  Course  of  Lectures. — 
Derozio  and  the  Atheists  of  the  Hindoo  College. — Tom  Paine 
the  favourite  Author. — The  first  and  only  Lecture. — The  City 
in  an  Uproar. — The  Governor-General  privately  Encourages  the 
Missionary. — Duff  studying  Bengalee. — First  propounds  national 
system  of  Female  Education. — The  Debating  Societies. — Robert 
Burns  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges.— The  Native  Press,  English 
and  Vernacular. — Krishna  Mohun  Banerjea — Second  Course  of 
Lectures. — Mohesh  Chunder  Ghose,  the  First  Convert,  brings 
his  Brother  to  Christ. — Confessions  of  Krishna  Mohun  and  his 
Baptism. — The  Third  or  Martyr  Convert. — The  Fourth  Convert 
at  last  Surrendered  by  his  Father  to  Duff.—  Origin  of  the  Calcutta 
Missionary  Conference. — Duff's  great  scheme  of  a  United  Chris- 
tian College  foiled  by  sectarian  controversy  in  England. — A 
Bombay  Civilian's  Picture  of  the  Revolution  in  Bengalee  society. 
— Duff's  private  estimate  of  his  Success  and  faith  in  his  Policy. 
— The  English  Language  and  British  Administration  required  to 
do  their  part. 

"  Throughout  the  whole  progress  of  these  preparatory 
arrangemeDts,"  Mr.  Duff  afterwards  wrote,  "  the  ex- 
citement among  the  natives  continued  unabated.  They 
pursued  us  along  the  streets.  They  threw  open  the 
very  doors  of  our  palankeen,  and  poured  in  their 
supplications  with  a  pitiful  earnestness  of  counte- 
nance that  misrht  have  softened  a  heart  of  stone.  In 
the  most  plaintive  and  pathetic  strains  they  deplored 
their  ignorance.  They  craved  for  '  English  reading  ' 
— *  English  knowledge.'      They  constantly  appealed  to 


138  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1831. 

the  compassion  of  an  '  Ingraji '  or  Englishman,  ad- 
dressing us  in  the  style  of  Oriental  hyperbole,  as 
'  the  great  and  fathomless  ocean  of  all  imaginable 
excellences,'  for  having  come  so  far  to  teach  poor 
ignorant  Beno^alees.  And  then,  in  broken  Ena^lish, 
some  would  say,  '  Me  good  boy,  oh  take  me ;'  others, 
*  Me  poor  boy,  oh  take  me;' — some,  *  Me  want  read 
your  good  books,  oh  take  me ;'  others,  '  Me  know  your 
commandments.  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before 
Me, — oh  take  me  ;' — and  many,  by  way  of  final  appeal, 
'  Oh  take  me,  and  I  pray  for  you.'  And  even  after 
the  final  choice  was  made,  such  was  the  continued 
press  of  new  candidates  that  it  was  found  absolutely 
necessary  to  issue  small  written  tickets  for  those  who 
had  succeeded ;  and  to  station  two  men  at  the  outer 
door  to  admit  only  those  who  were  of  the  selected 
number." 

Payment  for  class-books,  and  the  formal  signature 
by  parents  and  guardians  of  an  agreement  to  secure 
punctual  and  regular  attendance,  struck  at  the  root 
of  two  evils  which  marked  all  the  other  schools  and 
colleges  in  Calcutta.  The  more  severe  test  of  steady 
attention  to  the  Bible  studies  was  no  less  cheerfully 
submitted  to,  parents  also  being  invited  to  listen  to 
the  hour's  preaching  to  the  young  every  day,  and  to 
satisfy  themselves  that  Christianity  did  not  act  as  a 
spell,  although  it  might  in  time  persuade  as  a  divine 
force  co-operating  with  the  truth- seeking  soul ;  and 
was  in  any  case  a  perfect  system  of  moral  principles 
and  practice.  The  Lord's  Prayer  was  succeeded  by 
the  master  parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son,  and  then 
came  the  apostolic  teaching  to  the  Corinthians  on. 
what  our  fathers  called  charity. 

"  Throughout,  all  were  attentive  ;  and  the  minds  of 
a  few  became  intensely  riveted,  which  the  glistening 
eye  and   changeful    countenance,    reflecting   as   in  a 


^t.  25.   SEfiF-EVIDENClNG    LIGHT    OF    TilE    SGUiriUUIiS.         1 39 

mirror  the  inward  thouglifc  and  varying  emotion, 
most  clearly  indicated.  At  last,  when  to  the  picture 
of  charity  the  concluding  stroke  was  given  by  the 
pencil  of  inspiration  in  the  emphatic  words  '  endureth 
all  things,'  one  of  the  young  men,  the  very  Brahman 
who  but  a  few  days  before  had  risen  up  to  oppose  the 
reading  of  the  Bible,  now  started  from  his  seat  ex- 
claiming aloud,  '  Oh,  sir,  that  is  too  good  for  us. 
Who  can  act  up  to  that?  who  can  act  up  to  that?' 
A  finer  exemplification,  taking  into  view  all  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  case,  could  not  well  be  imagined  of 
the  self-evidencing  light  of  God's  holy  word.  It  was 
an  almost  unconscious  testimony  to  the  superior  ex- 
cellence of  Christianity,  extorted  from  the  lips  of  an 
idolatrous  Brahman  by  the  simple  manifestation  of  its 
own  divine  spirit.  It  was  a  sudden  burst  of  spontane- 
ous homage  to  the  beauty  and  power  and  holiness  of 
the  truth,  in  its  own  naked  and  unadorned  simplicity, 
at  a  moment  when  the  mind  was  wholly  untrammelled 
and  unbiassed  by  prejudice,  or  party  interest,  or  sect." 

Then  followed  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  which 
drove  home  to  a  people  more  enslaved  by  the  letter 
that  killeth  than  even  those  to  whoin  it  was  originally 
addressed,  the  lesson  of  the  Spirit.  "  AVhen,  on  one 
occasion,  the  question  was  put,  *  What  do  you  mean 
by  Pharisee  ?'  a  boy  of  inferior  caste,  looking  signifi-  'y/ 
cantly  at  a  young  Braliman  in  the  same  class  and  then  ' 
pointing  to  him,  arclily  replied,  *  He  is  one  of  our 
Pharisees  ! ' — while  the  Brahman  simply  retorted  in 
great  good  humour,  '  True,  my  caste  is  like  that  of  the 
Pharisees,  or  worse ;  but  you  know  /  am  not  to  bo 
like  my  caste.'  " 

Nor  was  this  all.  From  the  simple  reading  of  the 
words  that  promise  blessedness  to  him  who  loves  and 
prays  for  his  enem}^  one  youth  was  turned  to  the  feet 
of  the  Divine  Speaker  and  became  the  fourth  convert 


140  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1831, 

of  the  mission.  For  days  and  weeks  the  young  Hindoo 
could  not  help  crying  out,  "  '  Love  your  enemies ! 
bless  them  that  curse  you ! '  How  beautiful !  how 
divine!  surely  this  is  the  truth!"  And  in  the  more 
directly  secular  lessons  science  came  to  carry  on  what 
grace  had  begun  in  the  morning  and  was  yet  to  com- 
plete. The  explanation  of  the  word  "  rain "  on  the 
Scoto-Socratic  method  in  a  junior  class,  led  to  the 
discovery  by  the  lads  of  its  true  nature,  as  neither 
Indra-born  nor  from  a  celestial  elephant,  according  to 
the  Shasters,  but  the  result  of  natural  laws.  "  Then 
what  becomes  of  our  Shaster,  if  your  account  is  true," 
remarked  a  young  Brahman.  "  The  Shaster  is  true, 
Brahma  is  true,  and  your  Gooroo's  account  must  be 
false — and  yet  it  looks  so  like  the  truth." 

This  was  but  a  slight  shock  compared  with  that 
given  on  the  next  eclipse.  Mr.  Duff  was  himself  as 
much  surprised  by  the  effect  of  his  teaching  as  his 
pupils.  He  wrote  of  this  time  : — "  Though  we  were 
previously  acquainted  in  a  general  way  with  the  fact, 
that  modern  literature  and  science  were  as  much 
opposed  as  Christianity  itself  to  certaiu  fundamen- 
tal tenets  of  Hindooism,  our  own  conception  on  the 
subject  was  vague  and  indeterminate.  It  floated  in 
the  horizon  as  an  intangible  abstraction.  Now  this 
incident,  by  reducing  the  abstract  into  the  concrete, 
by  giving  the  vague  generality  a  substantial  form,  by 
converting  the  loosely  theoretical  into  the  practically 
experimental, — at  once  arrested,  fixed  and  defined  it. 
A  vivid  glimpse  was  opened,  not  only  of  the  effect 
of  true  knowledge  when  brought  in  contact  with 
Hindooism,  but  of  the  modus  operandi,  the  precise 
mode  in  which  it  operated  in  producing  the  eflect." 

The  effect  of  the  first  year's  teaching,  Biblical, 
scientific,  and  literary,  through  English  and  through 
Bengalee,  on  even  the  young  Hindoos,  was  to  lead 


uEt.  2  5-  THE    CRY    OF    '  IIINDOOISM    IN    DANGER.*  141 

them  into  licence  before  they  could  reach  true  self- 
regulating  liberty ;  for  the  Bengalee  boy  just  before  or  / 
at  the  age  of  puberty  is  the  most  earnest,  acute  and  1 
loveable  of  all  students.  The  older  lads,  "  impetuous 
with  youthful  ardour  and  fearless  of  consequences, 
carried  the  new  light  which  had  arisen  on  their  own 
minds  to  the  bosom  of  their  families,  proclaimed  its 
excellences  on  the  house-tops,  and  extolled  its  praises 
in  the  street-assemblies.  With  the  zeal  of  proselytes 
they  did  not  always  observe  circumspection  in  their 
demeanour  and  style  of  address,  or  manifest  due  con- 
sideration for  the  feelings  of  those  who  still  sat  in 
darkness.  Even  for  the  infallible  Gooroos  and  other 
holy  Brahmans,  before  whom  they  were  wont  to  bow 
in  prostrate  submission,  their  reverence  was  greatly 
diminished.  They  would  not  conceal  their  gradual 
change  of  sentiment  on  many  vital  points.  At  length 
their  undaunted  bearing  and  freedom  of  speech  began 
to  create  a  general  ferment  among  the  staunch  ad- 
herents of  the  old  faith.  The  cry  of  '  Hindooism  in 
danger'  was  fairly  raised." 

The  result  was  seen  one  forenoon,  when  only  half  a 
dozen  of  the   three  hundred  youths  appeared  in  the 
class-room.     To  the  question  of  the  puzzled  missionary 
the  only  reply  was  a  copy  of  that  morning's  Ghundrika. 
This  Bengalee  paper  had  been  established  to  fight  for  ■ 
the  sacred  right  of  burning  living  widows   with  their/ 
dead  husbands.     Now,  as  the  organ  of  the  orthodox' 
Dharma   Soblia,  of  which  its  editor  was  secretary,  it 
had  become  the  champion  of  the  whole  Brahmanical 
system  against  an  aggressive  evangelical  Christianity 
of  a  very  different   type  from   the  secularism   of  the 
Hindoo  College  with  which  it  had  of  late  been  allied. 
The  decree    went   forth   that   all    who    attended    the 
General  Assembly's   Institution   were  to  be  excluded 
from  caste,  and  it  was   urged  that  a  yellow  flag  or 


142  LIPE   OF   DR.    DUFF.  1031. 

other  unmistakable  symbol  should  be  planted  in  front 
of  the  building  to  warn  the  unwary  against  the  moral 
and  religious  pestilence.  But  the  Hindoo  society 
of  the  capital  had  already  become  too  rationalistic  in 
its  mode  of  viewing  the  national  faith,  and  too  selfish 
in  its  desire  to  secure  the  best  education  which  would 
lead  to  official  and  mercantile  appointments.  The 
panic  did  not  last  a  week.  The  Holy  Assembly  had 
no  greater  power  than  public  opinion  chose  to  give  it. 
Further  diatribes  against  the  missionary  and  his  work 
revealed  only  the  essential  weakness  of  a  body  which 
the  earlier  reforms  of  Rammohun  Roy  had  provoked 
into  existence.  Mr.  Duff  went  calmly  on  till  the 
classes  became  more  crowded  than  ever.  The  quiet- 
ness and  confidence  of  an  assured  faith  and  an  in- 
tellectual conviction  were  seen  in  his  drawing  up, 
after  the  experience  of  the  first  six  months,  "  the 
scheme  of  a  complete  educational  course  which  might 
reqiiire  nine  or  ten  years  for  its  development,  with 
grounds,  reasons  and  illustrations  "  occupying  in  all 
about  a  hundred  closely  written  folio  pages.  This 
he  sent  off  to  Dr.  Inglis  as  the  mechanism  of  the 
Christian  Institute  to  regenerate  Bengal  and  light  a 
fire  in  British  India,  from  which  ever  since  many  a 
torch  has  been  kindled  to  help  in  the  destined  de- 
struction of  every  form  of  error. 

The  college  thus  securely  established  in  native  so- 
ciety, triumphing  over  the  ignorance  of  his  own 
countrymen  and  already  famous  throughout  India, 
Mr.  Duff  proceeded  to  use  at  the  same  time  the  two 
other  more  immediately  powerful  weapons  of  lectures 
and  the  press.  The  minds  of  not  a  few  leading  Hindoos 
had  been  emptied  of  their  ancestral  idols  spiritual  and 
ecclesiastical,  and  were  swept  and  garnished.  Into 
some,  thus  deprived  of  even  the  support  which  the  ethi- 
cal elements  of  their  old  orthodoxy  supplied,  the  new 


^t.  25.    TUE  FERMENT  IN  THE  HINDOO  COLLEGE.     I43 

demons  of  lawless  lust  and  Western  vice  bad  entered 
with  the  secularism  and  anti-theism  of  the  Hindoo 
College,  so  that  their  last  state  was  worse  than  the 
first.  Others,  saved  for  the  hour  from  this,  were  in 
the  temporary  attitude  of  candid  inquirers,  bold  to 
violence  in  their  denunciation  of  the  follies  of  which 
they  and  their  fathers  had  long  been  the  victims, 
but  timid  towards  the  new  faith,  with  its  tremendous 
claims  on  their  conscience  and  irresistible  appeals  to 
their  intellect.  In  May,  1829,  the  teaching  of  a 
Eurasian  of  some  genius  and  much  conceit,  named 
Derozio,  had  begun  to  undermine  the  faith  of  the 
students  of  the  Hindoo  College  in  "  all  religious  prin- 
ciples whatever,"  as  even  its  secularist  managers  ex- 
pressed it.  Hence  they  formally  resolved  that  Mr. 
D'Anselme,  the  head-master,  *'  in  communication  with 
the  teachers,  check  as  far  as  possible  all  disquisitions 
tending  to  unsettle  the  belief  of  the  boys  in  the  great 
principles  of  natural  religion."  This  interference  only 
fanned  the  smouldering  fires.  Discussion  blazed  out 
into  ridicule.  Young  Brahmans  refused  to  be  guilty 
of  the  hypocrisy  of  submitting  to  investment  with 
the  poita,  or  sevenfold  Brahmanical  cord ;  many  sub- 
stituted favourite  lines  of  Pope's  *'  Iliad "  for  their 
daily  and  festival  prayers.  In  February,  1830,  seeing 
that  the  Hindoo  College  was  thus  threatened  with  ex- 
tinction, although  all  that  was  going  on  was  only  the 
logical  outcome  of  their  principles  and  their  adminis- 
tration, the  managers  threatened  with  immediate  dis- 
missal teachers  who  did  not  "  abstain  from  any  com- 
munications on  the  subject  of  the  Hindoo  religion 
with  the  boys,"  or  who  suffered  "  any  practices  incon- 
sistent wdtli  the  Hindoo  notions  of  propriety,  such  as 
eating  or  drinking  in  the  school  or  class-rooms." 

By  April,  1831,  the  ferment  had  so  increased  that 
Mr.  Derozio  was  discharged  as  "  the  root  of  all  evils  and 


144  LIFE    OF   BR.    DUFF.  1 83 1. 

cause  of  public  alarm."  Students  of  ^HJie  dining  party" 
who  had  broken  caste  by  eating  animal  food,  or  food 
with  Hindoos  of  other  castes  than  their  own,  were 
removed  ;  and  it  was  determined  that  "  such  books  as 
may  injure  their  morals  should  not  be  allowed  to  be 
brought,  taught,  or  read  in  the  college."  This  was 
what  fifteen  years'  teaching  of  English  and  Sanscrit, 
by  the  East  India  Company  and  orthodox  Bengalees 
combined,  at  the  bidding  of  Parliament  which  sought 
the  moral  and  spiritual  elevation  of  our  native  sub- 
jects, had  resulted  in.  The  unhappy  Derozio,  whose 
end  was  even  sadder  than  his  life  which  might  have 
reflected  lustre  on  the  valuable  but  then  uncared 
for  community  of  Eurasians,  was  charged  with  incul- 
cating "  the  non-existence  of  God,  the  lawfulness  of 
disrespect  towards  parents,  the  lawfulness  of  marriage 
with  sisters."  He  admitted  the  first,  but  pleaded  that 
his  chief  object  had  been  to  enable  the  boys  "  to  ex- 
amine both  sides  of  the  question."  Mr.  Hare  still 
was  of  opinion  that  he  was  a  highly  competent  teacher; 
and  Dr.  H.  H.  Wilson,  the  official  visitor  on  the  part 
of  Government,  which  spent  the  public  funds  on  the 
place,  declared  he  had  never  observed  any  ill  effects 
from  Derozio' s  instructions.  But  the  atheistic  and 
immoral  poet  was  dismissed  in  deference  to  the  clam- 
ours of  the  orthodox  idolaters,  although  the  principal 
English  text-books,  taught  by  men  in  quite  as  full 
accord  with  them  as  he,  were  the  more  licentious  plays 
of  the  Restoration  and  David  Hume's  Essays  ! 

Outside  of  the  classes,  but  constantly  referred  to  by 
the  teachers,  the  favourite  book  was  Paine' s  coarse  "Age 
of  Reason,"  which  a  respectable  deist  would  not  now 
mention  save  as  a  warning.  That  book,  his  better  reply 
to  Burke,  his  "Rights  of  Man,"  and  his  minor  pieces 
born  of  the  filth  of  the  worst  period  of  the  French  Revo- 
lution, an  American  publisher  issued  in  a  cheap  octavo 


^t.  25.  SOEPl'IOAL   INQUIRY.  1 45 

edition  of  a  thousand  copies,  and  shipped  the  whole  to 
the  Calcutta  market;  such  was  the  notoriety  of  the 
anti-christian  success  of  the  college  which  Rammohun 
Roy  was  ashamed  to  patronise.  These  were  all  bought 
at  once  at  two  shillings  a  copy,  and  such  was  the 
continued  demand  for  the  worst  of  the  treatises  that 
eight  rupees  (sixteen  shillings)  was  vaiuly  offered  for 
it.*  Thus,  from  the  opposite  poles  of  truth,  were  the 
two  English  colleges — the  old  secularists'  and  the  new 
evangelical  missionary's — brought  into  collision,  as 
the  former  retired  foiled  in  its  assault  on  Hindooism, 
and  the  latter  advanced  with  renewed  trust  in  the  God 
of  truth  to  fire  the  train.  Unlike  the  horror-stricken 
but  passive  Christian  preachers  in  the  vernacular 
chapels  and  schools  of  Calcutta  at  that  time,  the 
young  Scotsman  threw  himself  into  the  breach 
made  in  the  at  last  crumblino;  walls  of  Hindooism. 
"We  rejoiced,"  he  wrote,  "in  June,  1830,  when, 
in  the  metropolis  of  British  India,  we  fairly  came 
in  contact  with  a  rising  body  of  natives,  who  had 
learnt  to  think  and  to  discuss  all  subjects  with  un- 
shackled freedom,  though  that  freedom  was  ever  apt 
to  degenerate  into  licence  in  attempting  to  demolish 
the  claims  and  pretensions  of  the  Christian  as  well 
as  every  other  professedly  revealed  faith.  We  hailed 
the  circumstance,  as  indicating  the  approach  of  a 
period  for  which  we  had  waited  and  longed  and 
prayed.  We  hailed  it  as  heralding  the  dawn  of  an 
auspicious  era, — an  era  that  introduced  something  neiv 
into  the  hitherto  undisturbed  reign  of  a  hoary  and 
tyrannous  antiquity." 

Having  by  his  first  year's   work  of    teaching  and       \ 
personal   influence  carried  on  this  work  of  preparation 
for  calm  inquiry,  he  took  three  men  of  like  spirit  with 

*  Calcutta  Christian  Observer  for  Angnst,  1832. 

L 


146  LIFE   OF   DE.    DUFF.  1831, 

himself  into  his  counsels.  Dr.  Dealtry,  who  succeeded 
Corrie  first  as  Archdeacon  of  Calcutta  and  then  as 
Bishop  of  Madras,  was  at  that  time  chaplain  of  the 
Old  Church,  and  was  worthy  of  such  predecessors  as 
Martjn  and  Claudius  Buchanan.  John  Adam  had 
been  his  own  fellow-student  at  St.  Andrews,  and  was 
then  of  the  London  Missionary  Society.  Mr.  James 
Hill,  also  a  Congregationalist,  was  the  popular  and 
able  pastor  of  that  Union  Chapel  in  which  Christians 
of  all  sects  still  gather  on  the  first  day  of  every  year 
for  catholic  communion,  after  a  fashion  too  rare  in 
divided  Christendom.  All  were  eager  observers  of 
native  progress,  and  agreed  to  co-operate  in  delivering 
the  first  course  of  lectures  to  educated  Bengalees. 
The  subject  was  Natural  and  Revealed  Religion.  The 
first  lecture,  on  the  External  and  Internal  Evidences, 
fell  to  Mr.  DufF;  Mr.  Adam  undertook  the  second, 
on  the  testimony  of  History  and  Fulfilled  Prophecy ; 
Mr.  Hill  was  to  prepare  the  third,  on  Christ  in  the 
Four  Gospels,  and  the  Genius  and  Temper  of  His 
Religion.  Dr.  Dealtry  was  to  close  the  course  with 
a  statement  of  the  doctrines  of  Christianity.  But  to 
prepare  the  native  mind  for  unprejudiced  inquiry,  Mr. 
Hill  delivered  an  introductory  lecture  on  the  moral 
qualifications  necessary  for  investigating  truth.  Mr. 
Duff  fitted  up  a  lecture  room  in  his  house,  which, 
being  still  in  College  Square,  was  most  central  for  the 
class  invited.  To  some  that  room  became  the  place  of 
a  new  birth,  and  its  memories  still  hallow  the  similar 
work,  on  the  same  site,  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society. 

It  was  a  sultry  night  in  the  first  week  of  August 
when  twenty  of  the  foremost  students  of  his  own  and 
of  the  Hindoo  College  took  their  places  in  expectation 
of  a  novel  exposition.  With  the  chastened  eloquence 
which  used  to  attract  the  Governor-General  and  his 


JEt  25.  THE    NATIVE    CITY    IN   AN    urPvOAR.  1 47 

wife  to  the  dissenting  chapel,  Mr.  Hill  treated  a  sub- 
ject that  called  forth  no  controversy,  and  appealed 
to  admitted  but  too  often  neglected  principles.  In 
silence  the  young  men  separated,  looking  forward  to 
the  real  tug  of  war  a  week  after  in  Duff's  lecture  on 
God  and  His  Rovcaling.       That  never  took  place. 

Next  morning  the  news  flew  like  wildfire  over  Cal- 
cutta. Students  of  the  Hindoo  College  had  actually 
attended,  in  the  house  of  a  missionary,  a  lecture  on 
Christianity  !  Soon  the  whole  city  was  in  an  uproar. 
The  college  that  day  was  almost  deserted.  Continu- 
ing to  rage  for  days  the  orthodox  leaders  accused  the 
Government  itself  of  breach  of  faith.  Had  it  not 
promised  to  abstain  from  interference  with  their  re- 
ligion, and  now  insidiously  it  had  brought  out  a  wild 
Padre,  and  planted  him  just  opposite  the  college,  like 
a  battery,  to  break  down  the  bulwarks  of  the  Hindoo 
faith  and  put  Christianity  in  its  place !  In  all  haste, 
Dr.  H.  H.  Wilson,  Mr.  Hare,  Captain  Price  and  the 
native  m.anagers  put  up  a  notice  threatening  with 
expulsion  students  who  should  attend  "  political  and 
religious  discussions."  That  was  the  degree  of  their 
love  of  truth.  The  students  themselves  remonstrated. 
Mr.  Hill  published  an  indignant  exposure  of  the  mis- 
representation and  cowardice  of  the  college  authori- 
ties ;  and  Mr.  Duff  at  greater  length  assailed  the 
wisdom,  justice  and  goodness  of  their  tyrannical 
decree.  But  he  was  not  the  man  to  rashly  imperil 
the  cause  in  which,  like  the  first  missionary,  it  be- 
hoved him  to  be  all  things  to  all  men  if  thereby  he 
might  win  some.  That  was  still  the  time  of  the  East 
India  Company's  absolutism,  when  the  Governor- 
General  had  the  right  of  deporting  non-ofiicial  settlers 
without  assigning  reason.  Not  so  very  long  before, 
the  able  civilian  John  Adam  had  gagged  the  press 
and  ruined,  by  deporting,  Mr.  J.  Silk  Buckingham,  to 


148  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1831. 

appease  Dr.  Bryce  and  the  John  Bull  newspaper.  The 
very  existence  of  the  mission  might  be  at  stake,  and 
prudence  at  least  demanded  that  all  the  facts  should 
be  known  to  the  Government,  if  only  that  the  mis- 
sionary might  be  assured  that  it  shared  none  of  the 
Company's  ignorant  fears. 

Mr.  Duff,  therefore,  thought  it  right  to  solicit  a 
private  interview  with  the  Grovernor-Greneral.  Lord 
William  Bentinck  listened  with  the  utmost  attention 
and  patience.  At  the  close  of  the  statement  he  said  in 
substance  :  Assuming  the  accuracy  of  the  facts  which 
he  could  not  possibly  doubt,  he  felt  that  Mr.  Duff  had 
done  nothing  to  contravene  the  law,  nothing  that 
ought  to  disturb  the  public  peace.  At  the  same  time 
he  added,  from  his  knowledge  of  the  Hindoo  charac- 
ter, that  it  would  be  well  to  allow  the  present  tumult 
quietly  to  subside.  After  a  time  it  might  be  in  Mr. 
Duff's  power  more  successfully  to  renew  the  attempt. 
So  far  as  he  himself  was  concerned,  he  could  not, 
as  Governor- Greneral,  in  any  way  mix  himself  up  with 
missionary  affairs,  or  even  officially  express  sympathy 
and  approval.  But  he  declared  that  privately,  as 
an  individual  Christian  man,  he  felt  deep  sympathy 
with  the  avowed  object  of  the  missionaries,  and  ap- 
proved of  the  operations  of  all  who  carried  them  on 
in  the  genuine  spirit  of  the  gospel.  He  who  had  been 
Governor  of  Madras  during  the  Yellore  mutiny,  re- 
peated the  advice  patiently  to  wait  for  a  seasonable 
opportunity  to  recommence  what,  if  Mr.  Duff  -went 
about  it  calmly  yet  firmly,  he  himself  would  advance 
by  his  private  sympathy  and  support. 

This  for  the  moment  answered  the  purpose ;  fear 
and  alarm  were  abated.  The  most  advanced  students, 
however,  though  having  no  good-will  to  Christianity, 
but  the  contrary,  felt  that  this  was  a  violent  inter- 
ference with  their  freedom  and  independence.       They 


^t.  25.   FIRST  BENGALEE  SERMON.       FEMALE  EDUCATION.    1 49 

winced  under  tlie  order,  and  boldly  declaimed  against 
the  bigotry  and  tyranny  of  the  college  and  the  Govern- 
ment authorities.  They  seemed  to  champ  like  horses 
prepared  for  battle  when  forcibly  kept  back  by  bit  and 
bridle.  Still  from  policy  or  necessity  they  deemed  it 
expedient  to  submit  to  what  they  reckoned  a  despotic 
exercise  of  authority. 

Being  thus  for  a  time  freed  from  the  task  of  prepar- 
ing lectures  in  addition  to  his  heavy  school  work,  Mr. 
Duff  energetically  set  about  mastering  the  Bengalee 
language  by  the  help  of  a  learned  Brahman  pundit. 
By  the  end  of  a  twelvemonth  he  succeeded  so  as  to 
speak  it  with  tolerable  fluency.  He  wrote  out  for  the 
sake  of  accuracy  and  committed  to  memory  his  first 
sermon  in  Bengalee.  But  regular  preaching  in  the  ver- 
nacular he  did  well  to  leave  to  others,  who  gave  their 
whole  strength  to  a  work  specially  adapted  to  meet 
a  very  different  class  from  those  who  held  the  inner 
fort  of  Brahmanism.  Denied  lectures,  the  young  men 
met  in  debating  societies  of  their  own.  These,  often 
nightly  and  in  various  quarters  of  the  city,  he  asked 
permission  to  attend,  and  soon  an  address  from  him 
was  welcomed  as  an  attractive  part  of  the  proceedings. 
There  it  was  that  he  first  formulated  his  far-seeing 
policy  on  the  subject  of  female  education,  from  which 
Grovernment  still  directly  keeps  back  its  hand,  though 
aiding  the  tentative  efforts  of  missionaries. 

At  that  time  Miss  Cooke,  who  became  the  wife  of  the 
Church  missionary,  Mr.  Wilson,  had  been  teaching  the 
first  female  school  in  Bengal  for  eight  years.  She  had 
been  led  to  form  it  by  a  visit  paid  to  one  of  the  boys' 
schools  of  the  Calcutta  School  Society,  in  order  to  ob- 
serve their  pronunciation  of  the  vernacular,  which  she 
was  learning.  Seeing  the  pundit  drive  away  a  wistful- 
eyed  little  girl  from  the  door,  she  was  told  that  the 
child  had  troubled  him  for  the  past  three  months  with 


150  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1831. 

entreaties  to  be  allowed  to  read  with  tlie  boys.  Next 
day,  on  the  28th  January,  1822,  she  opened  her  first 
school  with  seven  pupils,  and  in  a  year,  with  the 
help  of  the  noble  Countess  of  Hastings,  the  Governor- 
General's  wife,  she  had  two  hundred  in  two  schools. 
The  Serampore  three  had,  as  usual,  anticipated  even 
Mrs.  Wilson  by  their  Female  Juvenile  Society.  But 
at  that  early  period  and  long  after,  the  few  hundred 
girls  under  the  only  partial  and  brief  instruction 
allowed  them  before  very  early  marriage,  formed  but 
units,  and  were  of  a  class  similar  to  those  reached 
by  the  street  and  village  preacher.  Many  were  bribed 
by  money  to  attend.  The  middle  and  higher  classes, 
whose  sons  Mr.  Duff  had  attracted  to  his  own  school 
and  was  daily  influencing  by  personal  intercourse, 
were  shocked  at  the  idea  of  educating  their  wives  and 
daughters ;  and  even  if  they  had  consented,  as  many 
now  do,  would  not  let  them  out  of  the  home-prison  of 
the  zanana. 

But  these  youths  thought  differently,  and  Mr.  Duff 
encouraged  them.  One  evening  he  found  the  subject 
of  debate  by  some  fifty  Hindoo  College  students  to 
be,  "  whether  females  ought  to  be  educated."  As 
to  the  theory  of  the  thing  they  ended  in  being 
unanimous ;  one  married  youth  exclaiming,  "  Is 
it  alleged  that  female  education  is  prohibited,  if  not 
by  the  letter,  at  least  by  the  spirit  of  some  of  our 
Shasters  ?  If  any  of  the  Shasters  be  found  to  advance 
what  is  so  contrary  to  reason,  I,  for  one,  will  trample 
them  under  my  feet."  The  brave  words  won  raptur- 
ous plaudits  for  the  speaker.  As  these  youths  became 
fathers  and  grandfathers,  female  education  would 
spread  of  itself,  if  the  Christian  Church  supplied  the 
vernacular  and  English  lady  teachers.  Hence  Mr. 
Duff''s  conclusion,  as  he  listened  to  the  vaporous  but 
not  insincere  talk  of  these  fledglings  :  "  Over  the  pre- 


JEt  25.  BENGALEE    DEBATING    SOCIETIES.  I5I 

sent  (1830-40)  generation  little  or  no  control  can  be 
exercised  by  these  youths.  But  as  time  rolls  on  tliey 
become  the  heads  of  families  themselves,  and  then  will 
they  be  prepared,  in  many  instances  at  least,  to  give 
practical  effect  to  their  better  judgment."  He  dreamed, 
he  talked,  he  almost  lived  to  be  witness  of  "  the  hal- 
cyon period  when  universal  theory  shall  run  parallel 
with  universal  practice,"  in  instructing  the  women  of 
the  great  educational  centres  of  India.  And  we  shall 
see  how  ready  he  was  to  play  his  part  in  the  practice 
when  he  had  done  the  preparatory  work  of  educating 
the  husbands  and  the  fathers. 

It  was  of  societies  where  such  questions  were  dis- 
cussed that  a  vernacular  newspaper  exclaimed,  "  The 
nif]:ht  of  desolation  and  is^norance  is  beo^innins:  to 
change  its  black  aspect,  and  the  sky,  big  with  fate,  is 
about  to  bring  forth  a  storm  of  knowledge  which  will 
sweep  those  airy  battlements  away  that  have  so  long 
imprisoned  the  tide  of  thought."  But  social  ques- 
tions were  not  all.  These  were  the  days  when  the  first 
echoes  of  the  Eng^lish  Reform  Bill  as^itation  besfan  to 
reach  Anglo-Indian  newspapers.  In  the  native  mind 
the  constitutional  progress  of  the  English  Whigs  came 
to  be  mixed  up  with  the  frothy  Republicanism  of 
their  familiar  Tom  Paine,  and  the  sensus  communis  of 
Reid  and  the  Scottish  school  of  philosophy  with  that 
blasphemer's  favourite  name  of  "  common  sense." 
An  education  which,  in  the  Grovernment  colleges,  long 
after  continued  to  fill  the  memories  of  the  students 
with  the  best — sometimes  with  the  worst — passages 
of  the  English  poets,  had  made  quotation  the  mark  of 
culture  and  elegance  in  a  young  debater.  They  had 
Qot  mastered  Shakespeare  or  Shelley  as  now,  but  Sir 
Walter  Scott,  Byron  and  even  Robert  Burns  were 
their  favourites.  "More  than  once,"  writes  Duff  of 
that  time,  "  were  my  ears  greeted  with  the  sound  of 


152  LIFE    OP   DR.    DUFF.  183 1. 

Scotch  rhymes  from  the  poems  of  Robert  Burns.  It 
would  not  be  possible  to  portray  the  effect  produced 
on  the  mind  of  a  Scotsman,  when,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Ganges,  one  of  the  sons  of  Brahma, — in  reviewing  the 
unnatural  institution  of  caste  in  alienating  man  from 
man,  and  in  looking  forward  to  the  period  in  which 
knowledge,  by  its  transforming  power,  would  make 
the  lowest  type  of  man  feel  itself  to  be  of  the  same 
species  as  the  highest, — suddenly  gave  utterance,  in 
an  apparent  ecstasy  of  delight,  to  these  characteristic 
lines : — 

'  For  a,*  that,  and  a'  that, 

Its  comin'  yet,  for  a'  that. 
That  man  to  man,  the  world  o'er. 
Shall  brothers  be,  for  a'  that.' 

How  was  the  prayerful  aspiration  raised,  that  such  a 
consummation  might  be  realized  in  a  higher  and  nobler 
sense  than  the  poet  or  his  Hindoo  admirer  was  privi- 
leged to  conceive ! " 

But  it  was  time,  after  all  this  experience  of  the 
variously  mixed  material  on  which  he  was  to  work,  to 
come  to  close  quarters  with  Young  Bengal ;  to  build 
a  spiritual  temple  on  the  foundation  thus  cleared 
and  almost  crying  out,  as  in  a  very  similar  transition 
state  the  young  and  erring  Augustine  cried,  "0  Truth, 
Truth  !  how  eagerly  even  then  did  the  marrow  of  my 
soul  pant  after  thee  !  " 

The.  traditional  idolaters  and  the  liberal  inquirers 
had  become  separated  farther  and  farther  from  each 
other,  by  that  gulf  which  even  here  marks  off  the  love 
of  the  true  from  the  tendency  to  the  false.  The  liberals 
established  their  own  English  journal,  well  naming  it 
the  Enquirer.  Long  before,  E-ammohun  Roy  had  set 
the  English  Reformer  on  foot ;  but  it  had  committed 
itself  to  reproducing  the  antichristian  attacks  of  Paine 


^t.  25.  A   TIME    OF   TRANSITION.  1 53 

after  its  founder  had  left  for  England,  and  it  was 
assisted  in  this  by  Englishmen  who  called  them- 
selves Christians.  The  English  of  the  Enqairer,  and 
the  Bengalee  of  the  Gyananeshun^  week  after  week 
attacked  Hindooism  and  its  leaders  with  a  courage  and 
skill  that  called  down  on  the  editors  the  execrations  of 
their  countrymen.  But  all  besides  was  negative.  The 
Reform  Bill  was  eagerly  turned  to  in  July,  1831,  for  a 
positive  something  to  rejoice  in  as  the  germ  of  a  new 
reformation  which  would  sweep  away  tyrants  and 
priests.  The  Holy  Congregation's  threat  of  excommu- 
nication was  met  with  this  welcome  :  "  Be  some  hun- 
dreds cast  out  of  society,  they  will  form  a  party,  an 
object  devoutly  to  be  wished  by  us  !  "  The  man  who 
proved  a  more  than  worthy  successor  of  Rammohun 
Roy  and  sounded  those  trumpet  notes  in  the  Enquirer 
was  he  who  is  now  and  has  lono:  been  the  staid  scholar 
and  the  grave  minister  of  the  Church  of  England,  the 
Rev.  Krishna  Mohun  Banerjea,  LL.D.  Then  he  was 
a  Brahman  of  the  highest  or  Koolin  class,  legally 
entitled  to  marry  all  the  women  who  might  take  hold 
of  him  to  be  called  by  his  name,  and  with  the  cer- 
tainty of  becoming,  in  Hindooism,  a  Pharisee  of  the 
Pharisees. 

Duff  has  himself  told  the  story  of  that  act  by  which 
the  truth-seeking  Koolin  formed  the  party  of  pro- 
gress which  he  desired.  Krishna  Mohun  happened  to 
be  absent  from  a  meeting  of  the  liberal  party  held  in 
his  family  house  on  the  23rd  of  August,  1831. 

"  If  there  be  anything  on  which  a  genuine  Hindoo  is 
taught,  from  earliest  infancy,  to  look  with  absolute 
abhorrence,  it  is  the  flesh  of  the  bovine  species.  If 
there  be  anything  which,  of  itself  singly,  must  at  once 
degrade  a  man  from  his  caste,  it  is  the  known  partici- 
pation of  that  kind  of  food.  Authentic  instances  are 
on  record,  wherein  a  Brahman,  violently  seized  by  a 


154  I'^^'E    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1 831. 

Moslem,  has  had  such  meat  forced  into  his  mouth ; 
and  though  deprived  of  voluntary  agency  as  much  as 
the  veriest  automaton,  the  contamination  of  the  touch 
was  held  to  be  so  incapable  of  ablution,  that  the  hap- 
less, helpless,  unwilling  victim  of  intolerance,  has  been 
actually  sunk  along  with  his  posterity  for  ever  into 
the  wretched  condition  of  outcast.  Well,  in  order  to 
furnish  the  most  emphatic  proof  to  each  other  of  their 
mastery  over  prejudice  and  their  contempt  of  the  ordi- 
nances of  Hindooism,  these  friends  of  liberty  had  some 
pieces  of  roasted  meat,  believed  to  be  beef,  brought 
from  the  bazaar  into  the  private  chamber  of  the 
Enquirer.  Having  freely  gratified  their  curiosity  and 
taste  with  the  unlawful  and  unhallowed  food,  some 
portion  still  remained,  which,  after  the  return  of  the 
Enquirer,  was  thrown,  though  not  with  his  approba- 
tion, in  heedless  and  reckless  levity  into  the  com- 
pound or  inner  court  of  the  adjoining  house,  occupied 
by  a  holy  Brahman,  amid  shouts  of — '  There  is 
beef !  there  is  beef !'  The  sacerdotal  master  of  the 
dwelling,  aroused  by  the  ominous  sound  and  exasper- 
ated at  the  unpardonable  outrage  which  he  soon  found 
had  been  perpetrated  upon  his  feelings  and  his  faith, 
instantly  rushed  with  his  domestics  to  the  quarter 
whence  it  proceeded,  and  under  the  influence  of  rage 
and  horror,  taking  the  law  into  his  own  hands,  he 
violently  assaulted  the  Enquirer  and  his  friends. 

"  Knowing  that  they  had  been  guilty  of  an  action 
which  admitted  of  no  defence  the  latter  confessed 
their  criminality,  uniting  in  apologies  for  the  past 
and  promises  of  amendment  for  the  future.  But 
neither  confession  nor  apology  nor  promise  of  amend- 
ment would  suflBce.  The  openly  avowed  opinions  and 
conduct  of  the  Enquirer  and  his  friends  had  long  been 
a  public  scandal  and  offence  in  the  eyes  of  their  bigoted 
countrymen;  and,   short  of  formal  excommunication, 


^t.  25.  CASTE  HEOKEN  BY  THE  ABOMINATION  OF  BEEF.  1 55 

thej  were  in  consequence  subjected  to  all  manner  of 
persecution.  But  tlie  crisis — the  hour  of  unmitigated 
retribution — had  now  arrived.  Hundreds  speedily 
rallied  around  the  Brahman,  the  sanctuary  of  whose 
home  had  been  so  grossly  violated  by  the  presence  of 
the  abomination  of  abominations.  Inflamed  with  un- 
controllable indignation,  they  peremptorily  demanded 
of  the  family  of  the  Enquirer  to  disown  him  in  the 
presence  of  competent  witnesses,  under  pain  of  expul- 
sion from,  caste  themselves.  Having  no  alternative, 
his  family  then  called  upon  him  formally  to  recant  his 
errors,  and  proclaim  his  belief  in  the  Hindoo  faith,  or 
instantly  to  leave  the  home  of  his  youth,  and  be  for 
ever  denuded  of  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of 
caste.  He  chose  the  latter  extremity.  Accordingly, 
towards  midnight,  without  being  able  to  take  formal 
leave  of  any  of  his  friends,  he  was  obliged  to  take  his 
departure  he  knew  not  whither,  because  he  could  not 
be  prevailed  upon  to  utter  what  he  knew  to  be  false. 
*  "We  left,'  wrote  he,  '  the  home  where  we  passed  our 
infant  days ;  we  left  our  mother  that  nourished  us  in 
our  childhood ;  we  left  our  brothers  with  whom  we 
associated  in  our  earliest  days ;  we  left  our  sisters  with 
whom  we  sympathized  since  they  were  born.'  As  he 
and  his  friends  were  retiring,  the  infuriated  populace 
broke  loose  upon  them,  and  it  was  with  some  difficulty 
they  effected  their  escape  and  found  shelter  in  the 
house  of  an  acquaintance." 

Recovering  from  the  fever  that  followed,  young 
Banerjea  returned  to  the  assault,  but  still  had  no  posi- 
tive truth  to  lean  upon.  "  I  was  perfectly  regardless 
of  God,"  he  wrote  in  the  confessions  of  a  later  time  ; 
*'  yet,  as  a  merciful  Father,  He  forgot  not  me.  Though 
I  neglected  Him,  yet  He  had  compassion  on  me,  and 
without  my  knowledge  or  inclination  created,  so  to 
speak,  a  circumstance  that  impelled  me  to  seek  after 


156  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1831. 

Him."  It  was  tliis.  Unwilling  to  compromise  tlie  out- 
cast further,  Mr,  Duff  sent  a  native  friend  to  invite 
him  to  his  house.  The  confessions  continue:  "Mr. 
Duff  received  me  with  Christian  kindness,  and  in- 
quired of  the  state  in  which  we  all  were.  He  openly 
expressed  his  sentiments  on  what  we  were  about ;  and 
while  he  approved  of  one  half  of  our  exertions  he 
lamented  the  other.  He  was  glad  of  our  proceedings 
against  error  but  sincerely  sorry  at  our  neglecting 
the  truth.  I  told  him  it  was  not  our  fault  that  we 
were  not  Christians  ;  we  did  not  believe  in  Christianity, 
and  could  not  therefore  consistently  profess  it.  The 
reverend  gentleman,  with  great  calmness  and  compo- 
sure, said  it  was  true  that  I  could  .not  be  blamed 
for  my  not  believing  in  Christianity  so  long  as  I  was 
ignorant  of  it,  but  that  I  was  certainly  guilty  of  serious 
neglect  for  not  inquiring  into  its  evidences  and  doc- 
trines. This  word  '  inquiring '  was  so  uttered  as  to 
produce  an  impression  upon  me  which  I  cannot  suffi- 
ciently well  describe.  I  considered  upon  my  lonely 
condition — cut  off  from  men  to  whom  I  was  bound  by 
natural  ties,  and  thought  that  nothing  but  a  determi- 
nation on  the  subject  of  religion  could  give  me  peace 
and  comfort.  And  I  was  so  struck  with  Mr.  Duff's 
words,  that  we  instantly  resolved  to  hold  weekly  me-et- 
ings  at  his  house  for  religious  instruction  and  discus- 
sion." In  the  Enqmrer  he  continued  with  growing 
boldness  : — "  Does  not  history  testify  that  Luther,  alone 
and  unsupported,  blew  a  blast  which  shook  the  man- 
sions of  error  and  prejudice  ?  Did  not  Knox,  opposed 
as  he  was  by  bigots  and  fanatics,  carry  the  cause  of 
reformation  into  Scotland  ?  Blessed  are  we  that  we 
are  to  reform  the  Hindoo  nation.  "We  have  blown  the 
trumpet,  and  we  must  continue  to  blow  on.  "We  have 
attacked  Hindooism,  and  will  persevere  in  attacking 
it  until  we  finally  seal  our  triumph." 


^t.  25.  SEEKING   AFTER    GOD.  1 57 

Persecution  drove  tlie  reformer  to  a  European  lodg- 
ing-house, for  not  a  native  dared  to  shelter  him.  There, 
after  narrowly  escaping  death  by  poison  at  the  hands 
of  their  outraged  families,  his  associates  found  him. 
And  there  DufF  held  earnest  conference  with  them, 
as  they  debated  the  establishment  of  a  Reformation 
Society,  and  the  only  one  among  them  who  had  large 
property  of  his  own  offered  it  for  the  common  cause. 
But  convinced  that,  without  some  nobler  truths  to 
substitute  for  the  system  they  destroyed,  this  would 
prove  only  an  eradication  society,  the  hot  conspira- 
tors in  the  cause  ol  religious  freedom  agreed  to  meet 
in  the  missionary's  house  every  Tuesday,  to  study  the 
claims  of  Christianity  to  be  such  a  positive  and  life- 
giving  system  as  they  now  desiderated. 

Hence  the  second  course  of  lectures  and  discussions 
was  carried  on  with  ripe  experience  on  the  part  of  Mr. 
Duff,  who  now  preferred  to  keep  it  in  his  own  hands  ; 
and  was  delivered  to  really  earnest  truth-seekers,  many 
of  whom  had  fairly  separated  from  the  idolatrous  and 
caste  system  of  their  fathers.  But  still,  at  first,  the 
Enquirer  declared  it  had  no  religious  doctrines  to  pro- 
mulgate, only  "  let  us  have  all  a  fair  field,  and  adopt 
what  reason  and  judgment  may  dictate."  In  a  month 
the  weekly  discussions  had  brought  its  editor  to  the 
admission  that  theological  truth  is  the  most  important 
of  all,  because  of  its  practical  influence  on  life,  and  that 
Christianity  deserves  special  inquiry  as  having  civil- 
ized a  whole  continent.  "  A  reverend  gentleman  of 
the  Presbyterian  sect  has  undertaken  the  task  of  un- 
folding to  us  the  nature  of  this  set  of  doctrines."  Prom 
forty  to  sixty  seekers  after  God  listened  to  each  lecture, 
sat  far  into  the  night  canvassing  its  statements,  and 
either  returned  night  after  night  for  further  inquiry  or 
wrote  out  their  difiiculties  for  solution.  The  novelty 
of  the  weekly  meeting  drew  many  spectators,  and  some 


158  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  183 1. 

of  tliese  professedly  calm  inquirers  proved  to  be  **  proud, 
forward,  rude,  boisterous  and  often  grossly  insulting.'* 
But  these  were  the  exceptions,  and  they  only  stimu- 
lated the  ardour  without  ruffling  the  perfect  courtesy 
of  the  apostolic  teacher,  who  had  a  yearning  sympathy 
with  every  soul  feeling  after  God,  and  knew  that  it  is 
through  much  tribulation  such  must  enter  the  kingdom. 
The  record  of  these  agonizings,  intellectual  and  spirit- 
ual, forms  a  unique  chapter  in  the  history  of  the  apolo- 
getics of  those  days.*  As  the  demonstration  of  the 
existence  and  personality  of  the  great  First  Cause  called 
back  the  subtle  spirit  of  the  Bengalee,  steeped  in 
pantheistic  polytheism,  from  its  initial  rebound  into 
nihilism,  the  closing  exhortations,  delivered  with  all 
that  tearful  fervour  which  was  soon  to  summon  the 
Churches  of  the  West  to  a  new  crusade,  led  them  up 
to  the  great  love  of  Christ  and  the  influence  of  the 
Spirit. 

Thus  passed  the  cold  season  of  1831-32  in  Cal- 
cutta. The  work  of  John  the  son  of  Zacharias,  was 
done.  As  his  "Behold  the  Lamb  of  G-od!"  sent 
Andrew  to  Christ,  and  Andrew  "  first  findeth  his  own 
brother  Simon  .  .  and  he  brought  him  to  Jesus," 
so  was  it  now.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  discussions, 
Mohesh  Chunder  Ghose,  a  student  of  the  Hindoo 
College,  sent  his  own  brother  to  Mr.  Duff,  with  this 
note : — 

"  If  you  can  make  a  Christian  of  him  you  will  have  a 
valuable  one ;  and  you  may  rest  assui'ed  that  you  have  my 
hearty  consent  to  it.  Convince  him,  and  make  him  a  Christian, 
and  I  will  give  no  secret  opposition.  Scepticism  has  made  me 
too  miserable  to  wish  my  dear  brother  the  same.  A  doubtful- 
ness of  the  existence  of  another  world,  and  of  the  benevolence 
of  God,  made  me  too  unhappy  and  spread  a  gloom  all  over  my 

♦  Appendix  to  India  and  India  Missions. 


^t.  25.  THE    FIRST    CONVERT.  1 59 

mind ;  but  I  thank  God  that  I  have  no  doubts  at  present.  I 
am  travelling  from  step  to  stop  ;  and  Christianity,  I  think,  will 
be  the  last  place  where  I  shall  rest ;  for  every  time  I  think, 
its  evidence  becomes  too  overpowering." 

On  the  28th  August,  1832,  the  Enquirer  announced 
the  baptism  into  Christ  of  Mohesh  himself,  in  an 
article  which  thus  closed :  "  Well  may  Mr.  Duff  be 
happy,  upon  the  reflection  that  his  labours  have, 
through  the  grace  of  the  Almighty,  been  instrumental 
in  convincing  some  of  the  truth  of  Christianity,  and 
others  of  the  importance  of  an  inquiry  into  it.  We 
hope  ere  long  to  be  able  to  witness  more  and  more 
such  happy  results  in  this  country." 

For  some  unexplained  reason  this  first  convert  of 
the  General  Assembly's  Bengal  Mission  chose  to  receive 
baptism  at  the  hands  of  an  English  chaplain  whpmJie/ 
did  not  know.  It  is  no  cause  for  regret  that  the  broad ' 
seal  of  catholicity  was  thus  stamped  on  Mr.  Duff's 
work,  when  his  first  son  in  the  faith  publicly  declared 
his  belief — "  in  spite  of  myself,"  as  he  said — in 
the  triune  God,  in  that  old  mission  church  which 
Kieruander  had  built  and  Brown  and  Martyn,  Corrie 
and  Dealtry  had  consecrated  by  their  ministrations. 
It  was  thus  that  this  first-fruit  of  his  toil,  in  Mr. 
Duff's  house  and  before  many  witnesses,  after  deep 
silence  burst  forth : — 

«^  "  A  twelvemonth  ago  I  was  an  atheist,  a  materialist,  a 
physical  necessitai'ian ;  and  what  am  I  now?  A  baptized 
Christian  !  A  twelvemonth  ago  I  was  the  most  miserable  of 
the  miserable ;  and  what  am  I  now  ?  In  my  own  mind,  the 
happiest  of  the  happy.  What  a  change  !  How  has  it  been 
brought  about  ?  The  recollection  of  the  past  fills  me  with 
wonder.  When  I  first  came  to  your  lectures,  it  was  not  in- 
struction I  wanted.  Instruction  was  the  pretext,  a  secret 
desire  to  expose  what  I  reckoned  your  irrational  and  super- 
stitious follies  the  reality.     At  last,  against    my  inclinations. 


l6o  LIF£    OF    DK.    DUFF.  1831. 

against  my  feelings,  I  was  obliged  to  admit  the  truth  of 
Christianity.  Its  evidence  was  so  strong  that  I  could  not 
resist  it.  But  I  still /e/f  contrary  to  what  T  thouohf.  On  hear- 
ing your  account  of  the  nature  of  sin,  and  especially  sins  of  the 
heart,  my  conscience  burst  upon  me  like  a  volcano.  My  soul 
was  pierced  through  with  horrible  reflections  and  terrible 
alarms  ;  it  seemed  as  if  racked  and  rent  in  pieces.  I  was  in  a 
hell  of  torment.  On  hearing  and  examining  further,  I  began,  I 
know  not  how  or  why,  to  find  relief  from  the  words  of  the 
Bible.  What  I  once  thought  most  irrational  I  soon  found  to 
be  very  wisdom ;  what  I  once  hated  most  I  soon  began  to 
love  most ;  and  now  I  love  it  altogether.  What  a  change ! 
How  can  I  account  for  it  ?  On  any  natural  principle  I  cannot, 
for  every  step  that  I  was  made  to  take  was  contrary  to  my 
previous  natural  wish  and  will.  My  progress  was  not  that  of 
earnest  inquiry,  but  of  earnest  opposition.  And  to  the  last, 
my  heart  was  opposed.  In  spite  of  mi/S'lf  I  became  a  Christian. 
Surely  some  unseen  power  must  have  been  guiding  me. 
Surely  this  must  have  been  what  the  Bible  calls  '  grace,'  free 
grace,  sovereign  grace,  and  if  ever  there  was  an  election  of 
grace  surely  I  am  one.'' 

Krishna  Mohun  Banerjea  himself  was  the  next.  He 
desired  that  the  lecture  room  in  the  missionary's  house, 
which  had  been  "  the  scene  of  all  my  public  opposi- 
tion to  the  true  religion,  should  also  be  the  scene  of 
mv  public  confession  of  it."  He  sought  that  there  his 
still  Hindoo  friends,  who  had  been  strengthened  in  theii* 
unbelief  by  his  arguments,  might  witness  his  "  public 
recantation  of  all  error  and  public  embracing  of  the 
truth,  the  whole  truth,  as  revealed  in  the  Bible."  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Mackay  opened  that  service  with  prayer. 
Mr.  Duff  addressed  and  thus  interrogated  the  catechu- 
men : — "  '  Do  you  renounce  all  idolatry,  superstition, 
and  all  the  frivolous  rites  and  practices  of  the  Hindoo 
religion  ?  '  To  this  the  Koolin  Brahman  replied  :  '  I  do, 
and  I  pray  God  that  He  may  incline  my  countrymen 
to  do  so  likewise.'  The  second  question  was  :  '  Do  you 
believe  in  God  the  Father  and  Creator  of  all,  in  Jesus 


^t.  25.    THE    CONFESSIONS    OF   THE    SECOND    CONVELiT.         161 

Christ  as  your  Redeemer,  and  in  His  sacrifice  as  the 
only  means  whereby  man  may  be  saved,  and  in  the 
sanctifying  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ?  *  To  this, 
with  emotion,  he  replied,  '  I  do,  and  I  pray  God  to 
give  me  His  grace  to  do  His  will.'  These  and  other 
questions  being  answered,  Mr.  Duff  administered  the 
ordinance  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son  and  Holy 
Ghost ;  and  then  engaged  in  prayer,  the  whole  com- 
pany kneeling."  Such  was  the  description,  in  the  daily 
newspaper  of  Calcutta,  of  the  putting  on  of  the  yoke 
of  Christ  by  the  Koolin  Brahman  who,  like  another 
Saul  of  Tarsus,  had  made  his  name  known  and  dreaded 
among  thousands  of  his  countrymen.  By  a  different 
path  from  that  of  Mohesh  Chunder,  but  along  the  in- 
tellectually thorny  way  of  the  Trinity  from  which 
many  of  his  countrymen  fall  aside  into  their  old  poly- 
theism, Krishna  Moliun  stumbled  on  to  Him  who  is 
the  \Yay,  the  Truth  and  the  Life.  His  confessions 
have  a  typical  interest  for  more  than  his  own  people 
and  the  students  of  ecclesiastical  annals  : — 

"  My  attention  having  been  particularly  directed  to  the  So- 
cinian  and  Trinitarian  systems,  I  at  once  felt  more  favourable 
to  the  former  than  the  latter ;  but  not  seeing  anything  in  it  so 
great  that  it  might  reasonably  call  for  the  adoption  of  such 
extraordinary  measures  as  those  which  Jesus  employed  for 
its  propagation,  I  could  not  yield  my  conviction  to  it.  On 
the  other  hand,  I  understood  not  aright  the  doctrine  of  the 
atonement;  and  on  grounds  of  mere  natural  reason  could 
never  believe  it  to  be  possibly  true.  And  as  the  Bible  pointed 
unequivocally  to  it,  I  strove  to  persuade  myself,  in  spite  of  the 
most  overpowering  external  evidence,  not  to  believe  in  the 
sacred  volume.  Neither  could  I  be  satisfied  with  the  forced 
interpretation  of  the  Socinians.  Sociuianism,  which  seemed 
little  better  than  Deism,  I  thought  could  not  be  so  far  above 
human  comprehension  that  God  should  think  of  working  such 
extraordinary  miracles  for  its  establishment.  Accordingly, 
though  the  external  evidences  of  the  truth  of  the  Bible  wera 

M 


l62  LIFE    OP   DR.    DUFF.  1832. 

overwhelming,  yet,  because  I  could  not,  on  principles  of 
reason,  be  satisfied  with  either  of  the  two  interpretations  given 
of  it,  I  could  not  persuade  my  heart  to  believe.  The  doctrines 
of  Trinitarian  Christians,  which  I  thought  were  really  accord- 
ing to  the  plain  import  of  Scripture  language,  were  all  against 
my  feelings  and  inclinations,  Socinianism,  though  consonant 
with  my  natural  pride,  seemed  yet  so  insignificant,  as  a  pi*o- 
fessed  revelation,  that  I  could  not  conceive  how,  with  pro- 
priety, an  all-wise  God  should  work  miracles  for  its  sake.  So 
that  I  remained  in  a  state  of  doubt  and  perplexity  for  a  long 
time ;  till  God,  by  the  influence  of  His  Holy  Spirit,  was  gra- 
ciously pleased  to  open  my  soul  to  discern  its  sinfulness  and 
guilt,  and  the  suitableness  of  the  great  salvation  which  centred 
in  the  atoning  death  of  a  Divine  Redeemer.  And  the  same 
doctrine  of  the  atonement  which,  when  not  properly  under- 
stood, was  my  last  great  argument  against  the  divine  origin 
of  the  Bible,  is  now,  when  rightly  apprehended,  a  principal 
reason  for  my  belief  and  vindication  of  the  Bible  as  the  pro- 
duction of  infinite  wisdom  and  love." 


That  baptism  took  place  on  the  17th  October,  1832. 
In  the  same  class-room,  on  a  Tuesday  evening,  the 
14th  December,  a  third  catechumen  put  on  Christ. 
Gopeenath  Nundi  had  sought  a  morning  interview 
with  Mr.  Duff  in  his  study,  and  there  burst  forth  in 
tears  with  the  cry,  "  Can  I  be  saved  ?*'  He  told  how 
the  last  of  the  lectures  had  driven  him  to  take  counsel 
with  Krishna  Mohun  Banerjea  who  prayed  with  him 
and  sent  him  next  morning  to  the  missionary.  At  first 
imprisoned  by  his  family,  they  cast  him  off  for  ever  by 
advertisement  in  the  newspaper;  but  nothing  could 
shake  his  faith.  Still,  before  the  irrevocable  step  was 
taken,  his  brothers  and  caste-fellows  implored  him  to 
desist,  then  foully  abused  him,  and  then  offered  him  all 
that  wealth  and  pleasure  could  give,  including  even  the 
retaining  of  a  belief  in  Christianity  if  only  he  would 
not  publicly  profess  it.  The  last  appeal  was  in  the 
name  of  his  venerable  mother,  whose  piercing  shriek 


^t.  26.  THE    THIRD    AND    FOUItTfl    CONVERTS.  163 

none  who  bave  seen  a  Bengalee  woman  in  sorrow  can 
forget.  The  scene  has  often  since  been  repeated, 
must  yet  be  again  and  again  witnessed  before  India 
is  Christ's.  Nature  could  not  remain  unmoved.  Go- 
peenath  wept,  but  throwing  up  his  arms  and  turning 
hastily  away  he  decided,  "  No,  I  cannot  stay  !  "  We 
shall  meet  the  same  true  martyr's  courage  in  him 
again,  amid  the  captivity  and  the  bloodshed  of  the 
Mutiny  of  1857.     He  proved  faithful  unto  death. 

Nor  was  Anundo  Chund  Mozoomdar  long  left  be- 
hind— the  youth  who  in  the  school  had  been  drawn  by 
the  divine  power  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  He 
had  been  the  first  to  seek  more  detailed  instruction 
in  the  missionary's  house.  He  had  given  up  the 
family  and  caste  and  festival  idol  worship  till  a 
Cashmere  Brahman,  who  had  in  vain  remonstrated 
with  him,  naively  complained  to  Mr.  Duff  himself 
that  the  gods  had  been  blasphemed  by  the  atheist 
Anundo.  Of  a  wealthy  family,  he  had  declined  to  be 
married  rather  than  submit  to  the  ritual  of  Hindooism. 
Put  out  of  caste,  he  only  rejoiced  in  the  new-found 
liberty,  when  his  father,  an  official  in  Jessore,  visited 
the  capital.  His  uncle  had  written  a  vigorous  protest 
against  idolatry,  and  the  father,  though  an  orthodox 
Hindoo  of  what  had  now  begun  to  be  called  the  old 
school,  liberally  accepted  the  position,  and  wrote  to 
Mr.  Duff  to  receive  the  persistent  Anundo  as  his  son : 
"  Convert  him  in  your  own  way,  and  make  him  your 
follower."  So,  in  St.  Andrew's  Kirk  by  the  junior 
chaplain.  Dr.  Charles,  Anundo  was  baptized,  on  Sun- 
day, the  21st  April,  1833,  before  the  Scottish  con- 
gregation and  many  awe-stricken  spectators.  "Whether 
from  the  Hindoo  College  or  from  his  own,  it  was  by 
"the  self-evidencing  power  of  the  word  of  God"  that 
the  joyful  missionary  saw  these,  his  four  spiritual  sons, 
brought  to  the  faith. 


164  L1F£    OP   DR.    DUFF.  1832. 

AVith  new  confidence  in  his  own  fearless  attitude 
towards  truth  in  every  form,  and  with  assured  trust  in 
his  system  which  used  all  forms  of  truth  as  avenues 
by  which  the  Spirit  of  God  might  be  let  in  on  the 
hoary  superstitions  of  India,  he  set  himself  to  perfect 
his  organization.  For  the  native  church  which  he  had 
thus  founded  on  the  one  corner  stone,  and  for  cate- 
chumens, he  opened  a  private  week-day  class  to  study 
systematically  the  doctrines  of  Christ  in  the  minutest 
detail,  and  a  Sunday  class  to  read  the  Scriptures  and 
hold  communion  with  the  Father  in  prayer.  Having 
erected  a  bamboo  and  wicker-work  chapel  for  ver- 
nacular preaching,  he  added  to  that  an  English  ser- 
vice every  Sunday  evening.  For  inquirers  outside 
Christianity,  who  had  yet  been  won  from  atheism, 
he  conducted  successive  courses  of  public  lectures  on 
the  Bible,  on  the  Sociuian  controversy,  and  on  mental 
philosophy,  followed  by  open  discussions.  Foiled  at 
these,  many  changed  the  arena  to  the  Bengalee  news- 
paper. But  pursuing  them  there,  Mr.  Duff  adver- 
tised that  he  would  answer  each  hostile  article  in 
good  faith  on  the  next  lecture  night,  a  procedure 
which  gave  a  keen  interest  to  the  controversy  in  native 
society. 

Thus  within  and  without  the  work  went  on,  while 
the  school  was  every  year  developing  into  the  famous 
collesfe  which  it  became  with  the  aid  of  a  colleas^ue 
so  able  as  Mr.  Mackay,  and  of  Eurasian  assistants  so 
faithful  and  earnest  as  Messrs.  Sunder  and  Pereira. 
The  administrative,  the  statesmanlike  genius  of  Mr. 
Duff,  had  after  its  first  examination  seized  the  advan- 
tage of  making  it  a  still  more  catholic,  central  and 
efiicient  institute,  by  uniting  in  its  support  and  man- 
agement all  the  Christian  sects  then  represented  in 
Calcutta.  For  on  the  practical  ground  of  economy  of 
energy  and  strength  of  aggressivv»ness.,  t»^  well  as  on  the 


JEt.  26.     HIS   PROJECT    OP   A    UNITED    MISSION    COLLEGE.      1 65 

highest  of  all,  lie  ever  desired  unity.  He  found  an 
agency  in  the  well-known  Calcutta  Missionary  Oon- 
f(n^ouce. 

Mr.  William  Pearce,  the  generous  and  catholic-minded 
son  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Pearce  of  Birmingham,  had,  as 
the  head  of  the  extensive  Baptist  Misdon  press,  been 
in  the  habit  of  inviting  the  few  Protestant  missionaries 
to  breakfast  on  the  first  Monday  of  every  montli. 
The  meeting  was  found  so  pleasant  and  profitable  that 
it  grew  into  a  more  formal  conference  after  breakfast, 
with  devotional  exercises  before  that  meal,  according  to 
the  early  hours  and  pleasant  hospitality  of  Indian  life. 
The  nomination  of  a  secretary,  to  take  notes  of  the 
papers  and  conversations,  further  gave  the  gathering 
that  permanence  and  utility  which  it  has  enjoyed  now 
for  half  a  century.  To  this  body  Mr.  Daff  submitted 
his  plan  of  a  united  college,  such  as  has  recently  been 
carried  out  in  Madras  for  all  Southern  India  and  is 
still  under  discussion  for  Bombay.  For  a  fee  of  ten 
shillino^s  a  month  Mr.  Duff  declared  his  willing-ness  to 
receive  the  best  vernacular  pupils  of  the  various  mis- 
sions and  give  them  the  highest  Christian  education. 
All  approved,  and  the  Conference  appointed  a  committee 
to  work  out  the  plan  in  detail.  But,  as  has  often 
happened  since,  the  divisions  of  the^^West^njOhyj^lfiJ^ 
were  fatal  to  the  growtH  of  that  of  India.  Mr.  Duff" 
prepared  the '  plans'^oF"  a  Duilding  which  would  ac- 
commodate the  students  below,  and  at  least  two  other 
colleagues,  lay  or  clerical,  above.  This  scheme  showed 
a  mastery  of  detail  and  a  foresight  such  as  would  have 
anticipated  the  various  colleges,  comparatively  weaker, 
which  the  missionary  societies  were  afterwards  com- 
pelled to  erect  and  which  they  still  conduct. 

We  survey  with  pain  the  outlines  of  so  stately,  so 
Christlike  a  prospect  for  the  Christianizing  and  civiliz- 
ing of  the  millions  of  our  subjects  in  Bengal,  when  we 


1 66  LIFE   OP  DE.   DUFF.  1832. 

reflect  that  what  was  easy  in  1832  has  still  to  be  at- 
tempted ;  and  why  ?  Because  the  outburst  of  what 
is  in  itself  a  miserable  church  and  state  controversy, 
however  important  to  the  actual  combatants,  made  it 
impossible  for  the  Nonconformist  Churches  to  work 
along  with  the  two  Established  Churches  of  Scotland 
and  England  in  carrying  out  the  last  command  of 
their  common  Lord,  although  their  missionaries  in  the 
front  of  the  battle  were  unanimous  in  the  desire  for 
such  co-operatiDg  unity.  As  Charles  Grant's  far- 
seeing  proposals  of  1792  fell  to  be  made  facts  un- 
consciously by  Duff  in  1830-33,  so  Duff's  have  yet  to 
be  realized,  in  Northern  and  Eastern  India,  by  the 
divided  Churches  of  the  West. 

Rarely  if  ever  in  the  history  of  any  portion  of  the 
Church  at  any  time  since  apostolic  work  ceased  with 
John  the  Divine,  has  one  man  been  enabled  to  effect 
such  a  revolution  in  opinion  and  to  sow  the  seeds  of 
such  a  reformation  in  faith  and  life,  as  was  effected  by 
the  first  missionary  of  the  Scottish  Church  in  Bengal 
in  the  three  years  ending  July,  1833.  In  the  form 
of  an  experiment  as  to  the  subordination  of  educa- 
tion to  evangelical  religion,  Duff's  work  was  watched, 
criticised  and  narrowly  weighed,  not  only  by  be- 
nevolent men  but  by  officials  of  all  kinds  throughout 
India.  Towards  the  end  of  1831,  from  the  then  very 
distant  Bombay  there  came  to  Calcutta,  to  study  and 
report  upon  it,  Mr.  Henry  Young,  of  the  civil  service 
of  Western  India.  He  was  a  friendly  supporter  of 
the  Rev.  John  Wilson  there,  who  gave  him  a  letter 
of  introduction  to  Mr.  Duff.  Let  us  obtain  a  few 
glimpses  of  the  state  of  native  society  in  Calcutta  in 
the  sixteenth  month  after  the  opening  of  the  General 
Assembly's  school,  as  given  by  a  broad-minded  layman 
of  great  administrative  experience  as  well  as  Christian 
benevolence. 


JEt.  26.   MK.  II.  YOUNG  ON  THE  REVOLUTION  IN  CALCUrrA.     167 

''November  lbth,lSo]. 

"  Dear  Mr.  Wilson, —  ,  .  I  availed  myself  on  landing  of 
your  letter  to  Mr.  Duff,  and  lived  with  him  during  the  lime  I 
spent  in  Calcutta.  I  have  never  regretted  doing  so,  as  it  has 
afforded  mo  an  opportunity  of  seeing  much  and  learning  more 
regarding  a  class  of  young  men  who,  of  all  others,  engaged 
my  attention  in  that  place ;  and  I  am  sure  you  would  not  fail 
to  share  in  the  common  interest  felt,  were  you  to  witness  the 
pleasing  progress  they  are  making  under  Mr.  Duff.  The  num- 
ber of  young  men  who,  having  received  a  college  education, 
have  really  thrown  off  idolatry,  is  very  great ;  but  there  are 
not  above  eight  or  nine  who  come  boldly  forward,  and  brave 
every  effect  of  the  pride  and  bigotry  of  their  countrymen.  Of 
these  Krishna  Mohun  Banerjea,  the  editor  of  the  Enquirer,  is 
the  most  conspicuous.  He  certainly  leads  the  rest,  and,  by 
the  admission  of  all,  is  the  most  sober  and  well  conducted  of 
the  whole.  In  a  conversation  I  had  with  him  the  day  before 
I  left,  he  told  me  there  were  not  more  than  four  upon  whom 
he  could  depend  for  decided  support,  and  who  go  the  full 
length  of  his  own  principles ;  but  he  thinks  the  rest  are  coming 
round,  and  upon  them  he  hopes  principally  to  exert  an  in- 
fluence by  means  of  his  paper.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
they  were  formerly  bold,  impetuous  characters,  puffed  up  with 
conceit  of  their  supposed  attainments,  and  forward  in  pro- 
claiming their  atheistical  sentiments.  Now  they  profess  a 
belief  in  the  Supreme  Being,  and  speak  in  the  very  best  tone, 
and  maintain  their  desire  to  judge  nothing  rashly.  They  will 
not,  they  say,  hesitate  to  condemn  and  to  expose  idolatry  and 
the  Brahmanical  impostures,  because  they  are  convinced  of 
the  folly  and  absurdity  of  their  former  belief  ;  bub  of  Chris- 
tianity they  will  examine  and  inquire,  and  are  ready  to  embrace 
the  truth  wherever  and  whenever  they  see  it. 

"  There  can  bo  no  doubt  that,  under  God,  they  are  indebted 
for  this  favourable  change  to  Mr.  Duff's  lectures,  and  to  the 
knowledge  they  have  acquired  of  English.  All  the  direct  effects 
of  their  education  at  the  Hindoo  College  have  been,  with  this 
exception,  decidedly  evil ;  and  though  it  has  been  overruled  in 
this  instance,  as  far  as  we  can  see,  to  the  furtherance  of  good, 
yet  it  is  only  the  direct  effects  of  that  system  to  which  its 
directors  can  lay  claim.     Mr.  Duff  has  a  school  of  about  lo(i 


1 63  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1 831. 

boys,  in  whicli  there  are  some  of  the  higher  class  that  can  now 
read  and  write  with  some  fluency  in  English.  When  they  are 
a  little  farther  advanced  Mr.  Dufi"  will  gradually  instruct  them 
in  the  higher  branches  of  science  and  literature,  and  ground 
them  thoroughly  in  the  evidences  of  religion,  and  go  over 
every  objection  that  the  infidel  has  made  to  them,  with  a  view 
of  preparing  them  for  a  successful  resistance  to  those  young 
men  whom  the  college  is  daily  sending  forth  with  heads  filled 
with  the  subtleties  of  Hume,  etc.  So  that  his  two  objects  at 
present  are  (and  between  these  he  divides  his  time) :  to  put 
himself  at  the  head  of  the  movement  ali-eady  taken  place 
amongst  the  students,  and  gradually  reclaim  them  from  the 
wrong  paths  they  have  taken ;  and  to  train  up  another  set  of 
young  men  who  have  not  been  subject  to  the  disadvantages 
these  have  felt,  who  have  not  lost  the  docility  and  teachable- 
ness so  necessary  in  receiving  the  truth,  and  who,  if  God 
vouchsafe  His  blessing,  may  furnish  a  body  of  well  educated 
young  men  of  a  far  superior  order  to  any  that  we  have  yet 
seen  in  India.  This  was  the  proper  object  of  Bishop's  College, 
and  it  has  failed  from  causes  which  are  well  known,  and  which 
are  fatal  to  the  success  of  every  human  scheme.  Mr.  Duff  is, 
in  fact,  about  to  establish  an  Institute  himself,  the  plan  of  which 
has  been  fully  arranged,  and  has  met  with  the  concurrence 
of  all  here,  and  which  only  wants  the  sanction  of  the  home 
authorities  to  be  at  once  set  on  foot.  In  the  meantime  this 
school  forms  a  nucleus,  and  has  arisen  unostentatiously  with- 
out exciting  any  great  notice,  and  will  ultimately  fui'nish  him 
with  a  set  of  students  to  commence  with  who  have  been 
brought  up  under  his  own  eye  and  under  his  own  system, 
which,  I  might  say,  is  a  most  efiicient  one.  I  questioned  him 
a  good  deal  about  the  prospect  he  had  of  securing  their  atten- 
dance for  the  period  that  it  would  require  to  go  through  his 
course.  He  said  he  felt,  as  all  others  feel,  how  difiicult  it  was, 
but  that  such  was  the  eagerness  of  the  boys  to  remain,  that  if 
they  could  only  obtain  a  sum  sufficient  for  their  support,  they 
would  resist  every  inducement  held  out  by  their  families  to 
leave  him ;  and  that,  in  fact,  he  had  resolved  in  all  cases  of 
difficulty  to  supply  them  with  funds  himself,  and  he  accord- 
ingly does  so  support  one  or  two  of  them  already.  He  said 
six  or  eight  rupees  a  month  was  ample,  and  that  he  himself 
only  gave  them  four.     The  same  practice  was  found  necessary 


/Et.  25.       ENGLISH    THE    MOST   EFFICIENT   INSTRUMENT.       1 69 

at  the  Hindoo  College,  and  some  "boys  in  tlae  first  class  now 
receive  from  Government  fifteen  rupees  a  month  ;  and  after  all 
that  can  be  said  against  the  measure,  I  am  fully  persuaded  of 
its  propriety,  and  hope  that  every  one  will  support  the  system. 

"  I  very  soon,  of  course,  came  to  ask  his  opiuion  upon  the 
subject  of  education  genei'ally,  and  stated  our  circumstances 
to  him.  He  attributed  the  ill  success  of  scriptui-al  education 
to  the  imperfect  and  elementary  nature  of  the  education  given 
and  the  neglect  of  the  English  language,  and  seemed  to  have 
the  fullest  conviction  of  the  success  of  the  system  he  is  about 
to  pursue  ;  for  to  every  suggestion  about  the  inutility  and  ill 
success  of  schools,  he  always  replied  that  he  thought  the  failure 
was  owing  to  the  not  commvinicatinga  medium  through  which 
sound  and  enlarged  ideas  respecting  God  and  our  relations  to 
Him  might  be  conveyed,  and  through  which  the  efi"ects  of 
what  education  they  did  receive  might  be  kept  alive  and 
strengthened.  After  what  I  witnessed  of  the  facility  of  Eng- 
lish instruction,  I  could  not  urge  as  an  objection  the  difficulty 
of  imparting  it,  and,  in  short,  I  came  away  from  Calcutta  fully 
convinced  that  in  neglecting  English  we  have  neglected  the 
most  efficient  instrument  we  could  have  used.  With  all  the 
young  men  I  have  spoken  to  you  about,  any  person  may  have 
the  most  free  and  unreserved  communication  in  our  own 
language ;  and  it  quite  astonished  me  to  find  how  closely  and 
attentively  they  followed  Mr.  Duff  in  the  most  abstract  and 
metaphysical  discussions,  taking  up  the  weaker  parts  of  an 
argument  with  a  readiness  which  showed  how  fully  they  had 
comprehended,  what  was  addressed  to  them.  I  do  not  mean 
that  their  objections  were  always  the  happiest,  but  they  showed 
they  had,  in  the  main,  comprehended  his  arguments.  Ho  fully 
concurred  in  all  we  proposed  to  do,  though  I  cannot  say  he 
went  the  length  which  I  have  hitherto  been  disposed  to  go,  in 
asserting  unreservedly  that  knowledge  without  religion  is 
positively  evil. 

"  Mr.  Duff's  school  has  not  been  in  operation  sixteen  months, 
and  yet  an  advance  has  been  made  sufficient  to  extort  the 
praise  of  Mr.  Hare,  who  told  me,  as  he  was  showing  me  the 
college  the  other  day,  that  Mr.  Duff  deserved  credit  for  it.  Let 
us  hear  no  more,  therefore,  of  the  difficulty  of  teaching  them 
J'^nglish.  I  have  seen  it  here  in  various  instances  effectually 
surmounted.    The  Hindoo  College  is  a  fine  quadrangular  build- 


170  LIFE    OP   DE.    DUFP.  1831. 

ing,  the  inner  area  being  very  small,  so  as  to  give  tlie  house  the 
shape  of  a  native  building  j  I  do  not  say  appearance,  for  it  is 
built  after  a  regular  Grecian  order,  and,  like  most  houses  in 
Calcutta,  is  very  handsome  and  elegant.  The  ground-floor 
students  are  exclusively  engaged  in  the  study  of  Sanscrit, 
which  occupies  them  seven  or  eight  years,  and  one  cannot  help 
grieving  at  the  sad  and  cruel  waste  of  precious  time  and  talent 
at  this  unprofitable  study.  English  has  been  inti'oduced 
recently,  that  is  to  say,  since  the  last  two  or  three  years ;  and 
I  observed  one  class  going  over  a  proposition  of  Euclid,  which 
they  seemed  to  enter  into  con  amove.  The  first  class  had  just 
returned  from  a  lecture  on  some  branch  of  natural  philosophy, 
and  seeing  some  essays  of  their  composing  I  asked  for  one  or 
two,  which  with  some  hesitation  they  granted.  I  was  sur- 
prised to  find  on  my  return  that  one  went  directly  to  refute 
Paley,  and  establish  the  mortality  of  the  soul  and  the  futility 
of  any  hopes  as  to  futurity.  The  subject  was:  'Is  Paley's 
definition  of  virtue,  viz.,  that  it  is  doing  good  to  mankind  for 
the  sake  of  everlasting  happiness,  coi'rect  ? '  and  the  writer 
contended  that  after  death  the  soul  vanished  into  thin  air,  etc. 
"I  was  fortunate  enough  to  witness,  on  the  Tuesday  before 
I  sailed,  a  missionaiy  prayer  meeting.  There  were  present  (at 
Mr.  Duff's  in  rotation),  Mr.  Duff,  W.  H.  Pearce,  Yates,  Sandys, 
Percival,  Mackay,  Christie,  G.  Pearce,  T.  Robertson  (chaplain), 
Reichardt,  Lacroix,  Gogerly,  and  two  or  three  others  whom 
I  cannot  recollect.  At  seven  we  met  upstairs  and  engaged  in 
prayer  until  breakfast-time,  when  about  twenty  sat  down. 
After  breakfast  subjects  that  had  been  proposed  at  the  last 
meeting:  for  discussion  were  announced,  and  the  sentiments  of 
each  person  present  were  called  for.  The  question  under  dis- 
cussion was,  as'  far  as  1  recollect  it,  '  the  relative  importance  of 
itinerant  preaching  as  compared  with  education,  as  a  means  of 
spreading  the  gospel,'  and  the  sense  of  the  meeting  was  ex- 
pressed in  the  three  resolutions  I  alluded  to  in  my  letter  to 
Robert  Money.  The  subject  was  very  well,  as  I  thought,  dis- 
cussed, but  not  exhausted ;  and  I  should  like  to  have  proposed 
for  inquiry  next  month,  '  The  origin  and  recorded  success  of 
juvenile  education  as  a  means  of  spreading  the  gospel  in 
heathen  countries.'  The  question,  however,  proposed  by  Mr. 
Mackay  will  perhaps  embrace  this.  There  was  at  least  a  pro- 
portion of  two-thirds  of  the  meeting  present  who  were  engaged 


JEt  2^.      niS   OWN   ESTIMATE    OP    PAST   AND    FUTURE.  171 

directly  in  itinerant  preachiug  in,  around,  or  away  from  Cal- 
cutta. Mr.  Lacroix  is  said  to  be  by  far  the  most  ready  aud 
effective  preacher,  and  to  draw  crowded  audiences. 

"The  infant  school,  under  Mr.  Macpherson's  superinten- 
dence, founded  by  the  Bishop  aud  conducted  by  a  Mrs.  Wilson, 
flourishes  ;  so,  I  believe,  does  the  High  School,  under  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Macqueen,  who  is  rector;  but  the  Free  School  of  St. 
James's  parish  is  wretchedly  organized,  and  the  children  are 
almost  parrots.  I  wonder  any  person  neglects  to  introduce  the 
interrogatory  system  of  instruction  ;  no  other  deserves,  I  think, 
support.  I  must  not  omit  to  say  that  the  day  before  I  left, 
Tarachund  Chukurbutee,  the  leader  of  the  Moderates  (as  they 
are  called  who,  renouncing  idolatry,  yet  fall  short  of  the 
decision  and  uncompromising  spirit  of  Banerjea  and  others), 
called  upon  Mr.  Duff  and  promised  to  attend  with  several  of 
his  friends  at  Mr.  Duff's  lectures.  This  was  a  subject  of  great 
delight  to  us  all,  as  they  had  hitherto  declined  to  mix  with  the 
Ultras  (as  they  are  styled),  and  feared  to  compromise  their 
worldly  interests.^' 

Three  months  after  Mr.  Youno^'s  visit  we  find  Mr. 
Duff's  own  humble  estimate  of  the  results,  but  far- 
reaching  statement  of  an  unconquerable  faith,  in  two 
letters  to  the  Rev.  Professor  Ferrie,  of  Kilconquliar  : — 

"  Calcutta,  9th  January,  1832. 
"  Here  there  is  little  change :  much  work  of  preparation 
silently  carried  on,  little  of  the  pi'actical  work  of  conversion 
from  dumb  idols  to  serve  the  living  God.  We  cannot  over- 
estimate the  worth  of  an  immortal  soul,  and  should  one 
be  found  cleaving  to  the  Saviour  steadfastly  and  immov- 
ably we  cannot  rejoice  too  much  or  ascribe  too  much  glory 
to  God.  But  methinks  that,  considering  the  millions  still 
unreclaimed,  our  joy  should  be  tempered  and  our  glorying 
moderated,  lest  the  one  should  be  found  to  be  mere  self- 
gratulation  and  the  other  a  vain  boastful ness.  How  I 
lear  that  much,  far  too  much,  has  been  made  of  partial 
success  in  the  work  of  conversion,  and  that  many  good  people 
at  home  are  under  serious  delusion  as  to  its  extent.  Every- 
thing around  me  proves  the  necessity  of  more  earnest  prayer 


172  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1832. 

and  redoubled  exertion.  I  see  nothing  to  satisfy  me  that  any- 
decisive  victory  has  been  won  on  the  grand  scale  of  national 
emancipation.  The  few  converts  that  have  been  made  can 
never  be  the  seed  of  the  Church  :  they  resemble  rather  those 
somewhat  unseasonable,  somewhat  short-lived  germs  which 
start  up  under  the  influence  of  a  few  peculiarly  genial  days 
in  winter — an  indication  of  the  seminal  power  of  mother  earth, 
and  a  token  of  what  may  be  expected  in  spring.  Let  us  not 
then  confine  our  views  to  the  few  shrivelled  sprouts  of  a  mild 
winter ; — for  these  let  us  be  thankful,  as  they  tend  to  revive  our 
hopes  and  reanimate  our  sinking  spirits.  But  let  ns  reach 
forward  with  restless  longing  and  unceasing  effort  to  the  full 
glow  and  life  and  verdure  of  spring,  when  the  whole  earth 
shall  be  loosened  from  its  cold  torpor  and  the  heavens  pour 
down  refreshing  floods.  It  is  not  easy  in  Calcutta  to  congre- 
gate a  decent  audience  to  listen  to  Bengalee  preaching.  The 
people  are  naturally  apathetic,  and  here  there  is  superadded 
such  pervading  avarice,  such  money-making  selfishness,  that  it 
is  difficult  to  secure  any  degree  of  attention,  or  even  to  excite 
any  alarm  for  the  safety  of  their  own  religion.  Thousands 
there  are,  in  fact,  who  cannot  be  said  to  have  any  religion  at 
all.  Preaching  generally  becomes  either  a  conversation,  or  a 
discussion  in  which  the  most  aiTant  frivolities  in  argument  are 
reiterated  with  an  obstinacy  that  wastes  precious  time,  and 
wholly  impedes  the  free  deliverance  of  truths  that  might 
quicken  the  conscience  and  save  the  soul  alive.  More,  gener- 
ally speaking,  can  be  done  by  way  of  direct  preaching  in 
Bengalee  in  the  neighbourhood  than  in  the  town  of  Calcutta, 
though  I  think  that  missionai'ies  have  often  too  readily  given 
way  to  the  accumulation  of  acknowledged  difficulties  to  be 
encountered  in  town.  To  desert  it  is  like  abandoning  one 
of  the  enemy's  strongest  holds  and  allowing  him  to  occupy  it 
undisturbed. 

"  My  labours  in  Bengalee  preaching  have  hitherto  been  ne- 
cessarily very  limited.  But  there  is  a  sphere  now  partially 
occupied,  formerly  almost  unattempted  :  there  is  the  instituting 
of  English  schools  under  a  decidedly  Christian  management, 
and  insisting  on  the  inculcation  of  Christian  truths.  The  field 
may  become  one  of  the  richest  in  bearing  luxuriant  fruits. 
We  only  want  the  necessary  funds  and  qualified  agents.  The 
success  that  has  attended  the  large  school  first  established  has 


^t.  26,  THE    VARIED    WORK    IN    CALCUTTA,  1 73 

infused  a  kind  of  new  stimulus  into  the  minds  of  those  most 
interested  in  the  Christian  education  of  the  natives^  and  in 
that  alone  much  real  good  has  been  achieved.  The  work  is 
excessively  laborious  and  not  a  little  expensive,  but  time  will 
show  its  vast  importance.  I  trust  that  you  are  acquainted 
with  the  various  proposals  already  forwarded  to  the  Assembly's 
committee.  I  crave  your  special  attention  to  the  last,  as  being 
perhaps  one  of  the  most  momentous  that  has  ever  been  for- 
warded from  a  heathen  land,  referring  chiefly  to  a  union  of  all 
denominations  in  the  support  of  a  Central  Institution  for  the 
more  advanced  literary  and  religious  education  of  pi'omising 
native  youth ;  and  to  be  under  the  exclusive  control  of  the 
Assembly's  committee.  I  refer  you  again  to  the  printed  pro- 
posals sent  homo,  and  expect  your  powerful  advocacy  of  the 
measure. 

"  Thousands  can  now  talk  English  tolerably  well.  Amongst 
these  I  labour  a  good  deal,  as  this  class,  being  of  the  better 
sort,  has  generally  been  neglected.  For  the  last  two  or  three 
months  I  have  been  delivering  a  course  of  lectures  on  the 
evidences  of  natural  and  revealed  religion,  to  about  fifty 
of  the  more  advanced  young  men  who  have  been  educated 
at  the  Hindoo  College,  as  well  as  of  the  class  of  East 
Indians  who  have  received  a  competent  education.  On  the 
whole  the  effect  is  pleasing.  Much  discussion  takes  place  at 
times,  but  in  the  end  objections  have  hitherto  been  withdrawn. 

'*  Onr  church  still  droops.  Were  an  acceptable  preacher  to 
officiate  regularly  it  might  yet  be  in  some  degree  recovered 
from  its  degradation.  I  preach  occasionally,  and  perceive  clearly 
that  many  are  willing  to  attend,  and  under  a  different  state  of 
things  would,  but  refuse  at  present  on  the  presentation  of  a  plea 
which  they  hold  to  be  sufficient.  Consequently  many  have  joined 
other  commuuions  permanently,  many  temporarily,  and  many 
live  without  the  stated  administration  of  ordinances.  In  this 
way  that  which  once  was  a  united  community  is  now  severed  into 
fragments ;  and  that  aid  which  would  once  have  been  and  now 
might  be  afforded  can  no  longer  be  expected.  Oh  let  us  have 
a  pious  and  talented  successor  to  Dr.  Brown,  and  much  may 
yet  be  done.  Another  of  the  same  stamp  when  the  present 
incumbent  retires,  and  a  vast  deal  may  be  done  towards  re- 
storing our  Zion.  Such  appointments  would  immensely  profit 
the  Assembly's  Mission.     Mr,  Mackay,  if  he  enjoy  good  health, 


174  I^IFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1834. 

will  do  well.  But  he  does  not  appear  to  be  strong,  nor  capable 
of  undergoing  mucli  bodily  fatigue,,  nor  exertion  in  speech,  all 
of  which  is  so  essential  to  the  active  discharge  of  a  missionary's 
duties.  I  wish  the  committee  would  bear  in  mind  that  a 
constitutional  vigour  of  body  is  just  as  requisite  as  a  vigorous 
activity  of  mind,  and  piety  and  leai-ning.  Indeed  it  is  not 
studying  men  that  we  want,  but  hard-working  men  who  have 
been  and  still  are  students.'' 

"  Feb.,  1834. — Awakened  by  the  pleasing  success  which  has 
attended  our  humble  efforts  in  Calcutta,  some  zealous  friends 
at  home,  as  I  hear,  are  beginning  to  think  that  a  new  station 
might  be  opened.  Now,  let  me  say  at  once  that  nothing 
would  prove  more  disastrous.  Of  all  stations  in  India  Cal- 
cutta is  by  far  the  most  important.  Its  population  is  a  vast 
motley  assemblage  or  congregation  of  persons  from  all  parts  of 
Eastern  Asia.  Of  course  the  natives  of  Bengal  greatly  predom- 
inate, and  next  to  these,  immigrants  from  all  the  provinces  of 
Gangetic  India.  A  revolution  of  opinion  here  would  be  felt 
more  or  less  throughout  the  Eastern  world,  and  particularly 
among  the  millions  that  are  the  victims  of  idolatrous  delusion 
and  Brahmanical  tyranny.  It  is  of  no  ordinary  importance, 
therefore,  to  make  Calcutta  the  grand  central  station  for  con- 
ducting missionary  operations  on  an  extended  scale.  But  we 
require  a  score  more  labourers,  and  if  we  had  two  score 
Calcutta  alone  and  its  neighbourhood  would  afford  abundant 
scope  for  their  best  efforts  for  at  least  several  years  to  come. 
It  has  hitherto  been  a  radical  error  in  the  organization  of 
missions,  to  scatter  the  pioneers  and  so  dilute  and  fritter  away 
their  strength,  instead  of  concentrating  their  efforts  on  some 
well-chosen  field.  I  sincerely  trust  that  this  is  an  error  which 
the  committee  of  Assembly  will  endeavour  to  avoid,  and  that 
all  their  aim  will  be  for  years  directed  towards  the  strengthen- 
ing of  the  Calcutta  station. 

"  I  perceive  it  was  stated  in  the  last  Assembly  by  Mr. 
Thomson,  of  Perth,  that  the  Assembly's  Institution  should 
always  remain  a  mere  school.  No  remark  has  astounded  me 
more  for  many  a  year — the  utter  ignorance  which  it  betrays 
of  the  wants  of  this  people  and  the  most  probable  means  of 
supplying  these  with  success  !  If  it  is  to  continue  a  mere 
school,  then  I  say  that  all  the  time,  money  and  labour  hitherto 
expended  on  it  have  been  thrown  away  for  nought.     Instead 


^t.  28.   AN  EFFICIENT  COLLEGE  AND  NOT  A  MERE  SCHOOL.    1  75 

of  being  an  apparatus  which  God  might  bless  as  the  means 
of  leading  heathens  to  the  way  ot  salvation  through  Christ,  it 
would  be  much  more  likely  to  become  a  machine  for  trans- 
forming superstitious  idolaters  into  rogues  and  infidels.  It 
has  been  entirely  overlooked  that  in  this  country  there  is  a 
gigantic  system  of  error  to  be  rejected  ere  a  system  of  truth 
can  be  embraced ;  and  the  few  years  which  a  boy  can  spend 
at  a  mere  school  can  barely  suffice  to  open  his  mind  to  the 
absurdity  and  irrationality  of  the  religion  of  his  ancestors,  a 
religion  that  closely  intertwines  itself  with  every  feeling  and 
faculty  of  the  soul,  with  every  habit  and  every  action  of  life. 
But  supposing  that  in  a  mere  school  you  could  succeed  in 
overthrowing  Hindooism  and  in  inculcating  much  of  the 
knowledge  of  Christianity,  still  if  the  boy  be  not  confirmed 
in  any  belief,  and  you  turn  him  adrift  amid  a  multitude  of 
heathens  the  most  licentious  and  depraved  under  the  sun, 
what  must  be  the  consequence  ?  I  can  only  say  from  ex- 
perience, that  his  latter  end  must  be  in  all  respects  worse 
than  the  first. 

''  Our  only  encouragement  is  the  hope  of  being  able  to  in- 
duce a  certain  proportion  of  those  who  enter  as  boys  to  remain 
with  us  till  they  reach  the  age  of  puberty,  and  consequently, 
attain  that  maturity  of  judgment  which  may  render  know- 
ledge, through  God's  blessing,  operative  and  impressions 
lasting.  And  were  there  no  reasonable  hope  of  securing  this 
end,  I  would  without  hesitation  say,  '  the  sooner  you  abandon 
the  school,  the  better.'  I,  for  one,  could  not  lend  myself 
as  an  instrument  in  wasting  the  funds  of  the  benevolent 
in  Scotland  in  teaching  young  men  a  mere  smattering  of 
knowledge,  to  enable  them  to  become  more  mischievous  pests 
to  society  than  they  would  have  been  in  a  state  of  absolute 
heathenism.  On  the  other  hand,  if  out  of  every  ten  that  enter 
the  school  even  one  were  to  advance  to  the  higher  branches 
of  secular  and  Christian  education ;  were  he  to  become  in  head 
and  in  heart  a  disciple  of  the  Lord  Jesus ;  and  were  a  number 
with  minds  thus  disciplined,  enlarged,  and  sanctified,  to  go 
forth  from  the  Institution,  what  a  leaven  would  be  infused 
through  the  dense  mass  of  the  votaries  of  Hindooism !  And 
what  a  rich  and  ample  reward  for  all  one's  labours,  what  a 
glorious  return  for  all  the  money  expended  !  I  look  to  you, 
my  dear  sir,  as  one  whose  superior  discernment  can  penetrate 


170  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1833. 

this  subject^  and  expose  the  erroneous  views  of  sucli  zealous 
butj  in  this  instance,  mistaken  men  as  Mr.  Thomson  of  Perth. 

''^The  school  continues  greatly  to  flourish.  You  may  form  some 
notion  of  what  has  been  done,  when  I  state  that  the  highest 
class  read  and  understand  any  English  book  with  the  greatest 
ease ;  write  and  speak  English  with  tolerable  fluency ;  have 
finished  a  course  of  geography  and  ancient  history;  have  studied 
the  greater  part  of  the  New  Testament  and  portions  of  the  Old ; 
have  mastered  the  evidence  from  prophecy  and  miracles ;  have, 
in  addition,  gone  through  the  common  rules  of  algebra,  three 
books  of  Euclid,  plane  trigonometry  and  logarithms.  And  I 
venture  to  say  that,  on  all  these  subjects,  the  youths  that  com- 
pose the  first  class  would  stand  no  unequal  comparison  with 
youths  of  the  same  standing  in  any  seminary  in  Scotland. 
Other  labours  progress  apace.  My  Tuesday  evening  lectures 
on  the  evidences  and  doctrines  of  Christianity  are  still  con- 
tinued. God  has  been  pleased  to  bless  them  for  the  conver- 
sion of  a  few,  and  the  obstinacy  of  many  minds  has  been  shaken. 
On  Sunday  evening  I  preach  also  in  English  to  considerable 
numbers  in  a  small  native  chapel.  There  is  cercainly  much  to 
encourage,  while  there  is  much  also  to  damp  one's  zeal. 
Believe  me,  the  people  at  home  have  far  too  exalted  an  idea  of 
what  has  been  done  in  India.  Still,  much  has  been  done  ;  and 
that  draws  out  the  hope  of  soon  doing  still  more.  Let  us  not 
rest  till  the  whole  of  India  be  the  Lord's.*' 

In  all  this  warfare  of  the  young  apostle  against  the 
hoary  citadel  of  Brahmanism,  and  in  the  retreat  of 
the  foremost  of  its  men  into  the  slough  of  theoretical 
atheism  and  practical  immorality,  or  of  vague  theism 
and  a  dead  ethics,  we  have  seen  the  divine  influence 
at  work.  To  Calcutta  and  Bengal,  as  once  to  Je- 
rusalem and  Syria,  Christ  was  being  manifested  to 
destroy  the  works  of  the  devil.  We  must  now  look 
more  closely  at  the  human  instrument  He  had  chosen 
through  which  to  pronounce  the  wonder-working  spell, 
not  only  in  the  native  city  and  for  that  generation, 
but  over  all  India  and  Southern  Asia  and  for  the 
ages   to   come.      It  was    the  Greek   tongue   and   the 


/Et.  27.  THE    ENGLISH    LANGUAGE.  1 77 

Roman  order  in  that  which  was  to  all  the  race  tho 
fulness  of  the  aores.  In  India  the  set  time  came  with 
the  English  language,  with  the  legislation  and  the 
administration,  the  commerce  and  the  civilization  of 
the  British  people.  The  Missionary  had,  thus  far, 
done  his  work.  The  Governor- General  in  Council 
must  now  do  his. 


CHAPTER  yiL 

1833-1835. 

THE   BENAISSANGE    IN  INDIA. THE    ENGLISH 

LANGUAGE  AND  THE  CHURCH. 

Lord  William  Bentinck  ready. — The  Charter  of  1833. — Macaulay'a 
share  in  that  aud  in  the  Eeform  Act. — His  Contrast  of  Calcutta 
and  Edinburgh. — Sir  Charles  Trevelyan  becomes  his  Brother-in- 
Law. — Trevelyan's  Alliance  with  DufF. — Tlie  Growth  of  a  Vicious 
Orientalism  after  Lord  Wellesley. — Lord  Minto. —  Bishop  Heber. 
— The  Prinseps  and  W.  H.  Macnaghten. — The  Anglicists. — Mr. 
B.  H.  Hodgson  and  the  Vernacularists. — Duff's  Experience  as  a 
Celtic  Highlander. — James  Mill. — Macaulay's  Famous  Minute. — 
The  Missionary's  Greatest  Ally. — Decree  of  Lord  William  Ben- 
tinck's  Government. — Sir  C.  Trevelyan's  Account  of  Duff's 
Triumph. — Duff's  Modest  Narrative. — His  Regard  for  True 
Oriental  Scholarship. — Vindicates  the  Government  Decree. — 
Shows  where,  from  political  expediency,  it  failed. — Eloquent 
Application  to  the  Church  of  Canning's  Peroration  on  the  New 
World. — Macaulay's  Revival  of  Letters  and  Duff's  Indian  Refor- 
mation begun. 

Lord  William  Bentinck  was  ready.  He  had  enjoyed 
wliat  some  call  the  drawbacks,  but  all  true  men  pro- 
nounce to  be  the  real  advantage,  of  being  a  younger 
son.  The  second  son  of  the  third  Duke  of  Portland, 
Lord  WilHam  Cavendish  Bentinck  was  thrust  out  into 
positions  where  he  developed  for  the  good  of  human- 
ity all  those  virtues  and  that  ability  which  had  made 
Hans  William,  the  founder  of  the  house,  second  only 
to  his  friend  William  III.  as  a  benefactor  of  Great 
Britain.  Because,  while  still  under  thirty,  he  hap- 
pened to  be  Governor  of  Madras  when  the  family  of 
Tippoo  provoked  the  mutiny  of  Vellore,  Lord  William 


^t.  27.  LORD    WILLIAM    BENTINCK.  1 79 

Bentinck  was  recalled  by  the  Court  of  Directors  for 
cxacly  the  same  avowed  reason  which  caused  their  own 
extinction  after  the  Mutiny  of  1857.  In  the  interval 
before  his  return  to  India  as  Governor-General  the 
young  administrator  secured  a  constitution  for  Sicily, 
and,  in  1814,  he  w'ould  have  restored  the  old  republic 
of  Genoa  but  for  Lord  Castlercagh's  stupidity.  It 
was  one  of  the  many  merits  of  George  Canning  that, 
during  his  too  brief  terra  as  Prime  Minister,  he  sent 
Lord  William  Bentinck  to  govern  all  India.  Already, 
when  Duff  landed,  had  the  new  Governor-General 
spent  two  of  the  seven  years  which  have  marked 
the  page  of  British  India  with  triumphs  hardly  less 
brilliant  than  those  of  the  Marquis  AVellesley,  and 
paralleled  only  by  the  later  achievements  of  the  Marquis 
of  Dalliousie.  Had  he,  as  he  wished,  been  appointed 
the  immediate  successor  of  Lord  Hastings,  instead 
of  the  weak  Amherst,  it  is  difficult  to  decide  whether 
he  would  have  prepared  the  way  for  Duff's  mission  of 
positive  Christian  truth  and  educational  progress,  or 
whether  his  lofty  benevolence  would  not  have  failed, 
like  other  premature  ideals,  for  want  of  the  concurring 
aids  of  a  ready  man  and  a  ripe  time.  As  it  was,  it  was 
well  that  the  purely  educational,  literary,  and  scien- 
tific reforms  of  his  G-overnment  fell  at  the  end  of 
his  s-even  years'  career  in  the  highest  office  which  any 
man  can  fill  next  to  that  of  Premier  of  the  United 
Kingdom. 

It  was  well  also  that  to  the  work  of  Daff  and  the 
legislative  and  administrative  measures  of  Bentinck, 
applying  the  principles  and  results  of  that  work  to  all 
India  and  for  all  time,  there  were  added  the  indispens- 
able co-operation  and  the  supreme  sanction  of  the 
British  people  through  Parliament.  For  the  first 
fruit  of  the  Reform  Act  of  1832  was  the  East  India 
Company's  charter  of  1833.     That  charter  withdrew 


l8o  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1833. 

the  last  obstructions  to  the  work  of  Duff  and  of  every 
settler  in  India,  missionary  or  journalist,  merchant  or 
planter,  teacher  or  captain  of  labour  in  any  form.  It 
converted  the  Company  into  a  purely  governing  body, 
under  a  despotic  but  most  benevolent  constitution  so 
well  fitted  for  the  freedom  and  the  elevation  of  long- 
oppressed  races  that  the  most  democratic  of  English 
thinkers,  Mr.  John  Stuart  Mill,  has  declared  the  sys- 
tem to  be  the  best  ever  devised.  That  charter  has  the 
additional  merit  of  giving  men,  as  well  as  rendering 
possible  a  constitutional  system,  to  India.  It  added 
a  law  member  to  the  Governor-General's  council  or 
cabinet,  then  of  five,  and  created  a  commission  to 
prepare  codes  of  law  and  procedure  such  as  have 
come  next  only  to  Christianity  itself,  from  which  they 
spring,  in  their  humanising  and  elevating  influence. 
To  mention  no  others,  these  four  men,  Lord  Macaulay, 
Sir  Barnes  Peacock,  Sir  Henry  S.  Maine  and  Sir 
James  F.  Stephen  have  together  done  more  for  the 
varied  races  and  the  corrupting  civilizations  of  the 
peoples  of  India  than  the  jurists  of  Theodosius  and 
Justinian  effected  for  Europe,  or  the  Code  Napoleon 
for  modern  France. 

The  eloquence  of  the  young  Macaulay  in  carrying 
the  Reform  Act  resulted  in  his  appointment  as  one  of 
the  commissioners,  and  then  as  the  secretary,  under 
Lord  Glenelg  and  along  with  Sir  Robert  Grant,  of 
the  Board  of  Control.  He  was  the  master  of  the 
Court  of  Directors  for  eighteen  months,  and  they  for 
some  time  opposed  his  nomination  as  the  new  law 
member.  Was  not  the  charter  of  1833  his  doing,  and 
was  he  not,  at  thirty-three,  in  their  eyes  an  intolerably 
conceited  person  ?  Six  years  older  than  his  country- 
man and  fellow  Highlander,  of  whose  doings  he  could 
not  help  being  officially  cognisant,  little  did  he  think 
that  without  himself  the  revival  of  letters  and  of  faith, 


^t.  27.  MACAULAY    GOES    TO    CALCUTTA.  181 

brought  to  tlie  birth  by  the  young  missionary,  could 
not  be  perfected.  So  it  is  that  Grod  works  by  many 
and  apparently  incompatible  instruments.  For  Ma- 
caulay  was  ever  the  apostle  of  the  old  Whig  neutrality 
in  religion,  whether  in  India  or  in  Ireland,  although 
his  whole  boyhood  had  been  steeped  in  the  discussions 
of  his  father,  of  the  Clapham  men  and  Hannah  More  on 
the  evangelization  of  the  Hindoo  and  the  Negro  alike. 
It  was  not  till  June,  1834,  that  Macaulay  reached 
Madras  to  join  the  Governor-General,  then  at  the 
Neelgherry  hills,  while  he  sent  his  sister  on  to  Cal- 
cutta, there  to  be  the  guest  of  Lady  William  i3entinck. 
Duff  had  just  left  India  stricken  down  by  almost  deadly 
disease  as  we  shall  see,  when  in  sultry  September  the 
Honourable  the  Law  Member  of  Council  took  up  his 
abode,  under  a  salute  of  fifteen  guns,  in  what  is  still 
the  best  of  the  Chowringhee  palaces,  the  Bengal  Club. 
But  none  the  less,  Macaulay's  greatest  work — greater 
than  even  his  penal  code  and  his  Warren  Hastings 
and  Clive  essays — was  to  be  the  legislative  comple- 
tion of  the  young  Scottish  missionary's  policy.  Yet 
Macaulay  was  never  happy  during  his  brief  Indian  resi- 
dence of  three  and  half  years.  He  did  not  know  the 
magnitude,  he  had  not  his  father's  faith  to  realize  tho 
consequences,  of  the  educational  work  between  which 
and  a  re-reading  of  nearly  all  the  best  Greek  and  Latin 
authors  he  divided  his  leisure.  In  1854,  when  Sir 
Barnes  Peacock  completed  his  penal  code,  Macaulay 
wrote  to  his  sister,  "  Had  this  justice  been  done  sixteen 
years  ago  I  should  probably  have  given  much  more  at- 
tention to  legislation  and  much  less  to  literature  than 
I  have  done.  I  do  not  know  that  I  should  have  been 
either  happier  or  more  useful  than  I  have  been."  And 
in  the  glorious  cold  season  of  Bengal,  so  early  as 
December,  1834,  he  had  thus  sighed  out  his  "heim- 
weh"  to  Mr.  Macvey  Napier,  of  Edinburgh  :  "Calcutta 


l8:2  LIFE    OP    DR.    DUFF.  1834, 

is  called,  and  not  without  some  reason,  *  tlie  city  of 
palaces ; '  but  I  have  seen  nothing  in  the  East  like  the 
view  from  the  Castle  Rock,  nor  expect  to  see  anything 
like  it  till  we  stand  there  together  again." 

There  was  a  third  official,  the  warm  personal  zeal 
of  whose  co-operation  drew  him  closer  to  Duff  than 
the  two  rulers,  without  whom  his  energizings  could 
not  have  been  either  so  abiding  or  so  imperial  in  their 
consequences — Charles  Trevelyan.  Like  Sir  Henry 
Durand  at  a  later  date,  he  had  been  compelled  by 
public  duty  to  report  to  Government  the  malversa- 
tion of  a  high  civilian,  an  offence  happily  rare  since 
Clive's  reforms.  But  Macaulay  himself  tells  the 
story  : — 

"  Trevelyan  is  almost  eight-and-twenty.  He  was  educated 
at  the  Charterhouse,  and  then  went  to  Haileybury,  and  came 
out  hither.  In  this  country  he  has  distinguished  himself 
beyond  any  man  of  his  standing,  by  his  great  talent  for 
business;  by  his  liberal  and  enlarged  views  of  policy;  and 
by  literary  merit,  which,  for  his  opportunities,  is  considerable. 

He  was  at  first  placed  at  Delhi  under ,  a  very  powerful 

and  a  very  popular  man,  but  extremely  corrupt.  This  man 
tried  to  initiate  Trevelyan  in  his  own  infamous  practices.  But 
the  young  fellow's  spirit  was  too  noble  for  such  things.    When 

only  twenty-one  years  of  age  he  publicly  accused ,  then 

almost  at  the  head  of  the  service,  of  receiving  bribes  from  the 
natives.  A  perfect  storm  was  raised  against  the  accuser.  He 
was  almost  everywhere  abused  and  very  generally  cut.  But, 
with  a  firmness  and  ability  scarcely  ever  seen  in  any  man  so 
young,  he  brought  his  proofs  forward,  and  after  an  inquii'y  of 

some  weeks  fully  made  out  his  case.     was  dismissed  in 

disgrace,  and  is  now  living  obscurely  in  England.  The 
Government  here  and  the  directors  at  home  applauded 
Trevelyan  -in  the  highest  terms,  and  from  that  time  he  has 
been  considered  as  a  man  likely  to  rise  to  the  veiy  top  of  the 
service. 

"  Trevelyan  is  a  most  stormy  reformer.  Lord  William  said  to 
me,  before  any  one  had  observed  his  attentions  to  Nancy :  '  That 


^t.  28.  SIR  CHARLES   TREVELYAN.  1 83 

man  is  almost  always  on  the  rig-ht  side  in  every  question;  and 
it  is  well  that  it  is  so,  for  he  gives  a  most  confounded  deal  of 
trouble  when  he  happens  to  take  the  wrong  one.'  He  is  quite 
at  the  head  of  that  active  party,  among  tho  younger  servants 
of  the  Company,  wha  take  the  side  of  improvement.  In  par- 
ticular, he  is  the  soul  of  every  scheme  for  diffusing  education 
among  the  natives  of  this  country.  His  reading  has  been 
very  confined;  but  to  the  little  that  he  has  read  he  has 
brought  a  mind  as  active  and  restless  as  Lord  Brougham^'s, 
and  much  more  judicious  and  honest.  .  .  He  has  no  small 
talk.  His  mind  is  full  of  schemes  of  moral  and  political  im- 
provement, and  his  zeal  boils  over  in  his  talk.  His  topics,  even 
in  courtship,  are  steam  navigation,  the  education  of  the  natives, 
the  equalization  of  the  sugar  duties,  the  substitution  of  tho 
Eoman  for  the  Arabic  alphabet  in  the  oriental  languages."* 

Trevelyan  had  not  been  a  week  in  Calcutta  when,  in 
1831,  lie  threw  himself  into  the  different  movements 
originated  by  DufF.  In  their  first  interview  the  two 
young  men  soon  found  themselves  absorbed  in  this 
question  of  all  others — the  advantage,  the  positive 
necessity  of  using  the  English  language  as  the  medium 
of  all  Cbristianizing  and  civilizing,  all  high  educational 
and  administrative  efforts  by  its  rulers  to  reach  the 
natural  aristocracy  and  leaders  of  the  people,  and 
through  them  to  feed  the  vernaculars  and  raise  the 
masses.  Duff's  plans,  his  experience,  his  success,  were 
not  only  accomplished  facts,  but  had  been  then  for 
twelve  months  the  talk  and  the  imitation  of  every 
thouschtful  and  benevolent  Bng-lishman  in  the  far  East. 
Trevelyan  told  how  he  himself,  at  Delhi,  had  been  for 
four  years  speculating  on  the  advantages  of  thus  using 
the  English  language.  From  that  hour  he  clang  to 
the  missionary,  and  became  the  principal  link  between 
his  far-seeing  practical  principles  on  the  one  hand  and 

*  The  Life  and  Letters  of  Lord  Macaulaij,  by  his  nephew,  George 
Otto  Trevelyan,  M.P.     Second  Edition,  vol.  i.,  p.  387. 


184  LIFE    or   DR.    DUFF.  1834. 

the  coming  action  of  Government  in  the  same  direc- 
tion. It  fell  to  Macaulay  to  advise  and  to  the  Gover- 
nor-General to  act  under  the  following  circumstances. 
When  the  British  succeeded  to  the  Muhammadan 
civil  government  of  Bengal  and  Hindostan,  on  the 
Emperor  Shah  Alum's  grants  to  Clive  at  Benares  in 
1765,  Warren  Hastings  made  the  first  and  most  en- 
lightened attempt  to  popularise  the  sacred  books  of 
Islam  and  Brahmanism  by  Halhed's  translations.  It 
was  in  vain.  When  Lord  Cornwallis  was  forced  to  put 
the  judicial  as  well  as  revenue  courts  under  British 
officers,  he  still  made  a  barbarous  Persian,  as  technical 
as  the  language  of  the  Scottish  courts,  the  only 
lingual  medium  between  the  people  and  their  new 
rulers.  The  earliest  colleges,  as  we  have  seen,  Muham- 
madan at  Calcutta  and  Sanscrit  at  Benares,  were  created 

.  .     .     ' 

to  prepare   the  few  natives  required  as  intermediaries 

between  the  Company's  civilians  and  their  subjects. 
Thus  an  orientalism  unworthy  of  the  name  of  scholar- 
ship sprang  up,  grew  by  tradition  in  spite  of  English 
scholars  like  Sir  William  Jones,  and  widened  the 
gulf  between  the  foreign  ruler  and  the  ignorant, 
oppressed  and  suspicious  ruled.  Lord  Wellesley  was 
the  first  who  had  the  genius  to  seek  to  correct  the  evil. 
In  spite  of  the  parsimonious  Court  of  Directors,  he 
established  the  College  of  Fort  William.  He  put  Carey 
and  Buchanan  practically  at  its  head,  to  teach  the 
vernacular  as  well  as  classical  languages  of  the  East, 
and  to  train  the  young  "  writers  "  with  a  view,  as  Duff 
described  it,  to  "  the  formation  of  sound  moral  and 
religious  habits,  as  much  as  for  the  cultivation  of  all 
branches  of  professional  or  useful  knowledge."  That 
college,  like  "  the  glorious  little  man "  its  founder, 
sent  forth  a  body  of  scholars  and  administrators  to 
whom  we  owe  the  conquest  and  good  government  of 
India  up  to  the  next  generation  of  their  pupils,  headed 


^t  28.  THE    GROWTH    OF   A    VICIOUS    OKIENTALISM.         1 85 

by  the  Lawrences  and  Durand,  Thomason  and  the 
Muirs.  Some,  like  Lord  Metcalfe,  early  corrected  the 
orientalizing  tendency  of  their  studies  by  executive 
work  on  the  widest  scale.  Others,  like  Sir  W.  Mac- 
naghten,  intensified  its  evils  by  the  narrowing  work  of 
a  mere  secretary  to  Government.  Lord  Minto's  ad- 
ministration, more  brilHant  in  some  respects  than  has 
yet  been  allowed,  identified  the  growing  orientalism, 
not  with  the  toleration  in  which  it  was  born,  but  with 
antichristian  anti-popular  timidity.  Lord  Hastings, 
though  personally  friendly  to  the  religious  instruction 
of  the  natives,  found  the  oriental  mania  in  this  form 
too  strong  for  him  to  let  it  grow.  Sydney  Smith's 
brother,  who  had  made  a  fortune  as  Advocate-General 
in  Calcutta,  proposed  the  educational  clause  in  the 
charter  of  1813,  doubtless  in  the  interest  of  the 
Brahmanizing  orientalists,  who  had  almost  unchecked 
influence  with  the  Governor-General  when  it  came  to 
be  applied.  But  whatever  the  intention,  Parliament, 
led  by  the  Grants  and  Wilberforce  and  deluged  with 
petitions  from  the  whole  country,  had  so  worded  the 
clause  as  to  secure  the  education  of  the  whole 
people  of  India  in  positive  truth  of  every  kind,  the 
revealed  truth  of  Christianity  being  no  doubt  as  much 
in  their  mind  as  the  superstitions  of  Brahmanism  and 
the  Koran  were  in  that  of  the  minority.  Like  much 
else  in  human  compromises,  confessions  and  con- 
tracts, the  language  fortunately  allowed  of  honest 
development  according  to  the  growing  needs  of  the 
country  and  the  time. 

Still  the  orientalists,  being  in  power  on  the  spot, 
had  the  unchecked  administration  of  the  money  al- 
lowed for  public  instruction.  In  spite  of  Rammohun 
Roy,  notwithstanding  the  expressed  desire  of  the 
natives  themselves  for  English,  although  the  vernacu- 
lars were  barren  and  the  classical  books  printed  and 


1 86  LIFE   OP   DE.    DUrf.  1834. 

taught  were  not  touched  by  one  native  who  was  not 
highly  paid  for  submitting  to  learn  them,  the  British 
Government  persisted  in  its  folly.  When  the  ex- 
pediency of  spending  a  little  of  the  grant  ordered  by 
Parliament  on  the  Hindoo  College  established  by  the 
natives  themselves  was  forced  on  the  authorities,  the 
agent  whom  they  selected  to  represent  them  was  the 
most  intense  and  least  Christian  of  all  the  oriental 
party — the  assistant-surgeon,  Horace  Hayman  Wilson. 
Even  in  1833,  when  the  Company  had  to  render  the 
next  account  of  its  stewardship,  the  Government 
Committee  of  Public  Instruction  was  equally  divided 
between  Oriento-maniacs  and  Anglo-maniacs,  as  they 
called  each  other.  What  the  teaching  was  in  the 
partially  English  Hindoo  College  we  have  seen.  It 
remained  in  the  Benares  Sanscrit  College  exactly  what 
Bishop  Heber  described  it  to  have  been  during  his  tour 
in  Upper  India.  Under  a  grant  ordered  by  Parliament 
on  the  pressure  of  the  Christian  public,  and  ad- 
ministered by  a  Christian  Government,  a  professor 
lecturing  on  a  terrestrial  globe  identified  Mount  Meroo 
with  the  North  Pole,  declared  that  the  tortoise  of 
the  Hindoo  cosmogony  supported  the  earth  from  under 
the  South  Pole,  pointed  to  Padalon  in  the  centre  of 
the  globe,  and  demonstrated  how  the  sun  went  round 
the  earth  every  day  and  visited  the  signs  of  the  Zodiac! 
Well  might  the  teaching  of  such  "rubbish"  in  a  state 
college  excite  the  wonder  of  the  Bishop.  But  that  was 
harmless  compared  with  what  was  taught  elsewhere, 
and  even  with  the  obscenely  idolatrous  teaching  which 
lingered  in  Government  school-books  till  Lord  North- 

o 

brook  purged  them  three  years  ago,  if  indeed  they  be 
yet  purged. 

When  Trevelyan  came  to  the  support  of  Duff,  and 
adopted  his  plans  as  well  as  his  principles  as  the  only 
policy  for  Government,  the  Brahmanizing  five  in  the 


^t.  28.  THE    TEACniNQ    OF   THE    OEIEXTA LISTS.  1 87 

Grovernment  committee  were  these  :  The  Honble.  H. 
Shakespear  was  a  colleague  of  tlie  Governor-General, 
and  only  as  such  was  dangerous.  Mr.  H.  Tlioby  Prin- 
sep  and  Mr.  James  Prinsep  were  brothers.  The  latter, 
an  uncovenanted  officer  of  the  Mint,  was  the  greatly 
lamented  scholar  who  fell  an  early  victim  to  his  too 
eager  researches  into  the  inscriptions  on  coins  and 
rocks  which  he  deciphered.  The  former  was  one  of  the 
under-secretaries  to  Government  at  that  time,  was  a 
greater  scholar  in  Arabic  and  Persian  than  his  brother, 
was  afterwards  director,  member  of  Parliament,  and 
member  of  the  Secretary  of  State's  council,  and  died 
at  eighty-six,  the  day  before  Duff.  William  Hay  Mac- 
naghten  was  a  Charterhouse  boy,  who  from  the  day  he 
lauded  in  India,  first  as  a  cadet  and  then  as  a  civilian, 
mastered  the  several  languages  of  south  and  north, 
proved  the  most  extraordinary  scholar  in  the  classical 
tongues  ever  turned  out  by  Fort  AYilliam  College,  and 
was  trusted  by  Lord  William  Bentinck  beyond  any 
other  secretary.  His  evil  policy  and  sad  fate  in  Cabul 
make  his  career  most  tragic.  These,  with  the  zealous 
secretary  of  the  committee,  Mr.  T.  C.  C.  Sutherland, 
made  the  orientalists  very  formidable  antagonists. 

The  Anglicists  were  no  less  strong,  however.  Fore- 
most among  them  was  the  greatest  land-revenue  au- 
thority, Robert  Mertins  Bird,  who  corrected  and  com- 
pleted the  work  of  Holt  Mackenzie,  author  of  the  first 
official  minute  on  education,  and  at  whose  feet  Lord 
Lawrence  sat  as  a  revering  pupil.  Mr.  J.  B.  Colvin 
was  he  who  died  in  Agra  Fort  during  the  mutiny, 
Lieutenant-Governor.  Sir  Charles  Trevelyan  atoned 
for  the  probably  routine  efficiency  of  Messrs.  Saunders 
and  Bushby,  who  always  voted  straight.  We  must  in 
justice  to  these  two  main  parties  add  a  third,  whom  we 
may  describe  as  Vernacularists.  Allying  himself  with 
the  Serampore  men  then  left,  with  Dr.  Marsh  man  and 


l88  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1834. 

his  son  in  the  Friend  of  India ^  Mr.  Brian  H.  Hodgson, 
long  the  first  authority  on  Tibetan  Buddhism,  advo- 
cated the  foundation  of  a  normal  vernacular  institution 
to  manufacture  good  teachers,  reliable  translators  and 
pure  books.  English,  he  urged,  would  be  as  bad  as 
Persian,  Arabic  and  Sanscrit,  which  had  "  proved  tlie 
curse  "  of  India,  "  not  so  much  by  reason  of  the  false 
doctrines  they  have  inculcated  as  by  reason  of  the 
administrative  mystery  they  have  created  and  upheld." 
All  that  was  good,  or  possible  at  the  time,  in  Mr. 
Hodgson's  then  really  remarkable  proposal  Mr.  Duff 
had  already  advocated  or  actually  carried  into  effect. 
His  school  and  college  long  proved  to  be  the  first  of 
normal  training  institutions  in  India,  which,  indeed, 
has  had  no  others  worthy  of  the  name  save  those 
established  by  the  Christian  Vernacular  Education 
Society  since  the  mutiny.  The  vernacular  department 
of  his  school,  fitting  into  the  English  and  ultimately 
the  Sanscrit  classes,  secured  all  that  the  great  orien- 
talist of  Nipal  wanted.  But  Hodgson,  in  common  with 
his  less  enlightened  fellows  on  the  committee,  could  not 
see  that  while  the  natives  themselves  desired  English, 
while  it  was  administratively  necessary  as  well  as  politi- 
cally desirable  to  give  them  facilities  for  mastering  the 
English  literature  as  well  as  language,  no  body  of  truth, 
scientific,  historical  or  ethical,  not  to  say  Christian,  could 
be  conveyed  to  the  natives  through  their  then  barren 
vernaculars  or  sealed  classical  tongues.  The  Govern- 
ment, like  the  missionaries,  must  begin  at  both  ends  :  at 
the  vernacular  that  the  people  might  at  least  read  and 
write  their  own  language  intelligently,  and  at  the  higher 
or  English  end  that  thence  their  own  teachers  might 
convey  the  material  and  even  the  terms  of  truth  to 
them  through  the  vernacular  ;  and  in  time  to  the  learned 
through  the  Sanscrit,  Arabic  and  Persian.  Writing  of 
this  period  Duff  declared : — "  I  saw  clearly  and  ex- 


Mi.   28.   ME.  B.  HODGSON  AND  THE  VERNACULAKISTS.    1 89 

pressed  myself  strongly  to  the  effect  that  ultimately, 
in  a  generation  or  two,  the  Bengalee,  by  improvement, 
might  become  the  fitting  medium  of  European  know- 
ledge. But  at  that  time  it  was  but  a  poor  language, 
like  English  before  Chaucer,  and  had  in  it,  neither 
by  translation  nor  original  composition,  no  works  era- 
bodying  any  subjects  of  study  beyond  the  merest 
elements.  As  a  native  of  the  Highlands  I  vividly 
realized  the  fact  that  the  Gaelic  language,  though  power- 
ful for  lyric  and  other  poetry  and  also  for  popular 
address,  contained  no  works  that  could  possibly  meet 
the  objects  of  a  higher  and  comprehensive  education. 
Hence  those  who  sought  that  found  it  in  English  col- 
leges, and  returned  as  teachers  and  preachers  to  dis- 
tribute the  treasures  of  knowledge  acquired  through 
English  among  the  Gaelic  people." 

Just  when,  in  1834,  Duffs  success,  Trevelyan's 
earnestness,  and  the  increasing  urgency  of  the  de- 
spatches from  the  Court  of  Directors  drafted  by  his 
friend  Mr.  James  Mill*  had  produced  a  dead-lock  in  the 
Committee  of  Public  Instruction,  Macaulay  was  ap- 
pointed its  president.  But  he  declined  to  act  until  the 
Government,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  should  have 
decided  the  question  of  policy  in  its  executive  capacity. 
And  to  him,  as  law  member,  the  preliminary  duty  was 
assiofned  of  declaring:  whether  the  Governor-General  in 
Council  could  legally  apply  to  English  education  the 
grant  ordered  by  the  Parliament  of  1813,  and  hitherto 
reserved  for  a  so-called  orientalism.  On  the  2nd  Feb- 
ruary, 1835,  he  submitted  to  Lord  William  Bentinck 

•  In  1836  Macaulay  wrote  to  his  fatlier  : — "  I  have  been  a  sin- 
cere mouruer  for  Mill.  He  and  I  were  on  the  best  terms,  and  his 
services  at  the  India  House  were  never  so  much  needed  as  at  this 
time.  I  had  a  most  kind  letter  from  him  a  few  weeks  before  I 
heard  of  his  death.  He  has  a  son  just  come  out,  to  whom  1  have 
shown  such  little  attentions  as  are  in  my  power." 


IQO  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1835. 

that  minute  which,  while  as  striking  a  specimen  of  his 
written  style  as  even  the  passage  on  Burke  in  his 
"  Warren  Hastings  "  pronounced  by  his  biographer 
"  unsurpassed,"  proved  to  be  the  first  charter  of  in- 
tellectual liberty  for  the  people  of  India,  the  educa- 
tional despatch  of  1854  based  on  Duff's  evidence  before 
a  Parliamentary  committee  being  the  second. 

In  that  minute  Macaulay  began  by  showing  that  the 
lakh  of  rupees  set  apart  by  order  of  Parliament  was  not 
only  for  "  reviving  literature  in  India,"  but  also  for 
"  the  introduction  and  promotion  of  a  knowledge  of  the 
sciences  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  British  terri- 
tories." These  words,  he  said,  are  "  alone  sufficient  to 
authorize  all  the  changes  for  which  I  contend."  But 
so  terribly  was  he  in  earnest  that  he  proposed,  if  his 
colleagues  in  council  differed  from  him,  to  do  what 
would  now  be  impossible, — to  pass  a  short  Act  rescind- 
ing that  former  clause  of  the  charter  of  1813  on  which 
the  orientalists  based  their  oppositioii.  He  was  him- 
self indeed  the  author  of  the  charter  of  1833  more 
than  any  other  man,  even  Lord  Glenelg,  and  he  was 
the  most  constitutional  of  Whigs.  But,  nevertheless, 
to  propose  that  a  local  legislature,  and  such  a  legis- 
lature as  that  of  India  was  till  Lord  Dalhousie's  time, 
should  quietly  abolish  an  Act  of  Parliament,  was  daring 
even  then.  The  proposal  was  unnecessary,  for  his 
opinion  as  the  responsible  legal  adviser  of  the  Governor- 
General  was  sufficient.  In  twelve  pages  like  this  he 
then  proceeded  to  prove  that,  being  "  free  to  employ 
our  funds  as  we  choose,  we  ought  to  employ  them  in 
teaching  what  is  best  worth  knowiug ;  that  English  is 
better  worth  knowing  than  Sanscrit  or  Arabic ;  that 
the  natives  are  desirous  to  be  taught  English  and 
are  not  desirous  to  be  taught  Sanscrit  or  Arabic ; 
that  neither  as  the  languages  of  law  nor  as  the  lan- 
guages of  religion  have  the  Sanscrit  and  Arabic  any 


^t.  29.  macaulay's  famous  minute.  191 

peculiar  claim  to  our  encouragement ;  that  it  is  possi. 
ble  to  make  natives  of  this  country  thoroughly  good 
English  scholars,  and  that  to  this  end  our  efforts  ought 
to  be  directed."  Mr.  Thoby  Prinsep  replied  after  the 
Anglo-Indian  fashion,  which  conducts  all  deliberate  dis- 
cussion by  then  written  and  now  printed  minutes,  often 
of  value  second  only  to  Macaulay's,  and  too  seldom 
ordered  by  Parliament  to  be  published.  Able  as  that 
councillor  was,  even  in  his  blindness  and  to  the  last 
hour  of  his  duties  in  the  India  Office,  his  vain  repre- 
sentations called  forth  only  this  rejoinder,  scratched 
in  pencil,  from  the  law  member  :  "  I  remain  not  only 
unshaken  but  confirmed  in  all  my  opinions  on  the 
general  question.  I  may  have  committed  a  slight  mis- 
take or  two  as  to  details,  and  I  may  have  occasionally 
used  an  epithet  which  might  with  advantage  be  soft- 
ened down.  But  I  do  not  retract  the  substance  of  a 
single  proposition  I  have  advanced." 

Never  did  what  his  enemies  called  his  "conceit," 
and  hostile  critics  afterwards  used  to  denounce  as  his 
"  obstinacy,"  stand  the  world  in  better  stead.  He 
fought  for  the  enlightenment  of  the  millions  of  our 
Indian  Empire  as  it  then  was,  and  of  millions  yet 
unborn.  While  in  the  same  breath  he  officially  and 
personally  advocated  religious  neutrality,  it  was  a 
true  neutrality,  intended  to  prevent  the  hostility  of 
Hindooizing  foreigners  to  Christian  liberty  and  prin- 
ciples, and  he  stood  forth  the  greatest  ally  the  Indian 
missionary  has  ever  had.  It  was  not  only  English 
that  Macaulay  persuaded  the  Government  to  teach, 
it  was  the  recognition  of  the  equality  of  children 
of  all  castes  in  the  public  schools,  from  which  the 
Brahmanizing  orientalists  had  weakly  excluded  all  but 
the  Brahmans.  When  he  fairly  joined  the  committee 
he  penned  such  ink-blotted  sentences  as  these  in  the 
minute-book  which  circulated  from  member  to  mem- 


192  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1834. 

ber :  "No  sucli  distinction  ouglit  to  be  tolerated  in  any 
school  supported  by  us."  "  The  general  rule  clearly 
ought  to  be  that  all  classes  should  be  treated  alike, 
and  should  be  suffered  to  intermingle  freely."  It  was 
only  Duff  and  the  Christian  missionaries  who  had  up 
to  this  time  disregarded  caste  and  idolatrous  festi- 
vals alike  in  their  schools,  and  who  had  begun  not 
only  to  ask  but  to  receive  fees  for  the  secular  instruc- 
tion, such  as  the  respectable  poor  could  pay  and  as 
would  make  them  value  aright  the  instruction  they 
received.  But  it  was  much  that  the  Government 
should  at  that  time  follow  the  same  just  and  tolerant 
course. 

Nor  was  it  in  this  only  that  ]\Iacaulay,  as  an 
educationist,  followed  Duff,  through  Trevelyan  as  the 
intermediary.  In  public  instruction,  as  in  everything 
else,  principles  are  little  without  the  men  to  give  them 
effect.  Even  after  tempting  the  missionary's  assist- 
ants, like  Mr.  Clift,  to  leave  him,  Government  could 
not  get  teachers  worth  the  name.  In  the  days  before 
normal  schools  Macaulay  wrote  in  the  old  minute 
book,  "  Teaching  is  an  art  to  be  learned  by  practice. 
I  am  satisfied  that  it  will  soon  be  found  necessary  to 
import  from  England,  or  rather  from  Scotland,  a  re- 
gular supply  of  masters  for  the  Government  schools." 
And  from  the  first,  again  following  Duff  more  or  less 
consciously,  Macaulay  looked  on  English  as  the  indis- 
pensable preliminary  to  the  true  education  of  the 
people  in  their  own  vernaculars.  He  thus  supported 
a  proposal  to  teach  Hindee  at  Ajmer  :  —  "  An  order 
to  give  instruction  in  the  English  language  is,  by 
necessary  implication,  an  order  to  give  instruction, 
where  that  instruction  is  required,  in  the  vernacu' 
lar  language.  For  what  is  meant  by  teaching  a 
boy  a  foreign  language  ?  Surely  this,  the  teaching 
him  what  words  in  the  foreign  language  correspond  to 


^t.   28.  MACAULAY    ON   TEACHING   ENGLISH.  1 93 

certain  words  in  his  own  vernacular  language,  the 
enabling  him  to  translate  from  the  foreign  language 
into  his  own  vernacular  lauQ-uag^e,  and  vice  versa.  We 
learn  one  language,  our  mother  tongue,  by  noticing 
the  correspondence  between  words  and  things.  But 
all  the  languages  which,  we  afterwards  study  we  learn 
by  noticing  the  correspondence  between  the  words  in 
those  languages  and  the  words  in  our  own  mother 
tongue.  The  teaching  the  boys  at  Ajmer,  therefore, 
to  read  and  write  Hindee  seems  to  me  to  be  bond  fide 
a  part  of  an  English  education.  To  teach  them  Per- 
sian would  be  to  set  up  a  rival,  and,  as  I  apprehend,  a 
very  unworthy  rival  to  the  English  language." 

So,  just  seven  years  before.  Duff  had  not  only 
written  but  acted  in  the  case  of  Bengalee,  and  for  the 
first  time  in  the  East.  Before  he  left  India  Macaulay 
was  able,  sympathetically  with  the  objects  of  the  mis- 
sionaries, to  write  to  his  father  in  language  that  reads 
like  an  extract  from  Duff's  earlier  oflficial  reports  to 
Dr.  Inglis  : — "  Our  English  schools  are  flourishing 
wonderfully.  We  find  it  difficult,  indeed  in  some 
places  impossible,  to  provide  instruction  for  all  who 
want  it.  At  the  single  town  of  Hooghly  fourteen 
hundred  boys  are  learning  English.  The  effect  of 
this  education  on  the  Hindoos  is  prodigious.  No 
Hindoo  who  has  received  an  English  education  ever 
remains  sincerely  attached  to  his  religion.  Some 
continue  to  confess  it  as  matter  of  policy;  but  many 
profess  themselves  pure  deists,  and  some  embrace 
Christianity.  It  is  my  firm  belief  that  if  our  plans 
of  education  are  followed  up  there  will  not  be  a  single 
idolater  among  the  respectable  classes  in  Bengal  thirty 
years  hence." 

Having,  as  a  colleague  of  Macaulay's,  endorsed  his 
opinions  in  a  minute,  as  Governor-General  in  Council 
Lord  AVilliam  Bentinck  thus  issued  the  decree  of  the 


194  I-IFE  OP  DE.   Durp.  1835. 

7tli  Marcli,  1835,  whicli  fitly  closed  the  long  list  of 
services  to  the  people  of  India  and  his  own  country 
such  as  the  former  have  immortalized  by  the  statue 
with  its  inscription  fronting  the  Town-hall  of  Calcutta, 
and  as  the  latter  has  expressed  through  the  eulogium 
penned  by  Macaulay  : — 

*'  1st.  His  Lordship  in  Council  is  of  opinion  that  the  great 
object  of  the  British  Government  ought  to  be  the  promotion  of 
European  literature  and  science  among  the  natives  of  India, 
and  that  all  the  funds  appropriated  for  the  purposes  of  educa- 
tion would  be  best  employed  on  English  education  alone. 

"  2nd.  But  it  is  not  the  intention  of  his  Lordship  in  Council 
to  abolish  any  college  or  school  of  native  learning,  while  the 
native  population  shall  appear  to  be  inclined  to  avail  themselves 
tf  the  advantages  which  it  affords  ;  and  his  Lordship  in  Council 
directs  that  all  the  existing  professors  and  students  at  all  the 
institutions  under  the  superint  endence  of  the  committee  shall 
continue  to  receive  their  stipends.  But  his  Lordship  in  Coun- 
cil decidedly  objects  to  the  practice  which  has  hitherto  prevailed 
of  suppoi'ting  the  students  during  the  period  of  their  education. 
He  conceives  that  the  only  effects  of  such  a  system  can  be  to 
give  artificial  encouragement  to  branches  of  learning  which,  in 
the  natural  coui'se  of  things,  would  be  superseded  by  more 
useful  studies  ;  and  he  directs  that  no  stipend  shall  be  given  to 
any  student  that  may  hereafter  enter  at  any  of  these  institu- 
tions, and  that  when  any  professor  of  oriental  learning  shall 
vacate  his  situation  the  committee  shall  report  to  the  Govern- 
ment the  number  and  state  of  the  class,  in  order  that  the 
Government  may  be  able  to  decide  upon  the  expediency  of 
appointing  a  successor. 

"3rd.  It  has  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Governor- 
Genei-al  in  Council,  that  a  large  sum  bas  been  expended  by 
the  committee  on  the  printing  of  oriental  works ;  his  Lordship 
in  Council  directs  that  no  portion  of  the  funds  shall  hereafter 
be  so  employed. 

"4th.  His  Lordship  in  Council  directs  that  all  the  funds 
which  these  reforms  will  leave  at  the  disposal  of  the  committee 
be  henceforth  employed  in  imparting  to  the  native  population 
a  knov/ledge  of  English  literature  and  science  through   the 


JEt.  29.   GOVEKNAIENT   DECREE    IN    FAVOUR   OF   ENGLISH.     1 95 

medium  of  the  English  language  ;  and  his  Lordship  in  Council 
requests    the   committee  to  submit  to  Governmout,   with  all 
expedition,  a  plan  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  purpose/^ — ■ 
(Signed,)  "  H.  T.  Puinsep,  Secretary  to  Government.'* 

Rhadakant  Deb  and  Russomoy  Dutt,  the  native 
leaders  of  the  orthodox  and  the  liberal  Bengalees, 
were  at  once  added  to  the  committee ;  for  even  the 
orthodox  had  never  approved  of  the  fanatical  and,  in 
relation  to  them,  false  orientalism  of  Dr.  H.  H.  Wilson 
and  his  associates.  The  Prinseps,  one  of  whom  had 
officially  signed  the  decree,  led  the  Bengal  Asiatic 
Society  in  an  attack  upon  "  the  destructive,  unjust, 
unpopular  and  impolitic  resolution,  not  far  outdone  by 
the  destruction  of  the  Alexandrine  library  itself,"  and 
memorialised  the  Court  of  Directors  against  it.  What 
Sir  Charles  Trevelyan,  after  all  the  experience  of  the 
past  half-century,  still  thinks  of  Duff  and  his  share 
in  the  triumph,  that  veteran  reformer  has  enabled  us 
thus  to  learn  : — 

"  Our  concern,"  he  writes  to  us,  "is  with  the  part 
performed  by  Dr.  Duff  at  this  crisis  of  Indian  history. 
When  he  arrived  in  India  the  first  marvellous  results 
of  the  education  given  at  the  Hindoo  College  had  begun 
to  appear.  Newly  acquired  freedom  had  led  to  a  state 
of  intellectual  exaltation,  and,  seeing  that  the  religious 
system  they  had  been  taught  to  venerate  had  no  foun- 
dation, the  young  men  jumped  to  the  conclusion  that 
all  religion  was  priestcraft.  Dr.  Duff  then  came  for- 
ward as  a  defender  of  the  truth  of  Christianity,  and 
in  several  public  disputations  he  converted  some  and 
enforced  respect  upon  all.  But  he  did  a  great  deal 
more  than  this.  He  clearly  appreciated  the  new  intel- 
lectual and  moral  pov.^er  which  had  appeared  on  the 
field,  and  had  the  sagacity  to  distinguish  between  its  , 
present  abuse  and  the  important  use  to  which,  under/ 
proper  direction,   it  might  be   applied  in  aid  of  the 


196  LIFE   OF   DE.   DUFF.  1835. 

Christian  cause.  There  was  a  general  demand  for 
education,  and  he  proposed  to  meet  it  by  giving  reli- 
gious education.  Up  to  that  time  preaching  had  been 
considered  the  orthodox  regular  mode  of  missionary 
action,  but  Dr.  Duff  held  that  the  receptive  plastic 
minds  of  children  might  be  moulded  from  the  first 
according  to  the  Christian  system,  to  the  exclusion  of 
all  heathen  teaching,  and  that  the  best  preaching  to 
the  risiug  generation  which  soon  becomes  the  entire 
people,  is  the  '  line  upon  line,  precept  upon  precept ; 
here  a  little,  and  there  a  little,'  of  the  schoolroom. 
Reconstruction  upon  a  sound  basis  would  then  be 
linked  with  the  destruction  of  ancient  error.  What- 
ever difficulties  the  Government  might  have,  the  mis- 
sionary societies  were  free  to  offer  religious  education 
to  all  who  were  willing  to  accept  it. 

*'  The  remarkable  success  of  the  school  which  Dr. 
Duff  opened  at  Calcutta  on  these  principles,  and  the 
influence  it  had  in  promoting  the  establishment  of 
similar  institutions  in  other  parts  of  India,  are  well 
known,  but  account  should  also  be  taken  of  the  direct 
access  thus  gained  to  the  future  leaders  of  the  people, 
and  of  the  new  respect  paid  to  missionaries  as  tutors 
of  young  native  chiefs  and  other  highly  considered 
persons.  These  were  great  and  pregnant  reforms, 
which  must  always  give  Dr.  Duff"  a  high  place  among 
the  benefactors  of  mankind.  The  indirect  influence  of 
his  exertions  upon  the  action  of  the  Government  was 
at  least  equally  important.  The  example  of  his  suc- 
cess, and  the  stimulus  given  by  him  to  the  popular 
demand  for  English  education,  entered  largely  into  the 
causes  which  brought  about  the  Resolution  of  Govern- 
ment of  the  seventh  of  March,  1835." 

Duff's  own  attitude  and  criticism  of  the  last  act  of 
Lord  William  Bentinck  will  be  found  in  that  which  is, 
historically,  the  most  important  of  his  many  pamphlets, 


JEt,  29.       TREVELYAN   ON   HIS    SERVICES   TO   MANKIND.       1 97 

his  **  New  Era  of  the  English  Language  and  English 
Literature  in  India."  AVith  the  culture  that  had 
marked  his  whole  school  and  university  studies,  he 
recognised  the  attractions  of  a  genuine  oriental  scholar- 
ship, and  reproached  his  countrymen  for  their  indif- 
ference to  it,  for  "  persevering  in  a  truly  barbarous 
ignorance  of  one  of  the  most  remarkable  nations 
and  countries  on  the  face  of  the  globe."  Following 
that  remark  of  a  contemporary  historian,  Duff  con- 
tinued : — 

"  If  poetry  and  romance  and  chivalry  be  an  object  of  pursuit, 
are  there  not  ample  stores  of  poetic  effusion  and  romantic 
legend  that  might  not  be  disclaimed  as  unworthy  by  any  of  the 
older  nations  of  Europe  ?  and  are  the  records  of  any  state  more 
crowded  with  the  recital  of  daring  adventures  and  deeds  of 
heroism  than  the  annals  of  Rajasthan  ?  If  philology,  where 
can  we  find  the  match  of  the  Sanscrit,  perhaps  the  most 
copious  and  certainly  the  most  elaborately  refined  of  all  lan- 
guages, living  or  dead  ?  If  antiquities,  are  there  not  monu- 
mental remains  and  cavern  temples  scarcely  less  stupendous 
than  those  of  Egypt  ?  and  ancient  sculptures,  which,  if  inferior 
in  '  majesty  and  expression,'  in  richness  and  variety  of  orna- 
mental tracery,  almost  rival  those  of  Greece  ?  If  natural 
history,  where  is  the  mineral  kingdom  more  exuberantly  rich, 
the  vegetable  or  animal  more  variegated,  gorgeous,  or  gigantic  ? 
If  the  intellectual  and  moral  history  of  man,  are  there  not 
masses  of  subtile  speculation  and  fantastic  philosophies,  and 
infinitely  varied  and  unparalleled  developments  of  every  prin- 
ciple of  action  that  has  charactei'ized  fallen  degraded  humanity  ? 
If  an  outlet  for  the  exercise  of  philanthropy,  what  field  on  the 
surface  of  the  globe  can  be  compared  to  Hindostan,  stretching 
from  the  Indus  to  the  Ganges,  and  from  the  Himalaya  to  Cape 
Comorin,  in  point  of  magnitude  and  accessibility  combined, 
and  peculiarity  of  claims  on  British  Christians,  the  claims  of 
not  less  than  a  hundred  and  thirty  millions  of  fellow-subjects, 
sunk  beneath  a  load  of  the  most  debasing  superstitions,  and 
the  cruelest  idolatries  that  ever  polluted  the  surface  of  the 
earth,  or  brutalized  the  nature  of  man  ?  " 


1 98  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  '  1835. 

Having  used  official  documents  to  show  the  people  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland  wherein  the  follies  of  the 
Calcutta  orientalists'  abuse  of  the  public  money  differed 
from  the  pursuit  of  an  enlightened  scholarship,  the 
missionary  vindicated  the  propriety  and  excellence  of 
the  decree  which  restored  the  G-overnment  position 
of  strict  neutrality  by  allowing  English  to  take  its 
place  beside  the  classical  and  vernacular  languages  of 
the  people  of  India,  according  to  their  own  demand, 
and  with  a  view  to  purify  the  former  while  enriching 
the  latter : — 

"As  coBcerns  the  interests  and  glory  of  the  Government 
itself,  its  dissemination  of  its  own  language  and  literature,  far 
from  being  impolitic,  seems  the  only  wise  and  magnanimous 
policy.  The  vast  influence  of  language  in  moulding  national 
feelings  and  habits,  more  especially  if  fraught  with  superior 
stores  of  knowledge,  is  too  little  attended  to  and  too  inade- 
quately understood.  In  this  respect  we  are  in  the  rear  of 
nations  some  of  which  we  are  apt  to  despise  as  semi-barbarous. 
When  the  Romans  conquered  a  province  they  forthwith  set 
themselves  to  the  task  of '  Romanizing''  it;  that  is,  they  strove 
to  create  a  taste  for  their  own  more  refined  language  and  liter- 
ature, and  thereby  aimed  at  turning  the  song  and  the  romance 
and  the  history — the  thought  and  the  feeling  and  fancy,  of  the 
subjugated  people,  into  Roman  channels,  which  fed  and  aug- 
mented Romish  interests.  And  has  Rome  not  succeeded  ? 
Has  she  not  saturated  every  vernacular  dialect  with  which  she 
came  in  contact  with  terms  copiously  drawn  from  her  own  ? 
Has  she  not  thus  perpetuated  for  ages  after  her  sceptre  moul- 
ders in  the  dust  the  magic  influence  of  her  character  and 
name  ?  Has  she  not  stamped  the  impress  of  her  own  genius 
on  the  literature  and  the  laws  of  almost  every  European  king- 
dom, with  a  fixedness  that  has  remained  unchanged  up  to  the 
present  hour  ? 

*'  And  who  can  tell  to  what  extent  the  strength  and  perpe- 
tuity of  the  Arabic  domination  is  indebted  to  the  Caliph  Walid, 
who  issued  the  celebrated  decree  that  the  language  of  the 
Koran  should  be  '  the  universal  language  of  the  Muhammadan 


^t.  29.   ANALOGY  OF  ROME,  THE  OALIPHS  AND  AKBAR.   1 99 

world,  so  that,  from  the  Indian  Archipelago  to  Portugal,  ifc 
actually  became  the  language  of  religion,  of  literature,  of  gov- 
ernment and  generally  of  common  life  ?  ' 

"  And  who  can  estimate  the  extent  of  influence  exerted  in 
India  by  the  famous  edict  of  Akbar,  the  greatest  and  the  wisest 
far  of  the  sovereigns  of  the  House  of  Timur  ?  Of  this  edict 
an  authority  already  quoted  thus  wrote,  about  six  years  ago : 
'  The  great  Akbar  established  the  Persian  language  as  the 
language  of  business  and  of  polite  literature  throughout  his 
extensive  dominions,  and  the  popular  tongue  naturally  became 
deeply  impregnated  with  it.  The  literature  and  the  language 
of  the  country  thus  became  identified  with  the  genius  of 
his  dynasty ;  and  this  has  tended  more  than  anything  else  to 
produce  a  kind  of  intuitive  veneration  for  the  family,  which 
has  long  survived  even  the  destruction  of  their  power ;  and 
this  feeling  will  continue  to  exist  until  we  substitute  the 
English  language  for  the  Persian,  which  will  dissolve  the  sjdcII, 
and  direct  the  ideas  and  the  sympathies  of  the  natives  towards 
their  present  rulers/  The  ^  until,'  which  only  six  years  ago 
pointed  so  doubtfully  to  the  future,  has,  sooner  than  could  have 
been  anticipated,  been  converted  into  an  event  of  past  history. 
And  to  Lord  W.  Bentiuck  belongs  the  honour  of  this  noble 
achievement.  He  it  was  who  first  resolved  to  supersede  the 
Persian,  in  the  political  department  of  the  public  service,  by 
the  substitution  of  the  English,  and  laid  the  foundation  for  the 
same  in  every  department,  financial  and  judicial,  as  well  as 
political.  And  having  thus  by  one  act  created  a  necessity, 
and  consequently  an  increased  and  yearly  increasing  demand 
for  English,  he  next  consummated  the  great  design  by  super- 
adding the  enactment  under  review,  which  provides  the  re- 
quisite means  for  supplying  the  demand  that  had  been  pre- 
viously created.  And  this  united  Act  now  bids  fair  to  out- 
rival in  importance  the  edicts  of  the  Roman,  the  Arabic  and 
the  Mogul  emperors,  inasmuch  as  the  English  language  is  in- 
finitely more  fi'aught  with  the  seeds  of  truth  in  every  province 
of  literature,  science  and  religion  than  the  languages  of  Italy, 
Arabia  or  Persia  ever  were.  Hence  it  is  that  I  venture  to 
hazard  the  opinion,  that  Lord  W.  Bentinck's  double  act  for 
the  encouragement  and  difi'usion  of  the  English  language  and 
English  literature  in  the  East  will,  long  after  contemporaneous 
party  interests  and  individual  jealousies  and  ephemeral  rival- 


200  LIFE   OP   DE.    DUFF.  183  5. 

ries  have  sunk  into  oblivion,  be  hailed  by  a  grateful  and  bene- 
fited posterity  as  the  greatest  master-stroke  of  sound  policy 
that  has  yet  characterized  the  administration  of  the  British 
Government  in  India." 

Let  the  Government,  lie  urged,  use  the  Asiatic 
Society  of  Sir  William  Jones  and  James  Prinsep  as 
the  official  organ  for  dispensing  its  patronage  of  stand- 
ard oriental  writers  and  their  translations.  But  for 
the  true  education  of  the  learned  themselves,  as  well 
as  for  the  elevation  of  the  illiterate  millions,  the  vast 
ocean  of  oriental  literature  deserves  Firdousi's  satire 
on  Ghuzni  in  all  its  glory:  "  The  magnificent  court  of 
Ghuzni  is  a  sea,  but  a  sea  without  bottom  and  without 
shore.  I  have  fished  in  it  long,  but  have  not  found 
any  pearl."  "Is  it  not  one  thing,"  asked  Duff,  "to  re- 
gard a  literature  as  an  inexhaustible  field  for  literary, 
scientific  and  theological  research,  and  quite  another  to 
cherish  it  as  the  sole  nursery  of  intellect,  morals  and 
religion  ?"  Nor  was  one  who  knew  the  relation  of  the 
English  to  his  own  Gaelic  vernacular  so  enthusiastic 
for  English  as  to  dream  that  it  could  ever  supersede 
the  mother  tongues  of  millions,  or  do  more  than  give 
them  a  new  wealth  and  power.  He  thus  concluded 
his  vindication  of  the  enactment,  and  proceeded  to 
show  where  it  fell  short  of  his  own  ideal : — 

"  Who,  then,  will  hesitate  in  affirming  that,  in  the  meantime, 
the  Government  has  acted  wisely  in  appointing  the  English 
language  as  the  medium  of  communicating  English  literature 
and  science  to  the  select  youth  of  India?  And  who  will  ven- 
ture to  say  that  the  wisdom  of  the  act  would  be  diminished 
if  it  guaranteed  the  continuance  of  English  as  the  medium 
until  the  living  spoken  dialects  of  India  became  ripened,  by  the 
copious  infusion  of  expressive  terms,  for  the  formation  of  a 
new  and  improved  national  literature  ?     .     . 

"What  will  be  the  ultimate  effect  of  these  yearly  augmenting 
educationary  forces  ?     We  say  ultimate  with  emphasis,  because 


Mt  29.  DEFECT   OF  THE    DECREE   OF    1835.  20I 

we  are  no  visionaries.  We  do  not  expect  miracles.  We  do 
not  anticipate  sudden  and  instantaneous  changes.  But  we  do 
look  foi'ward  with  confidence  to  a  great  idtimate  revolution. 
We  do  regard  Lord  W.  Bentinck's  Act  as  laying  the  foundation 
of  a  train  of  causes  which  may  for  a  while  operate  so  insensibly 
as  to  pass  unnoticed  by  careless  or  casual  observers,  but  not 
the  less  surely  as  concerns  the  great  and  momentous  issue. 
Like  the  laws  which  silently,  but  with  resistless  power,  regu- 
late the  movements  of  the  material  universe,  these  education- 
ary  operations,  which  arc  of  the  nature  and  force  of  moral 
laws,  will  proceed  onwards  till  they  terminate  in  effecting  a 
universal  change  in  the  national  mind  of  India.  The.  sluices 
of  a  superior  and  quickening  knowledge  have  already  been 
thrown  open ;  and  who  shall  dare  to  shut  them  up  ?  The 
streams  of  enlivening  information  have  begun  to  flow  in  upon 
the  dry  and  parched  land,  and  who  will  venture  to  arrest  their 
progress  ?     As  well  might  we  ask  with  the  poet : — 

"  '  Shall  burning  Etna,  if  a  sage  requires, 
Forget  her  thunders  and  recall  her  fires  ? 
When  the  loose  mountain  trembles  from  on  high, 
Shall  gravitation  cease,  while  you  go  by  ?  ' 

"  But  highly  as  we  approve  of  Lord  W.  Bentinck's  enactment 
so  far  as  it  goes,  we  must,  ere  we  conclude,  in  justice  to  our 
own  views  and  to  the  highest  and  noblest  cause  on  earth,  take 
the  liberty  of  strongly  expressing  our  own  honest  conviction 
that  it  does  not  go  far  enough.  Truth  is  better  than  error  in 
any  department  of  knowledge,  the  humblest  as  well  as  the 
most  exalted.  Hence  it  is  that  we  admire  the  moral  intrepid- 
ity of  the  man  who  decreed  that,  in  the  Government  institu- 
tions of  India,  true  literature  and  true  science  should  hence- 
forth be  substituted  in  place  of  false  literature,  false  science 
and  false  religion.  But  while  we  rejoice  that  true  literature 
and  science  is  to  be  substituted  in  place  of  what  is  demon- 
strably false,  we  cannot  but  lament  that  no  provision  whatever 
has  been  made  for  substituting  the  only  true  religion — Chris- 
tianity— in  place  of  the  false  religion  which  our  literature  and 
science  will  inevitably  demolish. 

"  Our  maxim  has  been,  is  now,  and  ever  will  be  this : — • 
Wherever,  whenever,  and  by  whomsoever  Christianity  is  sacri- 
ficed on  tlie  altar  of  worldly  expediency,  there  and  then  must  the 


202  LIFE    OP   DR.    DUFF.  1835. 

supreme  good  of  man  lie  bleeding  at  its  base.  But  because  a 
Christian  government  has  chosen  to  neglect  its  duty  towards 
the  religion  which  it  is  sacredly  bound  to  uphold,,  is  that  any 
reason  why  the  Churches  of  Britain  should  neglect  their  duty 
too  ?  Let  us  be  aroused^  then,  from  our  lethargy,  and  strive 
to  accomplish  our  part.  If  we  are  wise  in  time,  we  may  con- 
vert the  act  of  the  Indian  Government  into  an  ally  and  a 
friend.  The  extensive  erection  of  a  machinery  for  the  destruc- 
tion of  ancient  superstition  we  may  regard  as  opening  up  new 
facilities,  in  the  good  providence  of  God,  for  the  spread 
of  the  everlasting  gospel,  as  serving  the  part  of  a  humble 
pioneer  in  clearing  away  a  huge  mass  of  rubbish  that  would 
otherwise  have  tended  to  impede  the  free  dissemination  of 
divine  truth.  Wherever  a  Government  seminary  is  founded, 
which  shall  have  the  effect  of  battering  down  idolatry  and 
superstition,  there  lefc  us  be  prepared  to  plant  a  Christian  in- 
stitution that  shall,  through  the  blessing  of  Heaven,  be  the 
instrument  of  rearing  the  beauteous  superstructure  of  Chris- 
tianity on  the  ruins  of  both. 

"Already  has  the  Church  of  Scotland  nobly  entered  upon 
the  great  field;  but  let  her  remember  that  she  has  only  crossed 
the  border.  Already  has  she  taken  up  a  bold  and  command- 
ing position  in  front  of  the  enemy  ;  but  let  her  not  forget  that 
the  warfare  is  only  begun.  Let  her  arise,  and  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord  march  forward  to  take  possession  of  the  land. 
Already  has  she  given  evidence  of  the  possibility,  and  an 
example  of  the  mode  of  turning  the  Government  schemes  of 
education  to  profitable  account.  Whei'e  the  Government  had 
established  its  first  English  college  there  did  she  station  her 
first  missionaries  and  plant  her  first  Christian  institution. 
And  some  of  the  most  talented  of  the  young  men  reared  in 
the  Government  college  became,  through  the  grace  of  the  Divine 
Spirit,  her  first  converts,  the  first-fruits  of  her  missionary 
labours  in  Hindostan. 

''We  have  often  wondered  at  the  boldness  of  the  conception 
of  a  celebrated  statesman,  who,  when  taunted  on  the  occasion 
of  the  last  invasion  of  Spain  by  France,  as  to  the  diminution  of 
British  influence  and  the  declension  of  British  interests  in  the 
councils  of  Europe,  which  that  event  seemed  to  indicate,  rose  up 
in  the  British  senate,  and  in  substance  made  the  magnificent  re- 
ply :  '  While  others  were  torturing  their  minds  on  account  of  the 


^t.  29.     CANNING  S    PERORATION    APPLIED   TO    MISSIONS.     203 

supposed  disturbance  of  the  equilibriuin  of  power  among  the 
European  states,  I  looked  at  the  possessions  of  Spain  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic  :  I  looked  at  the  Indies,  and  I  called 
in  the  new  world  to  redress  the  balance  of  the  old/  What  is 
there  to  prevent  the  Church  of  Scotland*  from  attempting  to 
emulate,  in  a  much  higher  and  holier  sense,  the  magnanimous 
spirit  of  this  reply  ?  If  she  awake  and  arise,  and  put  forth 
all  her  latent  energies  in  behalf  of  the  perishing  heathen,  ma}' 
she  not,  in  reference  to  the  glowing  prospects  of  Clu'istianity 
in  the  East,  be  yet  privileged  to  show  that,  at  a  time  when 
many  upbraided  her  with  the  diminution  of  influence  at  home, 
and  others  wei'e  racking  their  ingenuity  in  adjusting  the  dis- 
turbed equilibrium  of  her  power,  she  looked  at  the  dominions 
of  idolatry  across  the  great  ocean ;  she  looked  at  the  Indies 
and,  through  the  blessing  of  God,  called  in  a  new  Church  to 
redress  the  balance  of  the  old  ?  " 

With  the  sensitive  modesty  which  ever  marked  him, 
the  eloquent  adapter  of  Canning's  saying  made  no  allu- 
sion to  his  own  part  in  this  result,  of  which  Trevelyan 
writes  that  it  "  entered  largely  "  into  the  official  side 
of  the  revival,  and  how  much  more  largely  into  the 
spiritual !  In  the  next  year's  report  which  he  drafted, 
Trevelyan,  remembering  John  Knox  though  writing  of 
purely  secular  schools,  declared  it  to  be  the  Govern- 
ment committee's  aim  to  establish  a  vernacular  school 
in  every  village  of  India,  and  to  endow  a  college  for 
Western  learning  ultimately  in  every  zillah  or  county 
town.  In  that  one  year  the  Government  English  schools 
were  doubled  in  number,  in  Bengal  and  Northern  India 
alone  rising  to  twenty-seven.     Accepting  that  so  far, 

*  The  reason  why  the  Church  of  Scotland  is  here  singled  out  for 
special  notice  is,  that  the  whole  of  the  preceding  article  happened 
to  be  originally  inserted  in  the  Church  of  Scotland  Magazine.  The 
author,  however,  equally  I'ejoices  in  all  the  real  success  that  has 
attended  the  missionary  labours  of  other  Churches  and  societies, 
and  unites  with  all  that  sincerely  love  the  Lord  Jesus  in  earnest 
prayer  and  supplication  for  their  increasing  prosperity. — A.  D. 


204  LIFE   OF    DR.    DUFF.  1835. 

the  new  demand  of  its  first  missionary  was,  that  the 
Scottish  and  other  Churches  should  plant  an  insti- 
tution beside  such  secular  schools,  to  supply  the 
people  with  the  lacking  elements  of  positive  moral  and 
spiritual  truth.  That,  too,  he  of  all  men  brought 
about,  alike  by  the  stimulus  he  gave  to  the  other 
Churches  to  follow  his  example,  and  by  the  tolerant, 
catholic  grant-in-aid  system,  which  he  did  not  succeed 
in  securing  till  Parliament  again  interfered  in  1853. 

The  conflict  which  resulted  in  the  decree  of  1835, 
and  the  discussion  to  which  that  ordinance  in  its  turn 
gave  rise,  left  a  curious  trace  on  the  writings  of  Mr. 
Gladstone  and  Macaulay  three  years  after.  Mr.  DuiTs 
complaint  that  the  Government  of  India  had  made  no 
provision  for  putting  Christianity  in  the  place  of  the 
false  faiths  which  a  true  science  and  literature  were 
destroying,  rests  on  precisely  the  same  principle  to 
advocate  which  Mr.  Gladstone,  in  1838,  published  his 
first  book  on  "  The  State  in  its  Relations  with  the 
Church."  When,  on  his  return  from  India,  Macaulay 
wrote  his  well-known  essay  on  that  most  earnest 
volume,  he  met  the  proposition  that  the  propagation 
of  religious  truth  is  one  of  the  principal  ends  of 
Government,  as  Government,  by  considerations  drawn 
from  his  Indian  experience.  From  the  other  extreme 
of  political  expediency  he  assumed  that  the  Govern- 
ment of  India,  while  it  "  ought  indeed  to  desire  to 
propagate  Christianity,"  should  not  attempt  such 
substitution  of  the  true  for  the  false,  because  it 
would  inevitably  destroy  our  empire. 

Thus  was  begun,  first  practically  and  then  legis- 
latively, that  revival  of  letters  in  India,  of  which, 
referring  to  the  Renaissance  of  the  fifteenth  and  six- 
teenth centuries,  Macaulay  had  written  in  his  famous 
minute :  "  What  the  Greek  and  Latin  were  to  the 
contemporaries  of  More  and  Ascham,  our  tongue  is  to 


yEt.  29.         THE  EEVIVAL  OF  LETTERS.  205 

the  people  of  India."  Similarly  Duff  had  reasoned 
years  before  that  was  written  :  What  the  Christian 
Reformation  did  for  Europe  through  the  Greek  tongue, 
the  Roman  law  and  the  Bible  in  the  vernaculars,  it 
will  similarly  do  for  India  and  further  Asia  through 
the  English  language  and  the  British  administration. 
It  is  difficult  to  say  whether  he  showed  more  genius  in 
instinctively  seizing  the  position  in  1830,  in  working 
out  the  parallel  down  to  1835,  or  in  influencing  the 
Indian  Government  and  the  British  public  by  his 
heaven-born  enthusiasm  and  fiery  eloquence. 


CHAPTER  7IIT. 

1833-1836. 

THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  INDIA.— SGIENGE  AND 
LETTERS. 

The  Duff-Ben tinck  Period! — The  Aryan  Witness  to  Christian  Doc- 
trine.— Medical  Science  and  Practice  in  Yedic  times. — Charaka 
and  Susruta. — First  Attempt  of  an  Indian  Government  at  Medical 
Teaching  in  1822. — Duff  Protests  against  the  Unscientific  Folly 
of  the  Orientalists. — Lord  William  Bentinck's  Committee. — Sir 
C.  Trevelyan's  Narrative. — Duff's  Brahmanical  Students  offer  to 
Dissect  the  Human  Subject. — The  Bengal  Medical  College  created. 
— Braraley,  Henry  Goodeve  and  the  First  Professors. — Modosoo- 
dun  Goopta  and  the  First  Dissection. — Subsequent  Success  of 
College  and  Native  Christian  Physicians. — The  Controversy  about 
Romanizing  the  Oriental  Alphabets. — The  539  Languages  and 
Dialects  of  Further  Asia. — Sir  C.  Trevelyan's  Account  of  Duff's 
Assistance. — Duff's  Work  for  Vernacular  Education, — Adam's 
Reports  on  the  Indigenous  Schools. — Duff  uses  the  Press. — Es- 
tablishes the  Calcutta  Christian  Observer. — Opinions  on  Biblical 
Criticism. — Freedom  of  the  Press  permitted  by  Lord  W.  Bentinck, 
and  legally  secured  by  Metcalfe. — In  what  sense  a  Renaissance 
is  true  of  India. 

During  what  may  appropriately  be  marked  out  as 
this  Duff-Bentinck  period,  the  Hindoo  mind  began  to 
awake  from  its  long  sleep  under  the  dominance,  first 
of  its  own  Brahmanism  broken  only  for  a  time  by  the 
Buddhist  revolt,  and  then  of  the  Arab-Muhammadan 
tyranny,  to  which  it  had  early  lent  the  culture  of  the 
caliphs  of  Bagdad  down  to  that  of  Akbar  at  Agra. 
The  nineteenth  century  in  India  is  the  beginning  of  a 
renaissance  in  a  sense  which  promises  to  be  as  real 
for  Southern  and  Eastern  Asia  as  that  of  the  fifteenth 
was  for  Europe.  In  philology  and  philosophy,  in 
astronomy  and  medicine,  the  Vedic  Hindoos  were  the 


JEt  28.     EARLY    FAITir    AND    SCIENCE    OP   TUE    HINDOOS.      207 

teachers  of  Pytliagoras  and  Plato,  of  Aristotle  and 
Hippocrates,  as  well  as  of  the  Arabs  who,  like  Ibn 
Sina,  called  Avicenna  in  the  dark  ages  of  Europe, 
preserved  the  teaching  of  both  Hindoos  and  Greeks 
for  the  coming  revival  of  letters  in  the  West.  What 
was  the  relation  of  the  Hindoo  Aryans  to  the  Accadian 
or  Chaldean  and  the  first  Semitic  or  Egyptian  civili- 
zations, is  still  a  problem  for  the  solution  of  which 
scholars  are  painfully  collecting  the  materials.  Even 
in  faith,  just  as  Rammohun  Roy  went  back  on  the 
Vedas  and  Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  his  present  represen- 
tative at  the  head  of  the  Brumho  Somaj,  professes  still 
to  find  there  the  body  of  natural  religion,  so  the  Rev. 
Dr.  K.  M.  Banerjea,  the  first  convert  baptized  by 
Duff,  appeals  to  his  countrymen  to  give  up  their 
idolatry  and  caste,  by  "  The  Aryan  WitnesSy  or  the 
Testimony  of  Aryan  Scriptures  in  corroboration  of 
Biblical  History  and  the  Rudiments  of  Christian 
Doctrine."  He  beseeches  them  to  turn — to  return — • 
to  Christianity  as  to  the  fuller,  because  anew  revealed 
embodiment  of  what  the  Yedas  mysteriously  pro- 
claimed, that  "  the  Lord  of  the  creation  offered  him- 
self a  sacrifice  for  the  benefit  of  gods,"  that  is,  of 
the  mortals  he  redeemed  for  heaven ;  and  that  the 
same  Lord,  "  the  giver  of  self,"  initiated  the  rites  of 
sacrifice  which  is  a  "  reflection  "  of  himself. 

This  renaissance,  this  bringing  to  the  birth  again 
in  faith,  in  philosophy,  in  philology,  was  no  less  re- 
markable in  science.  The  Yedic  system,  which  had 
given  the  West  the  knowledge  of  numbers  and  of  the 
stars,  down  even  to  the  nine  numerals  which  we  incor- 
rectly ascribe  to  the  Arab  middlemen  who  only  revived 
their  use,  was  the  first  to  teach  the  healing  art,  accord- 
ing to  the   greatest  hving  authority,   Weber  *.     The 

•See  his  History  of  Indian  Literature  (1878),  pp.  30  and  265, 


208  LIFE    OP   DR.    DUFF.  1834. 

regulation  of  the  sacrifices  required  alike  astronomical 
observations  and  anatomical  practice.  The  victim  was 
carefully  dissected  that  its  different  parts  might  be 
assigned  to  the  proper  deities.  Each  part  had  its 
distinctive  name.  In  the  Atharvan,  one  of  the  four 
great  Vedas,  we  find  songs  addressed  to  diseases  and 
to  the  herbs  which  heal  them.  Even  in  Alexander's 
time  his  companions  praised  the  Hindoo  physicians, 
and  ascribed  to  them  that  specific  for  snake-bite  which 
has  so  perished,  that  all  the  researches  and  the  science 
of  Sir  Joseph  Fayrer  and  the  old  medical  service  of 
India  have  failed  to  re-discover  it.  To  medicine  the 
Hindoos  assigned  a  secondary  scripture,  the  Ayur 
Yeda,  or  "  science  of  life,"  and  derived  it,  like  tbe 
four  Yedas,  directly  from  the  gods.  Their  first  histori- 
cal writers  were  Charaka,  at  the  head  of  all  surgery, 
and  his  disciple  once  removed,  Susruta,  chief  of  all 
physicians  before  Galen.  The  number  of  their 
medical  works  and  authors  Weber  pronounces  *'  ex- 
traordinarily large,"  and  the  sum  of  their  knowledge 
he  declares  to  have  been  "  most  respectable." 

In  surgery  European  savants  have  borrowed  from 
them  the  operation  of  rhinoplasty.  Even  so  late  as 
1460,  Colot,  the  famous  surgeon  of  Louis  XI.,  begged 
a  man's  life  from  the  gallows  in  order  to  prove  that  the 
operation  of  lithotomy  was  not  necessarily  fatal,  and 
the  man  lived.  But  the  common  Bhoidos  of  India  had 
successfully  practised  the  operation  since  Charaka's 
time.  So  with  the  process  for  cataract,  to  perform 
which  the  princes  of  Europe  used  to  send  into  Asia 
for  oculists.  Dr.  Allan  Webb,  when  professor  of  de- 
scriptive and  surgical  anatomy  in  the  Bengal  Medical 
College,  in  1850,  told  his  Hindoo  students:  "It  is 
very  true  that  the  itinerant  Bhoidos  do  occasionally 
poke  out  eyes,  but  it  is  equally  true  that  I  have  seen  in 
various  parts  of  India  many  eyes  to  which  they  had 


JEt.  28.  DECADENCE    OE    HINDOO    MEDICINE.  209 

restored  sigbt."  Embryotomy  and  mesmerism,  not  to 
mention  more,  have  been  successfully  practised  in 
India  for  ages. 

But  the  oppressive  and  corrupting  influences  of  the 
sacerdotal  Brahmans  soon  extino^uished  the  dim  lisfht 
of  scientific  observation  and  practice  in  Southern  and 
Eastern  Asia.  Gifts  to  themselves  took  the  place  of 
natural  remedies.  All  knowledge,  every  form  of  truth 
they  laid  upon  their  own  bed,  which  was  narrower  than 
a  man  could  stretch  himself  on.  Happily  for  the  mil- 
lions whom  they  have  thus  deluded  for  centuries,  from 
Cape  Comorin  to  Java  and  Lhasa  to  Peking,  the  scien- 
tific falsehood  became  easily  manifest  at  the  first  touch 
of  the  sense's  honestly  applied.  Disintegration  began 
when  Duff  demonstrated  the  cause  of  the  first  eclipse 
which  took  place  after  he  opened  his  school.  Every 
day's  teaching,  even  apart  from  revealed  truth  which 
shows  the  divinity  of  its  origin  by  concerning  itself 
only  with  man's  spiritual  nature,  hastened  the  process, 
which  is  as  rapid  in  the  secular  as  in  the  Christian 
college.  In  spite  of  itself  the  East  India  Company, 
which  ignorantly  desired  to  maintain  Hindooism  for 
political  ends,  made  its  secular  teachers  missionaries 
of  destruction  at  least,  when  for  the  "  rubbish  "  which 
astounded  Bishop  Heber  at  Benares  they  used  Eng- 
lish to  give  full  play  to  the  evidence  of  the  senses. 
The  elemental  theory  of  medicine  which  Plato  and 
Hippocrates  had  learned  from  Charaka  and  Susruta 
fell  with  the  cosmogony  of  the  tortoise.  Of  science 
as  of  faith  it  became  true  for  a  time,  that  the  edu- 
cated Bengalee  mind  was  empty,  swept  and  gar- 
nished. 

Moved  by  the  purely  utilitarian  consideration  of 
providing  native  doctors  or  dressers  for  the  army 
hospitals,  Government  established  the  native  Medical 
Institution    in    Calcutta   in   1822,  under   an   English 


2IO  LIFE   OF   DR.    DUFF.  1834. 

doctor  and  native  assistants.  Hindostanee,  the  lingua 
franca  of  all  India,  was  the  language  of  instruction, 
and  the  scientific  nomenclature  of  the  West  was  ren- 
dered into  Arabic.  Four  years  after,  medical  classes 
were  opened  at  the  Sanscrit  College  to  read  Charaka 
and  Susruta,  and  at  the  Madrissa  to  study  Avicenna 
and  the  other  Arabic  writers.  Thus  the  orientalists 
dreamed  they  could  give  the  people  of  India  the  bless- 
ings of  the  healing  art  as  developed  in  the  West,  just 
as  they  persisted  in  spending  that  people's  money  on 
the  printing  of  books  which  their  scholars  scorned,  and 
in  the  payment  of  youths  to  learn  what  was  despised 
because  of  its  methods  and  what  was  pernicious 
because  of  its  falsity.  Dr.  Tytler,  the  head  of  the  new 
institution,  was  one  of  the  most  fanatic  of  the  orien- 
talists. His  translations,  afterwards  condemned  by 
his  own  medical  brethren,  proved  to  be  among  the 
most  costly  of  the  wasteful  publications.  The  only 
anatomical  instruction  which  he  dared  or  desired  to 
give,  was  from  sundry  artificial  preparations  or  models, 
from  the  lower  animals,  and  occasional  post  mortem 
examinations  of  persons  dying  in  the  general  hospital. 
For  a  Hindoo  of  caste  to  touch  a  dead  body,  even  that 
of  his  father,  was  pollution  to  be  atoned  for  by  days 
of  purification  and  much  alms.  To  break  through 
that  iron  prejudice  Dr.  Tytler  and  the  orientalists 
declared  to  be  impossible,  and  they  did  not  try.  Yet 
their  own  little  scholarship,  or  unscholarly  preposses- 
sions, did  not  carry  them  so  far  as  to  translate  Susruta. 
They  would  have  learned  that  the  literature  classified 
under  the  term  *'  Ayur  Yeda "  carefully  provides  for 
dissection  of  the  human  subject,  and  that  after  a 
fashion  so  disgusting  as  almost  to  justify  the  later 
superstition.  It  was  to  be  made  a  putrid  carcase  by 
lying  for  seven  days  in  still  water,  and  then  to  be  rubbed 
80  that  each  integument  and  part  might  be  studied. 


^t.28.         THE    COMMITTEE    ON    MEDICAL    EDUCATION.  211 

But,  adds  the  Galen  of  India,  wlio  was  no  materialist, 
"  the  life  of  the  body  is  too  ethereal  to  be  distinguished 
by  this  process." 

Duff  was  roused,  by  his  own  principles  and  his  daily 
experience  in  the  school,  to  protest  against  Dr.  Tytler's 
folly.  If  his  teaching  were  of  force  that  all  truth  is 
a  unity,  and  that  for  the  Hindoos  of  that  generation 
truth  could  be  got  only  through  the  language  of 
their  rulers,  of  Shakespeare  and  Bacon,  and  the  Bible 
of  James,  it  was  of  force  in  every  branch  of  learning, 
scientific  and  practical  as  well  as  other.  "  Only  use 
English  as  the  medium,"  he  declared,  "  and  you  will 
break  the  backbone  of  caste,  you  will  open  up  the  way 
for  teaching  anatomy  and  all  other  branches  fearlessly, 
for  the  enlightened  native  mind  will  take  its  own 
course  in  spite  of  all  the  threats  of  the  Brahmanical 
traditionists."  In  1833  Lord  William  Bentinck,  not 
less  attracted  by  the  controversy  than  compelled  by 
the  deplorable  state  of  medical  education,  appointed  a 
committee  to  report  on  the  whole  subject.  The  mem- 
bers were  :  Surgeon  J.  Grant,  the  Apothecary  General ; 
Assistant-surgeons  Bramley  and  Spens,  Baboo  Ram 
Komul  Sen,  T.  C.  C.  Sutherland,  the  secretary  to  the 
Committee  of  Public  Instruction,  and  Sir  C.  Trevelyan. 
For  twelve  months  did  these  authorities,  professional 
and  educational,  take  evidence  and  deliberate,  having 
submitted  to  the  combatants  on  both  sides  from  forty 
to  fifty  detailed  questions.  What  was  the  effect  of 
Duff's  answers  to  these,  following  his  experience,  we 
are  enabled  by  Sir  Charles  himself  to  show  in  this  ac- 
count of  the  conflict : — 

"  It  was  now  proposed  to  raise  up  a  class  of  native 
medical  practitioners,  educated  on  sound  European 
principles,  to  supersede  the  native  quacks,  who,  unac- 
quainted with  anatomy  or  the  simplest  principle 3  of 
chemical  action,  preyed   on  the  people,  and  hesitated 


212  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1834. 

not  to  use  tlie  most  dangerous  drugs  and  poisons. 
The  battle  whicli  had  been  so  well  contested  in  the 
Education  Committee  was  fought  over  again  in  this 
new  field.  The  superintendent  of  the  Medical  Institu- 
tion, a  learned  and  enthusiastic  orientalist,  set  in  array 
the  arguments  of  his  party,  and  confidently  predicted 
the  failure  of  the  attempt,  while  Dr.  Dufi"  took  the 
opposite  side.  The  following  extracts  from  the  report 
of  the  special  committee  show  how  largely  we  are 
indebted  to  him  for  this  great  reform  : — 

"  The  Eev.  Mr.  Duff,  on  the  other  hand,  although  acknow- 
ledging that  the  native  languages,  by  which  we  understand  the 
Bengalee  in  the  lower  provinces  and  the  Urdu  in  the  higher, 
alone  are  available  for  imparting  an  elementary  education  to  the 
mass  of  the  people,  aflEirms  that  the  popular  language  does  not 
afford  an  adequate  medium  for  communicating  a  knowledge  of 
the  higher  departments  of  literature  and  science.  '  No  original 
works  of  the  description  wanted,'  he  observes,  '  have  yet  ap- 
peared in  the  native  languages ;  and  though  much  of  a  highly 
nseful  nature  has  been  provided  through  European  talent  and 
perseverance,  no  translations  have  been  made  in  any  degree 
sufficient  to  supply  materials  for  the  prosecution  of  the  higher 
object  contemplated;  neither  is  it  likely  in  the  nature  of 
things  that,  either  by  original  publications  or  translations  of 
standard  works,  the  deficiency  can  be  fully  or  adequately 
remedied  for  such  a  number  of  years  to  come  as  may  leave  the 
whole  of  the  present  generation  sleeping  with  their  fathers.' 

"We  beg  now  to  call  your  Lordship's  attention  to  the 
opinions  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Duff".  To  the  question  whether, 
in  order  to  teach  the  principles  of  any  science  to  native 
boys,  he  considered  it  necessary  that  they  should  know 
Sanscrit,  Arabic  and  Persian,  the  reverend  gentleman 
replies  that,  'In  reference  to  the  acquisition  of  European 
science,  the  study  of  the  languages  mentioned  would  be  a 
sheer  waste  of  labour  and  time;  since,  viewed  as  media  for 
receiving  and  treasuring  the  stores  of  modern  science,  there  is 
at  present  no  possible  connection  between  them.'  On  the 
other  hand,  in  reply  to  the  question  whether  he  thought  it 
possible  to  teach  native  boys  the   principles   of  any  science 


^t.28.  SCIENCE    TAUGHT    THROUGH     ENGLISH.  213 

through  the  medium  of  the  English  lauguagOj  he  replied  that 
*the  experience  of  the  Inst  three  years  has,  if  possible,  con- 
firmed the  conviction  he  previously  entertained,  not  merely 
that  it  is  possible  to  teach  native  boys  the  principles  of  any 
science  through  the  medium  of  the  English  language,  but  that, 
in  the  present  incipient  state  of  native  improvement,  it  is  next 
to  impossible  to  teach  them  successfully  the  principles  of  any 
science  through  any  other  medium  than  the  English.'  He 
further  records  his  opinion,  that  the  study  of  the  English 
language  might  be  rendered  very  popular  among  the  natives. 
*The  sole  reason,^  he  justly  observes,  ^why  the  English  is  not 
now  more  a  general  and  anxious  object  of  acquisition  among 
the  natives,  is  the  degree  of  uncertainty  under  which  they  (the 
natives)  still  labour  as  to  the  ultimate  intentions  of  Govern- 
ment, and  whether  it  will  ever  lead  them  into  paths  of  useful- 
ness, profit,  or  honour ;  only  let  the  intentions  of  Grovernment 
be  officially  announced,  and  there  will  be  a  geueral  movement 
among  all  the  more  respectable  classes.'  But  the  teaching  of 
English  acquires  much  importance  when  we  consider  it,  with 
Mr.  Duff,  as  the  grand  remedy  for  obviating  the  prejudices 
of  the  natives  against  practical  anatomy.  '  The  English  lan- 
guage,' he  urges,  '  opens  up  a  whole  world  of  new  ideas',  and 
examples  of  success  in  every  department  of  science ;  and  the 
ideas  so  true,  and  the  examples  so  striking,  work  mightily  on 
the  susceptible  minds  of  native  youth ;  so  that  by  the  time  they 
have  acquii'ed  a  mastery  over  the  English  language,  under 
judicious  and  enlightened  instructors,  their  minds  are  almost 
metamorphosed  into  the  texture  and  cast  of  European  youth, 
and  they  cannot  help  expressing  their  utter  contempt  for 
Hindoo  superstition  and  prejudices.' 

"  There  is  an  argument  of  fact  put  in  by  Mr.  Duff,  which  is 
admirably  to  the  point.  We  allude  to  the  iutroduction  of  the 
English  language  and  of  English  science  among  the  Scottish 
Highlanders,  whose  native  language,  to  this  day,  is  the  Gaelic. 
The  parallel  is  a  very  fair  one ;  for  no  people  were  more  super- 
stitious, more  wedded  to  their  own  customs,  and  more  averse 
to  leaving  their  native  country,  than  the  Highlanders  :  but 
since  the  introduction  of  the  English  language  among  them, 
the  state  of  things  is  much  changed.  The  same  observation 
applies  to  Ireland  and  Wales,  where,  as  in  the  Highlands  of 
Scotland,  the   English   is    a    foreign    language ;    and    yet  its 


214  LIFE   OF   DR.   DUFF.  1834. 

acquisition  is  eagerly  souglit  after  by  the  natives  of  all  these 
countries  as  an  almost  certain  passport  to  employment.  There 
are  medical  men,  natives  of  these  countries,  scattered  all  over 
the  world,  whose  mother  tongue  is  Welsh,  Irish,  or  Gaelic, 
which,  as  children,  they  spoke  for  years — ^just  as  the  children 
of  European  parents  in  India  speak  Hindostanee  and  Bengalee  ; 
with  this  difference,  however,  that  the  latter  soon  forget  the 
Oriental  tongues;  while  the  youth  who  acquire  the  indigenous 
language  of  Ireland,  the  Scottish  Highlands,  and  Wales,  never 
lose  the  language  of  those  countries,  because  they  do  not  quit 
them  till  a  more  advanced  period  of  life.  For  the  first  years 
of  youth  the  Highlanders  at  school,  even  of  all  ranks,  think  in 
the  Gaelic ;  but  this  does  not  prevent  their  acquiring  such  a 
fluent  and  business-like  knowledge  of  English  as  to  enable 
them  to  pass  through  life  with  credit  and  not  unfrequently 
with  distinction.  What  is  there  in  the  condition,  physical  or 
moral,  of  the  natives  of  this  country  that  should  render  them 
incapable  of  acquiring  English  as  easily  as  the  Irish,  the  High- 
landers, and  Welsh  ?  " 

"  The  expectations  with  wliicli  this  change  was  made 
have  been  completely  realized.  The  most  intractable 
of  the  national  prejudices  has  given  way  before  the 
exigencies  of  the  dissecting  room,  and  European 
medical  science  has  taken  root  in  India,  whereby  one 
of  the  greatest  boons  ever  conferred  on  suffering 
humanity  has  been  extended  to  that  country." 

This  was  not  all.  Duff  supplied  the  old  solution — 
solvitur  amhulando.  The  commission  visited  his  school, 
in  common  with  all  in  which  English  was  taught,  but 
he  did  not  forewarn  the  youths  of  their  coming. 
Taking  the  senior  class,  which  had  been  nearly  four 
years  under  English  instruction,  into  a  small  room 
by  themselves,  he  invited  the  visitors  to  make  any 
inquiries  in  any  way  they  chose.  Timidly  and  after 
a  roundabout  fashion  did  the  Apothecary  General 
approach  the  dreaded  subject  of  dissection,  for  the 
first  thing  he  learned  and  indeed  saw  was  that  the  lads 


/Et.  28.   THE    ANATOMISTS    IN    THE    MISSIONARY    SCHOOL.     21$ 

were  cliiefly  Brahmans.  He  thus  began  :  "  You  have 
got  many  sacred  books,  have  you  not  ?  "  "  Oh  yes," 
was  the  reply,  "  we  have  many  Shasters  boHeved  to  bo 
of  divine  authority.  Some  are  very  old,  and  others 
have  been  written  by  Rishis  (holy  sages)  inspired  by  the 
gods.  They  are  upon  all  subjects,  literature,  science 
such  as  it  is,  chronology,  geography  and  genealogies  of 
the  gods."  "  Have  you  not  also  medical  Shasters,  which 
profess  to  teach  everything  connected  with  the  heal- 
ing art  ?  "  "  Oh  yes,"  they  said,  "  but  these  are  in  the 
keeping  of  the  Bhoido  or  physician  caste ;  none  of  us 
belong  to  that  caste,  so  that  we  do  not  know  much  about 
them."  "  Do  your  doctors  learn  or  practise  what  we 
call  anatomy,  or  the  examination  of  the  human  body 
with  a  view  to  ascertain  its  real  structure  in  order 
skilfully  to  treat  wounds,  bruises,  fractures,  etc.?" 
"  We  have  heard  them  say  that  anatomy  is  taught  in 
the  Shasters,  but  it  cannot  be  like  your  anatomy." 
"Why  not?"  "Because  respectable  Hindoos  are 
forbidden  by  imperative  rules  of  caste  to  touch  a  dead 
body  for  any  purpose  whatever ;  so  that  from  examina- 
tion of  the  dead  body  our  doctors  can  learn  nothing 
about  the  real  structure  of  the  human  body."  "Whence 
then  have  they  got  the  anatomy  which,  you  say,  is 
taught  in  the  Shasters  ?  "  "  They  have  got  it  out  of 
their  own  brains,  though  the  belief  is  that  this  strange 
Shaster  anatomy  must  be  true  or  correct,  it  being 
revealed  by  the  gods ;  but  we  now  look  upon  this  as 
nonsense."  "  What  then,"  said  the  commissioner,  "  if 
the  Government  should  propose  to  establish  a  medical 
college  for  Hindoos  under  European  doctors  like  the 
medical  colleges  in  Europe  ?  Would  you  approve 
or  disapprove  of  such  a  measure,  or  how  would  it 
be  viewed  by  the  natives  generally?"  "We  certainly 
who  have  been  taught  European  knowledge  through 
the  medium  of  English  would  cordially  approre,  but 


2l6  LIFE    OP   DE.    DJJFF.  1834. 

our  ignorant  orthodox  countrymen  would  as  certainly 
disapprove."  "  Well  then,  were  a  college  of  this  kind 
established,  would  any  of  you  be  disposed  to  attend 
it  ;  or  would  there  be  insuperable  objections  in 
your  minds  against  your  doing  so  ?  "  "  ISTot  at  all," 
they  said.  "  If  we  were  not  already  otherwise  com- 
mitted to  some  course  of  life  which  would  prevent 
us,  we  would  be  very  glad  to  attend."  "What!" 
said  the  commissioner,  "  would  you  actually  be 
prepared  to  touch  a  dead  body  for  the  study  of  ana- 
tomy ? "  "  Most  certainly,"  said  the  head  youth  of 
the  class,  who  was  a  Brahman ;  "  I,  for  one,  would 
have  no  scruples  in  the  matter.  It  is  all  prejudice, 
old  stupid  prejudice  of  caste,  of  which  I  at  least  have 
got  rid."  The  others  heartily  chimed  in  with  this 
utterance.  The  commissioners  were  highly  gratified. 
The  result  of  their  inquiry  exceeded  their  most 
sanguine  expectations.  They  thanked  the  young  men 
for  the  promptness  of  their  response,  and  promised  to 
report  their  liberal  disregard  of  hereditary  prejudice 
to  the  Governor  G-eneral.  His  Excellency's  surprise 
did  not  prevent  him  from  completing  the  case  by  con- 
sulting the  orthodox  pundits.  These  reported  that 
the  prohibition  against  touching  a  dead  body  was  most 
stern,  but  they  did  not  find  it  anywhere  expressed  in 
the  Shasters  that  Hindoos  are  forbidden  to  touch  the 
human  subject  for  anatomical  purposes.  Yet  both  these 
and  the  Muhammadan  Moulvies  stirred  up  the  com- 
munity to  petition  the  Government  to  remain  satisfied 
with  the  study  of  the  Sanscrit  and  Arabic  treatises. 

Nor  was  Duff  alone  in  this.  David  Hare,  of  the 
Hindoo  College,  seems  to  have  been  equally  zealous, 
although  we  have  no  record  of  his  action  beyond 
the  fact.  The  Governor-General  in  Council  embodied 
the  unanimous  conclusions  of  the  special  committee 
in  an   order  dated  28fch  January,  1835,  abolishing  the 


^t.  28.  THE    FIEST    DISSECTION    BY    A    HINDOO.  2\J 

Medical  Institution  and  classes,  and  creating  a  new 
college  under  the  Committee  of  Education  for  "  tbe 
instruction  of  a  certain  number  of  native  youths  in 
the  various  branches  of  medical  science."  The  new 
college  was  declared  open  to  all  classes  of  natives, 
without  exception  as  to  creed  or  caste,  who  could  read 
and  write  EngUsli  and  Bengalee,  or  English  and 
Hindostanee.  Eurasians  and  Europeans  were  after- 
wards included.  The  English  language  and  the  West- 
ern scientific  standards  were  declared  the  medium 
and  the  test  of  instruction.  On  the  1st  June,  1835, 
the  classes  were  opened  in  an  old  house  in  the  rear  ot 
the  Hindoo  College,  only  to  be  removed  by  Lord 
Auckland  to  a  building  then  pronounced  "  magnifi- 
cent," but  long  since  too  small  for  the  thousands  who 
form  what  has  proved  to  be  the  largest  medical  school 
in  the  world.  Dr.  Bramley,  the  first  principal,  died 
soon  after,  and  the  early  success  of  the  great  experi- 
ment is  associated  with  the  name  of  Dr.  Henry  Goodeve, 
who  still  survives.  With  him  were  associated  the 
Danish  botanist  of  Serampore,  Dr.  Wallich ;  the  Irish 
professor  of  chemistry.  Dr.  O'Shaughnessy,  who  gave 
India  the  electric  telegraph,  and  two  others.  David 
Hare  was  secretary.  N^obly,  not  less  efiectually  than 
Duff's  ardent  enthusiasm  predicted,  has  the  Bengal 
Medical  College,  with  its  hospitals,  under  the  ablest 
members  of  the  Company's  medical  service  and  Ben- 
galee professors  who  have  risen  from  the  students' 
benches,  realized  what  Lord  W.  Bentinck's  committee 
aimed  at  when  it  laid  down  for  it  a  curriculum  "  ample, 
comprehensive  and  worthy  of  a  great  Government, 
not  intended  merely  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  State 
but  of  the  people,  and  to  become  a  moral  engine  of 
great  utility  and  power." 

How  did  Duff's  Brahman  students  and  those  of  the 
Hindoo  Colleo^e  stand  the  test  when  the  hour  came  for 


2l8  LIFE   or   DB.    DUFF.  1834. 

the  first  dissection  ?  That  hour  came  after  the  first 
six  months'  study.  The  time  was  then  recalled 
when  the  medical  class  in  the  Hindoo  College  met 
for  the  first  cutting  up  of  a  kid,  and  the  college  gates 
were  closed  to  prevent  popular  interruption  of  the 
awful  act !  Following  his  professor,  Modosoodun 
Goopta,  of  the  Bhoido  or  physician  caste,  was  the  first 
native  to  handle  and  plunge  his  knife  into  the  subject 
provided  for  the  purpose.  E-ajendranath  Mitter  fol- 
lowed, and  their  fellow-students  quickly  imitated  this 
act  of  moral  courage.  Thus,  nearly  three  thousand 
years  after  Susruta  and  his  loathsome  instructions,  the 
study  of  practical  anatomy  by  the  natives  of  India 
was  established.  So  fast  did  it  spread,  that  a  purely 
Hindostanee  class  and  then  a  Bengalee  class  were 
opened,  to  meet  the  need  of  subordinate  assistants  in 
the  military  and  civil  hospitals,  and  of  the  cities  and 
villages  of  the  country.  From  sixty  in  1837  the  number 
of  subjects  for  the  dissecting  room  rose  to  above  five 
hundred  in  1844,  and  now  must  be  three  times  greater. 
Dwarkanath  Tagore  and  Dr.  H.  G-oodeve  soon  took 
four  students  to  England  to  seek  a  British  diploma;  of 
these  two  were  Christians  and  one  was  a  convert  of 
the  General  Assembly's  Institution.  Ever  since,  Duff's 
colleofe  has  sent  some  of  its  ablest  converts  as  well  as 
Hindoo  students  to  take  the  highest  honours  in  the 
medical  faculty  of  the  Calcutta  University.  One  of 
them  is  now  a  professor  in  the  Medical  College,  and 
several  have  entered  the  covenanted  service  by  competi- 
tion with  Scottish,  English  and  Irish  graduates.  The 
tale  of  what  the  medical  colleges  of  India — for  others 
sprang  up  in  imitation  of  Bengal,  at  Bombay,  Madras, 
Lahore  and  Agra — have  done  for  humanity,  for  the 
sciences  allied  with  medicine,  and  for  enlightenment 
throughout  the  peninsula,  in  the  half-century  since  Duff 
began  his  apostleship,  would   form   one  of  the  most 


^t.  28.     TBE    THUiD    BATTLE    WITH    THE    ORIENTALISTS.       219 

brilliant  chapters  in  the  history  of  progress,  but  it  is  / 
not  for  us  to  tell  it  here. 

In  yet  a  third  field  did  Duff  and  Treveljan,  aided 
by  that  accomplished  scholar  of  the  Baptist  Mission 
press,  Dr.  Yates,  meet  the  orientalist  party.  The 
committee  of  the  Calcutta  Scliool  Book  Society  was 
the  scene  of  the  conflict.  That  body  had  succeeded 
in  supplying  pure  English  literature  to  the  natives 
on  mercantile  principles,  while  the  Government 
Oriental  colleges  had  their  shelves  groaning  under 
expensive  works  which  no  native  would  take  as  a  gift, 
unless  also  paid  to  read  tliem,  and  at  which  true 
scholars  laughed.  In  1833  Mr.  Thompson,  a  Govern- 
ment teacher  at  Delhi,  sought  the  patronage  of  the 
society  for  an  English  and  Hindostanee  dictionary 
in  the  Roman  character  only,  designed  to  assist 
natives  of  the  upper  provinces  in  the  acquisition  of 
English  and  Europeans  in  the  study  of  Hindostanee. 
Dr.  Yates,  as  secretary,  recommended  the  purchase  of 
two  hundred  copies.  Mr.  James  Prinsep  condemned 
the  use  of  the  Roman  alphabet  by  any  but  Europeans 
as  "  ultra-radicalism."  Dr.  Tytler,  whose  foible  was 
a  desire  to  stand  well  with  the  few  Oriental  scholars 
in  Europe,  protested  that  such  a  book  would  "  com- 
promise our  character  very  much,  particularly  with 
European  scholars,  in  whose  eyes  the  Oriental  litera- 
ture of  Calcutta  does  not  stand  very  high  at  present." 
Sir  Charles  Trevelyan  d'^molished  both  in  a  long 
minute,  in  which  he  exposed  the  unscholarly  character 
and  expense  of  Dr.  Tytler's  translations,  showing  that 
Rs.  105,426  (£10,543)  of  public  money  had  thus  been 
wasted  in  the  ten  years  since  1824.  On  this  James 
Prinsep  cast  the  broad  shield  of  his  genuine  learning 
over  the  wounded  Tytler,  in  a  minute  which  con- 
cluded with  this  retort  on  the  alleged  superiority  of 
English  to  Sanscrit  or  Perso- Arabic  orthography  : — "  I 


220  LIFE    OP    DR.    BaFP.  1834. 

never  heard  of  a  mother  who  did  not  complain  of  the 
difficulty  of  teaching  a  child  the  diflference  between 
C  and  S,  and  I  will  ask  whether  a  native  child 
would  as  readily  recognise  the  '  City  of  God '  (Allah- 
abad) in  the  '  isle  of  bats '  and  the  '  palace  at 
Ghazeepore '  in  '  Chelsea  tune  '  (chuhul  sitoon).^'  Dr. 
Tytler  felt  as  grateful  to  James  Prinsep  as  Homer's 
hero  when,  worsted  in  battle,  he  was  hid  under  the 
apron  of  his  celestial  mother,  Aphrodite.  After 
Trevelyan  had  slain  Prinsep,  Duff  entered  the  field 
through  the  press  and  anonymously,  while  Mr.  H. 
Thoby  Prinsep  in  turn  brought  the  heavy  artillery  of 
the  Asiatic  Society  to  bear  upon  him. 

The  merits  of  the  controversy  are  these :  In  the 
East  Indies,  as  influenced  from  their  metropolis  Cal- 
cutta— including  in  that  term  Dutch  Java  and  now 
French  Anam — there  are  eight  distinct  ethnological 
families,  containing  243  spoken  and  written  languages 
and  296  dialects  of  these  languages,  or  539  in  all. 
These  have  to  be  mastered — having  been  reduced  to 
writing  in  many  cases  by  missionaries  and  officials — 
before  the  half  of  the  human  race  who  use  them  can 
be  influenced  for  good.  They  present  two  sets  of 
difficulties,  arising  from  their  varying  written  charac- 
ters and  very  diff'erent  grammatical  structure.  Can 
the  former  class  of  difficulties  not  be  removed  or 
modified  ?  If  the  English  language  and  literature  are 
to  be  used  as  the  medium  and  the  instrument  of  civil- 
ization in  the  effete  East,  why  not  the  one  Roman 
alphabet  in  which  they  are  expressed  ? — such  was  the 
very  natural  reasoning  of  the  Anglicists  of  1833.  That 
this  is  no  dream  may  be  accepted  from  the  fact  that 
the  great  scholar  Lepsius  has  prepared  a  "  standard 
alphabet,"  and  that  the  Boden  Sanscrit  professor 
at  Oxford  is  an  earnest  advocate  of  Eomanising,  while 
Professor  Max  Midler  has  a  similar  plan  of  his  own. 


^t.  28.   THE  LANGUAGES  AND  ALPHABETS  OP  INDIA.    221 

One  character  is  necessary,  and  that  has,  of  course, 
been  the  Roman  thus  far  for  tongues  reduced  to 
writing  for  the  first  time  by  missionaries,  who  desire 
to  tell  and  write  for  these  simple  people  "  the  won- 
derful works  of  God "  in  Christ.  But  more  than 
this,  Mr.  Oust  is  within  the  truth,  as  every  scholar 
will  admit,  when  he  declares,  "  It  may  be  accepted 
as  a  scientific  fact  that  all  the  characters  used  in  the 
East  Indies  can  sooner  or  later  be  traced  back  to  the 
Asoka  inscriptions,  and  through  them  to  the  Phoenician 
alphabet,  and  thence  backwards  to  the  hieratic  ideo- 
graphs of  the  old  kingdom  of  Egypt,  and  thence  to  the 
venerable  hieroglyphics  of  the  fourth  dynasty."  The 
solitary  exception  is  the  Chinese  character  used  in 
Anam.* 

More  than  three  rivals  compete  to  represent  the 
639  languages  and  dialects,  for  the  Indian,  Arabic 
and  Roman  are  complicated  by  additions  or  adapta- 
tions to  represent  all  the  sounds  of  each,  till  religion 
is  invoked  to  consecrate  some,  so  that  the  orthodox 
Hindoo  will  not  use  the  Perso-Arabic,  nor  the  strict 
Muhammadan  the  sacred  Nagree.  If  one  alphabet 
in  the  good  Asoka' s  days,  not  long  after  Alexander 
the  Great,  why  not  one  again — why  not  one  at  any 
rate,  and  that  the  Roman,  for  all  the  peoples  who  learn 
writing,  and  even  reading,  for  the  first  time  from  the 
Christian  missionary  and  the  British  and  other  Euro- 
pean Governments  in  Asia  ?  Though  deprecating  as 
injudicious  and  impracticable  any  attempt  to  supersede 
the  established  characters  of  cultivated  languages  by 
the  introduction  of  the  alien  Roman  character,  Mr. 
Cust  urges  the  use  of  the  standard  of  Lepsius  in  the 
case  of  languages  hitherto  unwritten.  In  1878  he  used 
this  language,  which  is  the  echo  of  Duff's  half  a  century 

•  A  Sketch  of  the  Modern  Languages  of  the  East  Indies.     1878. 


2  22  LIFE    or   DR.    DUFF.  1834. 

ago  : — "  It  is  a  remarkable  phenomenon  that  the  foun- 
tains of  so  many  languages  and  dialects  should  have 
been  unsealed  just  at  the  moment  when  the  intellectual, 
mechanical  and  religious  powers  of  England  and  Holland 
were  at  their  height,  ready  to  undertake  the  task  of 
translating  the  Bible  into  scores  of  languages,  for 
which  task,  even  if  the  opportunity  had  offered  itself, 
English  scholars  were,  last  century,  as  unfitted  as  the 
Spanish  and  Portuguese  are  even  now  unfitted,  and  as 
im willing  to  lend  themselves  to  the  task  as  the  Italians, 
French  and  Russians  are  even  now  unwilling." 

We  have  received  this  narrative  of  Duff's  advocacy 
of  the  Romanising  system  from  Sir  Charles  Trevelyan, 
who  sought  officially  to  carry  it  out  when  Governor  of 
Madras.  He  has  recently  published  as  an  illustration  of 
it  "  Rabinsan  Kriiso,"  being  a  translation,  through  the 
Hindostanee,  of  Defoe's  immortal  work  into  Persian 
in  the  Roman  character.  To  that  Mr.  Tolbort,  of  the 
Bengal  civil  service,  as  editor,  has  prefixed  an  exposition 
and  defence  of  the  application  of  the  Roman  alphabet 
to  the  languages  of  the  East,  declaring  that  that  alpha- 
bet "will  be  to  the  education  of  Asia  what  Greorge 
Stephenson's  rails  were  and  are  to  the  locomotive  steam 
engine."  The  system  of  transliteration  was  that  of  Sir 
William  Jones,  who  followed  the  Italian  or  continental 
European  sound  of  the  vowels,  while  Dr.  Gilchrist 
afterwards  sought  to  fix  them  to  the  more  familiar 
of  their  various  sounds  in  English.  Thus  the  well- 
known  "Ameer"  of  the  latter  is  the  "Amir  "  of  the  for- 
mer, and  the  "Punjab  "  is  "Panjab."  The  advantage  of 
the  Gilchrist  transliteration  of  proper  names  for  purely 
English  readers  is  evident ;  that  of  the  Jones  system 
for  Romanising  and  strictly  scholarly  purposes  is  not 
less  so.  The  German  orientalists  have  recently  pub- 
lished a  whole  series  of  the  Oriental  classics  in  Roman 
type.     In   the   twenty   years   ending  1857  the  Bible, 


^t.  28.         ROMANISING    THE    OUIENTAL    ALl'll ABETS.  223 

the  Pilgrim's  Progress,  the  Koran,  and  forty-three 
other  religious  or  educational  works  had  appeared  in 
Romanised  Hindostanee.  Sir  C.  Trevelyan  writes  : — 
"  It  was  proposed  to  extend  to  India  the  advantage 
which  Europe  enjoys  of  making  one  character  serve 
for  many  different  languages  and  dialects,  whereby  it 
might  be  at  once  seen  how  far  they  agreed  or  differed, 
and  a  tendency  might  be  created  towards  a  common 
Indian  language  and  literature,  of  which  English 
would  be  the  connecting  link,  and  the  Christian  re- 
ligion the  principal  source  of  inspiration.  Eastern 
writing  is  thoroughly  phonetic;  that  is,  the  due 
relation  of  sign  and  sound  is  consistently  maintained 
throughout,  so  that  a  simple  transliteration  into  the 
Roman  character  gives  a  correct  representation  of  the 
sounds  in  all  the  native  languages ;  and  during  the 
long  period  which  has  elapsed  since  the  invention  of 
printing,  the  typography  of  these  letters,  with  all  its 
accessories  of  punctuation,  capital  letters,  italics,  and 
other  mechanical  helps,  has  been  so  improved  that 
they  have  become  a  much  more  efficient  and  economical 
medium  for  expressing  the  languages  of  the  East  than 
the  various  alphabetical  systems  in  actual  use  there. 
This  would  also  be  the  salvation  of  the  native  lan- 
guages, which  have  a  hard  struggle  in  their  com- 
petition with  the  all-powerful  English,  freighted  with 
so  many  substantial  advantages,  and  it  would  have  a 
highly  salutary  political  effect  by  intimately  associat- 
ing our  nation  with  the  growth  of  the  new  Indian 
literature,  and  by  removing  a  serious  practical  obstacle 
to  satisfactory  mutual  intercourse. 

"  This  system  has  made  steady  progress,  notwith- 
standing every  discouragement,  and  its  advantages 
have  become  so  generally  recognised  that  effectuaJ 
arrangements  are  likely  soon  to  be  made  for  its  gradual 
adoption ;    but    the    undertaking    might    have   been 


2  24  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1834. 

strangled  in  its  birth  if  Dr.  Duff  had  not  given  it  his 
strenuous  support.  The  turning  point  of  the  contro- 
versy was  marked  by  the  pubhcation  of  three  papers 
by  Dr.  Duff,  in  the  first  of  which  the  '  possibihty/ 
'  practicabihty,'  and  '  expediency '  of  substituting  the 
Roman  for  the  Indian  alphabets  was  discussed,  and  in 
the  last  two  a  practical  scheme  for  that  purpose  was 
worked  out  in  detail,  and  objections  were  answered. 
These  papers  give  a  high  idea  of  the  logical  powers 
and  critical  acumen  of  Dr.  Duff.  They  settled  the 
system  on  its  present  basis,  and  may  be  read  to  this 
day  with  interest  and  advantage. 

"  It  was  impossible  to  wo-rk,  as  I  did,  with  Dr.  Duff, 
without  having  his  character  clearly  unfolded  before 
me,  and  I  must  be  allowed  to  indulge  my  feelings  by 
briefly  saying  what  I  think  of  it.  He  combined  child- 
like simplicity  and  sincerity  with  intellectual  powers 
of  no  mean  order,  and  his  fervid  Celtic  nature  imparted 
warmth'  and  energy  to  everything  he  undertook.  His 
disinterestedness,  and  freedom  from  selfish  motives  of 
all  kinds,  appeared  to  me  to  be  perfect.  His  whole 
being  seemed  to  be  engrossed  in  the  one  great  object 
of  his  life,  compared  with  which  all  m.erely  personal 
motives  were  of  secondary  consideration.  He  was  a 
truly  loveable  character.  My  feeling  towards  him  is 
compounded  of  affection  and  respect,  and  I  should 
find  it  difficult  to  say  which  of  these  predominates." 

Thus  far  the  battle  begun  and  carried  on  by  Duff 
had  been  for  the  people.  English  he  fought  for,  as 
the  weapon  of  truth's  warfare  at  that  stage  not  only 
against  the  intolerance  of  the  quasi-orientalists  who 
squandered  the  people's  money  on  a  few  scornful 
Brahmans  and  Moulvies,  but  against  the  equal  intoler- 
ance of  their  own  leaders  in  the  Hindoo  College,  who 
excluded  the  lower  castes  even  from  secular  instruc- 
tion.     Through   the   natural   heads   and   respectable 


ALL  28.        HIS    WORK    FOE   VERNACULAR    EDUCATION.  225 

castes  of  the  Hindoos  he  determined  that  Western 
truth  and  Enghsh  benevolence  should  reach  the  masses 
and  fertilise  the  literature  of  their  mother  tongue. 
Hence  his  own  early  devotion  to  Bengalee  at  a  time 
when  his  busy  nights  were  no  more  his  own  than  his 
exhausting  days,  and  the  instinct  of  genius  drove  him 
to  take  the  tide  of  English  in  native  society  near  the 
flood  that  he  might  guide  it  to  faith  and  all  that  a 
reasonable  faith  here  involves,  in  social  purity,  in 
public  enlightenment,  in  national  revival.  Hence  the 
Bengalee  department  in  his  school,  and  the  simulta- 
neous teaching  and  reaction  on  each  other  of  English 
and  the  vernacular.  Without  that  the  taunt  of  the 
barren  orientalists  might  have  had  some  justification, 
English  might  have  become  only  another  official  jar- 
gon like  court  Persian,  to  be  used  by  the  initiated 
few  for  the  oppression  of  the  many,  and  the  widening 
of  the  gulf  between  alien  rulers  and  ignorant  ruled. 
From  that  memorable  Monday,  2nd  of  August,  1830, 
"when  the  Highland  lad  opened  his  school  with  our 
Lord's  Prayer  in  Bengalee,  to  the  day  just  after  the 
Mutiny,  when  he  introduced  the  Christian  Vernacular 
Education  Society  into  Calcutta,  and  down  to  his  last 
effort  for  India,  having  put  English  in  its  right  place 
chronologically  and  educationally,  he  sought  to  have 
India  covered  with  primary  schools  worthy  of  the 
name. 

Here,  also,  the  Government  of  Lord  William  Ben- 
tinck  came  to  his  help  and  did  its  duty.  The  same 
ever  to  be  remembered  months  at  the  opening  of  1835, 
which  legislatively  brought  to  the  birth  the  Renais- 
sance in  science  and  letters,  by  the  medical  college 
and  English  language  decrees,  saw  the  first  official 
step  taken  in  the  application  of  both  to  the  varied 
vernaculars  of  India.  On  the  20th  January  "  W. 
Bentinck,"  with  whom  his   colleaofues,  the   Honbles. 


2  26  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1834. 

H.  Blunt,  A.  Ross  and  W.  Morison  "  concurred  en- 
tirely," wrote  the  minute  whicli  sent  Mr.  Adam,  for 
seventeen  years  a  missionary  and  then  editor  of  the 
India  Gazette,  to  visit  and  report  on  all  the  existing 
vernacular  schools  in  Bengal.  The  minute  began  with 
the  "  universally  admitted  axiom  that  education  and 
the  knowledge  to  be  imparted  by  it  can  alone  effect 
the  moral  regeneration  of  India."  At  a  time  "  when 
the  establishment  of  education  upon  the  largest  and 
most  useful  basis  is  become  the  object  of  universal 
solicitude,"  the  minute  wisely  declared  it  essential  to 
ascertain  the  actual  state  of  education  as  carried  on 
for  centuries  entirely  under  native  management.  It 
deprecated  interference  with  these  before  Government 
knew  the  facts,  and  direct  inquiry  by  officials  as  certain 
to  excite  distrust.  Hence  the  appointment  of  Adam, 
whose  three  reports,  the  more  that  they  prove  his 
intelligent  philanthropy  and  administrative  wisdom, 
reject  severely  on  the  stupid  apathy  of  the  Committee 
of  Education,  which  shelved  them  and  drove  him  to 
resign  in  disgust.  He  showed  that,  as  Duff  put  it, 
92^-  out  of  every  hundred  children  of  school-going  age 
in  Bengal  were  destitute  of  all  kinds  and  degrees  of 
instruction.  That  is,  on  the  basis  of  the  under-esti- 
mated population  of  that  time,  six  millions  of  such 
children  were  wholly  uneducated.  Yet  not  for  twenty- 
two  years  thereafter  would  Government  do  anything 
for  Benafal.  Not  till  Dalhousie  was  Governor-General 
was  anything  done  for  Upper  India  save  by  the 
missionaries.  So  the  evil  round  goes  on  under  the 
system  which  breaks  the  contirftiity  of  progress  in 
India — the  five  years  term  of  high  office.  A  Bentinck 
takes  his  seven  years'  ripe  experience  with  him,  to  be 
followed  by  a  reactionary  Auckland.  We  shall  not 
bring  the  illustration  down  to  our  own  day.  Mission- 
aries like  Duff  in    Eastern,  Wilson  in  Western,  and 


.•Kt.  28.  HIS    USE    UF    THE    PRESS.  22 7 

Caldwell  in  Southern  India  alone  remain  immortal  till 
their  work  is  done  ! 

In  all  his  work  and  at  every  stage  of  it  Duff  felt 
that  he  had  a  more  powerful  ally  and  instrument  than 
even  Lord  William  Bentinck  as  Governor-General, — 
and  that  was  the  Press.  From  the  outset  of  his 
career  writing  went  hand-in-hand  with  teaching  and 
public  speaking.  The  relation  of  his  new  ideas  to 
the  few  native  papers,  English  and  vernacular,  accord- 
ing as  they  opposed,  misrepresented  or  advocated 
them,  and  his  plan  of  replying  by  public  discussion  to 
the  attacks  of  their  correspondents,  we  have  seen.  The 
Serampore  missionaries  had,  before  him,  filled  the 
breach,  alike  by  their  quarterly  Friend  of  India  and  by 
Mr.  Marshman's  estabhshment  of  the  first  Beno:alee 
newspaper.  So  that,  whereas  in  1814  there  was  only 
one  English  periodical  and  not  one  native  in  all  Ben- 
gal, and  in  1820  five  English  papers  and  still  not  one 
Bengalee  print,  in  1830  there  were  eight  native  papers. 
But  Duff  had  not  been  twelve  mouths  in  Calcutta 
before  he  saw  the  necessity  of  establishing  a  Magazine 
to  represent  missionary  and  philanthropic  operations 
of  all  kinds,  and  to  bring  Christian  opinion  to  bear 
upon  Government  on  the  one  hand  and  the  educated 
natives  on  the  other.  Hence  in  June,  1832,  appeared 
the  first  number  of  the  Calcutta  Christian  ObserveVj 
"  edited  by  Christian  ministers  of  various  denomina- 
tions." The  signature  "  D  "  marks  the  authorship  of 
the  introductory  programme.  Besides  the  sectarian 
periodicals  then  in  Calcutta,  he  sought  "  something 
unconfined  by  any  trammels  of  party  or  of  sect — 
something  that  will  embrace  with  impartial  and  com- 
prehensive view  the  wide  domain  of  Catholic  Chris- 
tianity." He  desired  to  produce  a  periodical  which 
should  do  for  religion  in  the  East  what  James  Prinsep's 
Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society  accomplished  for  science 


228  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1832 

and  the  Calcutta  Magazine  laboured  to  effect  for  litera- 
ture. The  six  divisions  of  the  Magazine  he  mapped 
out  as  theoretical  and  practical  theology,  Biblical  criti- 
cism and  translation,  missionary  operations,  European 
and  native  institutions  and  events,  reviews  of  books, 
intelligence  of  progress  of  all  kinds,  amid  contro- 
versy and  resistance,  for  only  eventually  may  "  the 
great  Christian  temple,  like  its  material  prototype 
of  old,  be  raised  with  noiseless  harmony  of  design 
and  execution."  The  passage  relating  to  the  second 
division  has  a  peculiar  interest : — 

"  It  is  not  necessary  that  the  majority,  or  any  very 
considerable  portion  of  the  Christian  public  should  be 
Biblical  critics  or  translators.  .  .  But,  however  true 
that  the  great  doctrines  of  revelation  are  so  potent  as 
to  have  produced  but  one  persuasion  in  the  minds  of 
the  immense  majority  of  devout  believers  in  every  age, 
it  is  not  less  true  that  even  these  have  been  repeatedly 
and  variously  impugned.  And  as  the  Scriptures  were 
written  in  ancient  and  dead  languages,  none  who  were 
ignorant  of  these  could  venture  to  elicit  and  set  in 
array  the  genuine  force  of  scriptural  evidence.  Hence 
arises  one  of  the  most  important  oflBces  that  devolves 
upon  the  Biblical  critic.  Again,  the  Bible  containing, 
as  it  does,  an  historical  and  prophetical  account  of  the 
most  interesting  events  that  transpired  on  the  stage 
of  this  world  for  4000  years,  as  well  as  of  the  extraor- 
dinary dispensations  of  the  Almighty,  must  naturally 
and  unavoidably  include  in  its  contents  many  '  things 
hard  to  be  understood.'  Now  these  are  the  things 
which,  surrounded  as  they  are  by  many  luminous 
points,  cost  the  pious  believer  least  trouble.  But  these 
are  the  very  things  upon  which  the  unbeliever  is  ready  to 
pounce  with  more  than  the  ravenous  speed  of  an  eagle 
upon  its  prey.  In  the  reasonableness  of  this  conduct 
he  resembles  the  m%n  who,  withdrawing  his  view  from 


^t.  26.  ON    BIBLICAL    CRITICISM.  229 

the  gorgeous  productions  of  tlie  animal,  vegetable  and 
mineral  kingdoms,  and  the  combined  glory  of  the 
summer's  landscape,  would  point  in  a  tone  of  triumph 
to  the  meanest  reptile  or  weed,  or  to  the  dampest  and 
most  dingy  cavern,  in  proof  of  the  worse  than  gratui- 
tous assertion  that  the  external  world  contained  nougfht 
that  was  fair,  beauteous,  or  lovely.  Every  person  of 
common  sense  and  common  honesty  would  regard  such 
a  procedure  with  merited  contempt  and  indignation  ; 
while  the  zoologist,  the  botanist  and  the  mineralogist 
would  follow  him  still  further,  and  by  evolving  the 
hidden  beauties  and  harmonies  of  what  has  been  so 
rashly  decried,  convict  him  of  the  most  presumptuous 
empiricism.  Now,  what  service  these  men  of  science 
are  enabled  to  render  in  rescuing  even  the  most  de- 
spised of  the  works  of  God  from  the  reproaches  of  the 
ignorant,  the  very  same  is  the  Biblical  critic  expected 
to  render  on  the  hard  and  dark  things — the  abstruse 
and  apparently  profitless  parts — of  the  Word  of  God. 
To  be  fully  qualified  for  a  task  so  arduous,  he  ought 
of  all  learned  men  to  be  the  most  learned." 

The  Observer  became,  under  Duff's  influence  and 
that  of  his  colleagues  during  his  absence  from  India, 
all  that  he  thus  desired ;  while  from  1835  to  1875  the 
Friend  of  India,  changed  by  Mr.  J.  C.  Marshman  into 
the  powerful  weekly  newspaper  which  it  long  con- 
tinued to  be,  applied  the  same  Christian  principles  in 
a  more  purely  political  and  broadly  imperial  way 
to  the  elevation  of  the  whole  empire.  At  the  same 
time  we  shall  see  him  using,  for  the  highest  ends,  the 
English  daily  journals  of  Calcutta  as  he  used  the 
Anglo-Bengalee  newspapers,  and  in  his  second  term 
of  service  in  Bens^al  editing  the  Calcutta  Bevietv. 

The  coarse  licence  of  Hichifs  Gazette,  the  first  Eng- 
lish newspaper  published  in  India,  in  1780,  followed 
by   that  of  the  Bengal   Journal,  led    the    Company's 


230  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1835. 

autliorities,  in  1794,  to  deport  the  editor  of  the  latter, 
Mr.  William  Duane,  because  of  an  inflammatory  ad- 
dress to  the  army.  During  the  war  with  Tippoo  Lord 
Wellesley  established  a  formal  censorship  of  the  press, 
which,  made  still  more  severe  in  1813,  continued  till 
1818,  when  Lord  Hastings  practically  abolished  it. 
George  Canning,  when  President  of  the  Board  of 
Control,  suppressed  a  severe  condemnation  of  this  act 
by  the  Court  of  Directors.  But  when  Mr.  John  Adam 
became  interim  Governor-General,  he  gratified  the 
bureaucratic  instinct  against  criticism  by  reviving  the 
censorship  and  deporting  Mr.  James  Silk  Buckingham, 
to  please  his  rival,  Dr.  Bryce,  who  was  at  once  senior 
Scottish  chaplain,  editor  of  the  John  Bull,  and  clerk  of 
stationery  !  The  weak  Lord  Amherst  put  Adam's  most 
severe  restrictions  in  force  against  Mr.  Arnot  of  the 
Calcutta  Journal,  and  warned  the  Bengal  HurlcTiru. 
'  When  Lord  William  Bentinck's  financial  reforms 
reduced  the  military  allowances  known  as  batta,  he  was 
covered  with  abuse  which  might  have  tempted  other 
men  to  crush  the  self-seeking  critics.  But  he  knew 
and  he  loved  the  principles  of  freedom  -which  his  great- 
grandfather, Hans  Bentinck,  had  helped  William  III. 
to  consolidate  in  England.  He  went  further,  declar- 
ing that  the  liberty  of  the  press  was  necessary  to  the 
good  government  of  the  country,  as  supplying  "  that 
lamentable  imperfection  of  control  which,  from  local 
position,  extensive  territory  and  other  causes  the  su- 
preme council  cannot  adequately  exercise."  In  1831 
he  invited  criticism  and  suggestions,  with  results  seen 
in  such  works  as  the  Honble.  P.  J.  Shore's  "  Notes  on 
Indian  Affairs,"  and  in  the  destruction  of  many  an 
abuse.  Most  happily,  however,  it  was  left  to  a  Bengal 
civilian  and  pupil  of  Wellesley  to  atone  for  the  high- 
handed folly  of  an  otherwise  estimable  administrator 
like  John  Adam.     Charles  Theophilus,  first   and  last 


^t.  20.     BEdliNNlNG    OF    THE    llENAISSANOi:    COMl'LETED.      23 1 

Lord  Metcalfe,  when  acting  as  Governor-General, 
deliberately  risked  the  permanent  appointment,  by  the 
Act  XI.  of  1835,  which  Macanlay  wrote,  repealing  all 
restrictions  on  the  press  tliroughout  India,  and  leaving 
it,  like  all  other  institutions  and  persons,  to  the  ordi- 
nary law  of  sedition  and  libel.  Vernacular  as  well  as 
English  literature  in  India  took  a  new  start,  hardly 
checked  by  the  bureaucratic  timidity  of  Lord  Canning's 
advisers  in  1857,  and  certain  to  be  again  freed  from 
the  less  excusable  action  of  Lord  Lytton's  councillors 
in  1877.  Thus  the  birth  of  the  Renaissance  was 
completed.  TIjus  the  name  of  Metcalfe  is  linked 
with  those  of  Macaulay,  Trevelyan,  Bentinck  and 
Alexander  Duff. 

No  one  who  knows  history  and  is  accustomed  to 
weigh  in  its  balances,  sacred  and  secular,  the  causes 
and  the  tendencies  of  human  progress,  will  be  surprised 
that  we  have  thus  broadly  applied  the  term  Renaissance 
to  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  movement  started  by 
Great  Britain  in  Southern  Asia  in  1813,  vitalised  by 
Duff  in  1830-35,  and  still  in  its  vigorous  infancy.  That 
this  movement  is  not  a  birth  only,  but  a  re-birth,  those 
will  most  readily  confess  who  know  far  better  than  the 
Brahmanizing  orientalists  of  the  East  India  Company 
the  real  splendour  of  the  early  Aryan  civilization ;  the 
comparatively  pure  traditions  which  were  the  salt  of 
Vedic  nature-worship  ;  the  wealth  of  the  Aryan  lan- 
guages which  Hellas  itself  never  matched,  while  it 
borrowed  from  them ;  and  the  influence  of  all  three, 
through  Greek,  Latin  and  Arabic,  on  Europe  in  the 
dark  ages.  That  the  waking  up  of  the  Hindoo  mind 
is  certain  to  prove  a  Renaissance  not  only  in  the 
Italian  sense,  but  in  the  English — a  reformation  in  the 
spiritual  region,  and  a  silent  constitutional  revolution 
in  the  political  condition,  is  due  to  Alexander  Duff. 
We  have  seen  it  in  the  Christian  college  which  is  the 


232  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1835. 

nursery  and  in  the  first  converts  who  proved  the  seed 
of  the  Church.  We  have  seen  it  in  the  English  lan- 
guage, in  Western  science,  in  the  liberty  of  printing, 
in  the  education  of  the  people  in  their  mother  tongue, 
in  the  growth  of  a  pure  vernacular  literature.  We 
have  yet  to  watch  the  development  in  church  and 
university,  in  literature  and  science,  in  social  freedom 
and  even  in  the  political  elevation  that  springs  from  the 
concession,  without  a  struggle,  of  all  the  constitutional 
liberties  which  it  took  the  ruling  power  centuries  to 
consolidate  for  itself.  But  above  and  under  all  we 
shall  continue  to  find  this,  as  Europe  and  Scotland 
before  all  countries  found,  that  the  motive  power  and 
the  principle  of  growth  consist  in  the  putting  every 
Asiatic  spiritually  in  that  relation  to  God  which  the 
Divine  Christ  has  alone  revealed  and  guarantees.  The 
missionary  is  thus  before  all  others.  Savonarola  has 
survived  the  Medici,  and  Luther  lives. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

] 832-1835. 

WOBK  FOB  EUROPEANS,  EURASIANS  AND 
NATIVE  CHRISTIANS. 

St.  Andrew's  Kirk. — Anglican  and  Presbyterian  Sectarianism. — The 
Steeple  Controversy. — The  Battle  of  the  Gilded  Cock. — Fight 
for  a  Second  Sunday  Service. — A  Boileau  Wanted. — Sunday  Ob- 
servance in  India. — A  Boston  Socinian  and  the  Lord's  Supper. — 
Duff  longs  for  Friendly  Sympathy. — The  Senior  Chaplain  of 
Madras. — Daniel  Wilson  and  Lord  William  Bentinck. — Rise  of 
the  Eurasian  Community. — First  Charity  Schools. — Origin  of  the 
Doveton  Colleges. — The  Civil  and  Religious  Rights  of  Converts 
from  Hindooism  and  Muhammadanism.  —  The  first  Writ  of 
Habeas  Corpus  in  India. — Dr.  H.  H.  Wilson  Apologises  to  the 
Missionaries. — Case  of  Bi'ijonath  Ghose. — DufF  does  the  Bishop 
of  Calcutta's  work. — Castigates  Mr.  Longueville  Clark. — His 
Power  of  Moral  Suasion. — Bengal  Asiatic  and  Agricnltural  Socie- 
ties.— Mr.  and  Mrs.  Duff  decline  to  attend  the  Governor-General's 
Ball.— Lord  William  Bentinck's  Public  Eulogy  of  Duff.— The 
School  becomes  an  Arts  and  Divinity  College. — Reminiscences  of 
Duff  in  1834  by  a  Bengalee  Schoolboy. — The  Bible  and  Tract 
Societies. — The  Great  Cyclone  of  May,  1833. — The  panic-stricken 
Tiger.— Fever  after  Flood.— Duff's  First  Attack.— Visit  of  A.  N. 
Groves  from  Baghdad. — A  Day  in  the  College. — Duff  again 
stricken  down  by  Dysentery.  —  Carried  on  board  the  John 
M'Lellan  bound  for  Greenock. — The  Precious  Seed  Germinating. 

So  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  year  1832,  while  Mr. 
Duff  was  steering  his  apparently  frail  boat  in  the  very 
trough  of  the  sea  of  Hindoo  society,  with  no  assistance 
and  little  sympathy  from  his  own  countrymen,  he  was 
called  to  minister  in  St.  Andrew's  kirk  to  the  Scottish 
residents,  and  to  help  the  Eurasians  and  the  native 
Christians  in  their  earnest  struofo-les  after  toleration 
for  themselves  in  the  eye  of  the  law  and  a  good  edu- 
cation for  their  children.  Thus  early  he  began  the 
afterwards  lifelong  labours  which  ended  in  the  estab- 


234  I-tl^E    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1832. 

lisliment  of  the  Anglo-Indian  Christian  Union,  and  in 
the  creation  of  the  Doveton  Colleges  of  Calcutta  and 
Madras. 

St.  Andrew's  kirk — in  1813  the  fruit,  like  its  fellows 
in  Bombay  and  Madras,  of  much  talking  in  obscure 
Scottish  presbyteries,  and  much  petitioning  of  Par- 
liament by  synods  and  general  assemblies  since  1793 — 
had  never  justified  its  existence.  How  Dr.  Bryce,  its 
first  chaplain,  went  out  to  Calcutta  in  the  same  ship 
with  Bishop  Middleton  we  have  told.  A  bishop  must 
have  his  cathedral ;  so  St.  John's  church,  consecrated 
by  the  ministrations  of  Claudius  Buchanan  and  Henry 
Martyn,  to  which  "Warren  Hastings,  his  council  and 
all  the  "  factors  "  in  the  settlement  used  to  walk  to 
morning  service,  was  enlarged  and  dubbed  by  the 
necessary  name,  until  Bishop  Wilson  built  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral.  It  was  still  more  requisite  that  the  Scot- 
tish chaplain  should  have  a  church,  and  the  Govern- 
ment selected  as  its  site  the  spot  on  which  Lord  Clive's 
old  court-house  had  stood,  whence  the  name  still  given 
to  the  finest  street  in  all  the  East.  The  Presbyterian 
had  won  the  first  move  in  the  evil  game  of  sectarian- 
ism which  he  and  the  Anglican  bishop  introduced  into 
India.  But,  viewing  the  national  Church  of  Scotland 
as  a  dissenting  body,  the  bishop  would  not  allow 
Government  to  give  it  a  church  with  a  steeple.  The 
Scottish  blood  of  more  than  half  Calcutta  was  roused 
at  this,  for  as  to  origin  the  Scotsmen  were  in  the 
majority.  They  had  the  secret  sympathy  of  the  evan- 
gelical missionaries  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society, 
whom  Dr.  Middleton  liked  no  more  than  the  episcopal 
and  youthful  representative  of  the  same  views  in  the 
see  of  Colombo  now  does.  Long  and  loud  raged  the 
battle  of  the  steeple.  It  occupied  secretaries  and 
honourable  members  of  Council  and  the  Governor- 
General   week   after   week,   till   the   literature  of  the 


JEt  26.     ANGLICAN    AND    PRr,SBYTEKIAN    SIXTACIAMSM.        235 

subject  plunged  the  predecessors  of  future  Dalhousies, 
Cannings  and  Lawrences  in  despair.  The  men  who 
were  equal  to  successful  expeditions  to  Java,  Mauritius 
and  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  ;  who  had  conducted  to  a 
happy  issue  Burman  and  Goorkha  wars,  Maratha  and 
Piudaree  campaigns,  confessed  themselves  beaten  by  the 
steeple  controversy.  Lord  Hastings,  himself  a  Scots- 
man, directed  all  the  papers  to  be  hurled  at  the  heads 
of  the  directors  who  had  sent  out  the  ecclesiastical 
combatants.  Equally  baffled,  the  directors  appealed 
to  the  Crown  and  its  law  officers,  not  sorry  that  the 
authority  which  Imd  forced  the  Church  establishment 
upon  them  should  have  a  little  more  trouble.  The 
decision  was  that,  as  equal  in  their  own  sphere  to  the 
Episcopalians,  the  Presbyterians  should  have  their 
steeple,  although  the  Government  were  paying  a  thou- 
sand pounds  as  ground  rent  for  the  site.  Years  had 
passed  in  the  fight,  but  the  national  zeal  had  not 
waxed  cold.  There  are  steeples  and  steeples.  Of 
what  height  was  St.  Andrew's  to  be  ?  The  kirk  itself 
was  a  noble  structure,  and  the  steeple  must  correspond 
with  it  architecturally.  To  close  the  matter,  the 
Scottish  residents,  in  public  meeting  assembled,  sub- 
scribed eighty  thousand  rupees  (£8,000)  to  add  to  the 
spire  allowed  by  Government,  so  as  to  raise  it  to  a 
point  twenty  feet  higher  than  that  of  the  cathedral, 
and  they  surmounted  the  whole  by  a  cock  to  symbolise 
their  crowing  over  the  bishop.  Against  this  Dr. 
Middleton  renewed  the  fight,  and  the  cock,  like  the 
steeple,  occupied  the  discussions  of  the  Governor- 
General  in  Council  and  then  of  the  Court  of  Directors. 
The  decision  was  worthy  of  the  most  subtle  of  the 
ecclesiastical  schoolmen,  and  of  the  satire  of  Boileau's 
"  Lutrin."  It  must  have  been  meant,  by  the  James 
Mills,  Charles  Lambs  or  Thomas  Love  Peacocks  who 
in  those  days  draughted  the  despatches,  as  fine  irony. 


236  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1832. 

"Wlien,  it  was  ruled,  tlie  quinquennial  repairs  of  tlie 
building  come  round,  the  public  works  authorities  are 
not  to  gild  the  cock  anew !  The  judgment  was  a 
new  triumph,  for  tlie  patriotic  Scotsmen  of  Calcutta, 
for  long  thereafter,  used  to  raise  some  five  hundred 
rupees  privately  to  regild  the  boastful  symbol. 

But  it  was  one  thing  to  revel  in  such  warfare,  and 
quite  another  to  fill  the  kirk  inside,  with  its  spacious 
aisles  and  vast  galleries,  seated  with  eight  hundred 
chairs,  over  which  swung  cooling  punkahs  for  as 
many  occupants.  Dr.  Bryce  was  more  at  home  as 
editor  of  the  John  Bull  and  clerk  in  the  stationery 
office.  In  due  time  he  received  as  colleague  a  man  of 
a  very  different  stamp,  the  Dr.  Brown  whose  guest 
Duff  became  on  first  landing  in  India.  But  this  gave 
rise  to  a  new  squabble.  Scandalised  that  there  should 
be  only  one  service  on  Sunday,  Dr.  Brown  proposed 
to  hold  public  worship  in  the  evening  also.  Again  the 
dispute  travelled  up  through  the  usual  machinery  of 
secretaries,  council  and  directors,  when  the  decision 
came  that  all  chaplains  were  military  servants,  but  the 
Government  would  not  concern  itself  with  their  inter- 
nal ecclesiastical  arrangements.  Dr.  Brown  might 
act  as  he  pleased.  But  he  met  with  an  unexpected 
obstacle  at  the  first  evening  service.  The  precentor 
was  engaged  to  raise  the  tune  at  only  one  weekly 
service,  and  did  not  appear.  The  good  minister  had 
a  voice  fortunately  quite  equal  to  the  occasion,  and 
Dr.  Bryce  surrendered.  But  in  the  spring  of  1830 
Dr.  Brown  had  a  fall  from  his  horse,  which  sent  him  on 
sick  leave  to  the  Straits  of  Malacca,  where  he  died, 
and  the  old  state  of  things  was  re-established. 

The  three  acts  in  the  ecclesiastical  drama  of  steeple, 
cock,  and  second  service,  recall  the  mock-heroics  on 
the  fight  of  the  treasurer-bishop  and  the  chanter  con- 
cerning the  reading-desk  of  Notre  Dame : — 


^t   26.     RES01,T    OF   THE    EOOLESIASTICAL    SQUABBLES.        237 

"  Je  clianto  les  combats^  et  ce  Prelat  terrible. 
Qui  par  ses  longs  travaux,  et  sa  force  inviucible, 
Dans  une  illustre  Eglise  exer^ant  son  grand  coeur 
Fit  placer  h  la  fin  un  Lutrin  dans  lo  cliocur. 

^  3jC  2fl  vv  «|« 

Quelle  fureur,  dit-il,  quel  aveugle  caprice ! 
Quand  le  diner  est  pret,  vous  appelle  a  I'office  ? 
De  votre  dignite  souteuez  mieux  I'eclat, 
Est-ce  pour  travailler  que  vous  etes  prelat  ?  " 

As  Boileau  closes  the  strife  by  bringing  in  Piety, 
Faith  and  Grace,  who  awaken  Aristus  to  restore  peace, 
so  the  missionary  brings  life  back  to  St.  Andrew's. 

This  was  the  kirk  and  the  kirk-session  under 
which  Duff  might  have  been  bound  to  work,  had  not 
the  young  evangelist  been  given  the  foresight  and  the 
grace  to  stipulate  that  he  should  go  out  to  found  the 
mission  in  India  fettered  by  no  man  there.  The 
Government  was  distracted  and  disgusted,  the  educated 
natives  were  scandalised  by  this  continued  exhibition 
of  Christianity,  and  the  Scots,  who  had  been  so  proud 
of  their  national  kirk,  ceased  to  enter  it.  Some  per- 
manently joined  the  Church  of  England,  especially 
when  the  loving  and  cultured  Reginald  Heber  became 
the  second  Metropolitan  of  India,  and  others  found 
what  they  desired  among  the  Congregationalists  or 
Baptists.  The  majority  of  the  residents,  Scottish  and 
English,  made  the  Sabbath  a  time  of  pleasuring,  when 
they  could  absent  themselves  fi'om  their  offices,  which 
were  open  and  busy  every  day.  Boating  excursions, 
picnic  parties  to  Barrackpore  and  the  French  and 
Dutch  settlements  up  the  river,  and  pig-sticking  on 
the  edge  of  the  Soonderbun  jungles  to  the  south  of 
the  city,  were  the  result  of  the  spiritual  energies  of 
Middleton  and  Bryce. 

In  this  state  of  things  Dr.  Bryce  resolved  to  take 
furlough  home.     Believing  that  he  could  help  the  new 


23.8  LIFE   OP   DR.    DUFF.  1832. 

mission  by  reporting  its  success,  in  which,  he  had 
always  sympathised,  he  quietly  proposed  to  throw  on 
the  missionary  the  whole  duty  of  preaching  in  St. 
Andrew's  pulpit  and  taking  pastoral  oversight  of  the 
large  Scottish  community  Thus  modestly  and  in 
this  brotherly  spirit  did  Duff  reply  to  the  first  sug- 
gestion on  the  30th  November,  1831: — "I  should 
have  rejoiced  to  have  been  able  to  have  rendered 
more  frequent  assistance  on  Sunday ;  but  I  really 
find  every  moment  so  engrossed,  and  the  personal 
fatigue  often  so  harassing  from  the  miscellaneous 
calls  on  my  daily  avocations,  that  I  have  little  time 
and  generally  still  less  strength  to  spare  for  pulpit 
duties.  In  the  event,  however,  of  your  twelvemonth's 
trip  being  resolved  upon,  I  would  be  ready  to  do  my 
best,  or  to  enter  into  the  adoption  of  any  measure 
which  might  secure  regular  service  for  the  good  folks 
of  St.  Andrew's.  This,  however,  is  a  subject  for 
further  consideration."  The  next  information  which 
Duff  received  was  in  the  form  of  a  letter,  sent  back 
by  the  pilot  from  the  Sandheads,  as  the  mouth  of  the 
Hooghly  is  called,  in  which  Dr.  Bryce  announced  his 
sudden  departure  with  his  invalid  wife.  With  no 
stock  of  prepared  sermons  (for  all  his  manuscripts  had 
gone  down  at  Dassen  Island),  with  his  daily  college 
duties,  and  his  weekly  evening  lectures,  the  sudden 
call  made  even  Alexander  Duff  hesitate.  But  having 
reason  to  believe  that  if  the  kirk  were  once  shut 
Government  would  put  difiiculties  in  the  way  of 
opening  it  again,  bewailing  the  condition  of  his 
own  countrymen  as  sheep  without  a  shepherd,  and 
meeting  at  every  turn  the  evil  effect  of  their  lives 
on  the  observant  natives,  he  threw  himself  into  the 
breach. 

Never   before — not   when    Kiernander  was   in   the 
full  flush  of  that  activity  which  attracted    Olive,  and 


^:t.  26.  PREAGUER   AND    PASTOR.  239 

his  own  Cambuslang  compatriot,  Claudius  Buclianau, 
was  reproving  even  a  good  Governor-General  liko 
Cornwallis — had  Calcutta  seen  such  a  preacher  and 
pastor.  He  went  into  the  pulpit  the  first  Sunday  to 
find  a  score  of  worshippers  lost  amid  the  eight  hun- 
dred chairs.  The  sight  he  described  as  that  of  "  a 
void  and  huge  wilderness."  The  session  registers  gave 
him  the  names  of  not  a  few  who  had  continued  to 
preserve  their  latent  rights  by  paying  seat-rents,  and 
with  these  he  determined  to  begin.  The  easy  theory 
had  been  that  the  Scotsman  in  India  is  so  different 
a  being  from  what  he  is  at  home,  that  he  regarded 
his  minister's  visit  as  intrusive.  The  new  pastor  soon 
put  that  to  the  tei?t.  He  found  his  purely  pastoral 
calls  welcomed.  The  Sunday  solitude  of  the  kirk 
gradually  became  a  respectable  crowd.  The  ministra- 
tions during  nearly  all  1832  resulted  in  the  creation 
of  the  good  congregation  which  Dr.  Charles,  the  new 
chaplain,  found  on  his  arrival.  The  results  on  the 
morals  and  the  higher  life  of  European  society  became 
marked.  Bishop  Turner,  who  followed  Dr.  James,  the 
short-lived  successor  of  Heber,  had  been  grievously 
vexed  by  the  utter  absence  of  all  signs  of  a  day  of 
rest,  Christian  or  national,  when  he  landed.  Govern- 
ment as  well  mercantile  offices  were  open  daily  with- 
out intermission,  as  they  had  been  smce  the  first 
settlement  of  the  British  in  India.  The  bishop's 
attempt  to  reform  society  by  privately  asking  the  less 
godless  to  sign  a  voluntary  pledge  to  abstain  from 
business  and  from  compelling  the  natives  to  attend 
office  on  the  Lord's- day,  brought  down  on  him  the 
fiercest  bigotry  and  intolerance.  Duff,  a  little  later, 
found  his  opportunity  just  before  Daniel  Wilson  landed 
as  the  next  bishop. 

A  prosperous  young  Scottish  merchant  asked  the 
officiating  minister  of  St.  Andrew's  to  baptize  his  first- 


240  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1832. 

born.  The  father  was  met  by  a  kindly  exposition  of 
Presbyterian  disciphne,  and  was  recommended  to 
delay  until  he  himself  should,  by  attending  church  at 
least,  and  then  by  observing  family  worship,  show 
some  honest  regard  for  the  Christianity  he  professed 
in  name  only.  Resentment,  under  Duff's  persuasive 
kindliness,  soon  gave  way  to  the  confession  that  he 
was  junior  partner  of  a  firm  which  employed  five 
hundred  natives,  that  his  senior  was  in  England,  that 
he  had  to  supervise  the  men  on  Sunday  as  on  other 
days  and  could  not  possibly  attend  church.  The 
minister's  further  intercourse  with  him  and  his  wife 
led  him  to  try  the  experiment  of  shutting  the  oflBce 
for  one  day  in  seven.  Summoning  his  operatives  on 
the  Saturday,  he  explained  that  for  the  next  month 
he  would  not  require  their  attendance  on  Sunday,  but 
would  not  on  that  account  lower  their  wages.  If  he 
found  that  the  four  or  five  holidays  led  them  to  work 
more  zealously,  he  would  be  able  to  make  the  arrange- 
ment permanent.  They  could  not  believe  the  state- 
ment at  first,  and  it  soon  formed  the  talk  of  the 
neighbourhood  and  of  the  surrounding  villages  to 
which  they  belonged.  It  was  found  that  not  one  was 
absent  on  Monday  morning,  and  that  that  month's 
tale  of  work  exceeded  the  out-turn  of  each  of  its  pre- 
decessors, while  a  new  feeling  of  cheerful  loyalty  and 
confidence  had  been  born  between  the  employed  and 
their  employer.  The  change,  and  the  baptism  which 
followed,  became  the  beginning  of  a  new  life  to  more 
than  to  this  family.  It  was  long  till  society  became 
outwardly  transformed.  But  that  was  the  dawn  of 
the  social  as  well  as  spiritual  improvement  which 
has  made  the  Christian  day  of  rest,  observed  by 
Government  order  and  European  opinion,  a  boon  and 
a  teacher  to  the  thousands  of  toiling  Hindoos  and 
others  who  rejoice  in  its  physical  advantages,  and  are 


JEt   26.        WORK  AMONG  AMERICANS.  24 1 

sometimes  led  by  it  to  liiglier  thouglits,  though,  un- 
doubtedly, the  viciously  inclined  abuse  the  rest  as 
all  good  gifts  may  be  abused.  The  English  Sab- 
bath is  not  the  least  of  the  blessings  conferred  by 
the  British  Government  on  India,  and,  as  usual,  the 
missionaries  pointed  the  way. 

Not  till  he  had  been  for  six  months  thus  building 
up  the  congregation  did  Mr.  Duff  announce  the  in- 
tended communion  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  A  young 
American  waited  upon  him  next  day  to  declare  that, 
being  from  Boston,  he  had  been  brought  up  a  Uni- 
tarian, but  had  failed  to  find  any  real  comfort  in  his 
religion.  Expecting  an  impulse  to  a  higher  emotional 
life  at  least  from  the  celebration  of  the  sacrament 
after  the  simple  Scottish  form,  he  sought  permission 
to  sit  down  at  the  table  with  friends  who  were  already 
members  of  the  Kirk.  Having  expounded  the  true 
nature  of  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  very  much  as  he 
had  done  to  inquirers  like  Krishna  Mohun  Banerjea, 
and  pointed  to  the  only  source  of  all  the  privilege  of 
His  memorial  sacrifice,  Mr.  Duff  recommended  further 
study  of  Scripture.  The  youth  consented,  and  at  the 
same  time  courteously  offered  his  counsellor  the  books 
of  Dr.  Channing,  which  were  at  that  time  new  to 
England  and  India.  As  the  American,  with  the 
assistance  of  no  little  intercourse  with  Duff,  was 
gradually  being  led  upwards  from  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
to  the  Immanuel  Who  was  wounded  for  our  transsrres- 
sions,  a  wasting  sickness  seized  him,  and  he  was  sent 
to  sea  to  the  health-giving  breezes  at  the  Sandheads. 
In  the  pilot-brig  he  died,  but  not  before  the  full  glory 
of  the  Incarnation  entered  his  soul,  and  he  charged 
the  captain,  as  he  died,  to  tell  Mr.  Duff  that  he  had 
found  Jesus  to  be  his  all-sufficient  because  Divine 
Saviour.  Such  cases  may  be  taken  as  typical  of 
the  work  done  among  his   own  people  in   that  year 

E 


t 


242  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1830. 

memorable  to  many.  Thus,  as  ever  after,  there  worked 
side  by  side  in  Duff's  career  the  evangelising  of  the 
Hindoo  and  the  recalling  by  the  evangel  of  many  who 
had  forgotten  their  baptismal,  their  national,  their 
personal  birthright  in  Christ. 

In  all  this  the  impulsive  but  ever  loving  heart  of 
Alexander  Duff  had  continued  to  pant  for  the  sym- 
pathy of  such  a  friend  as  Urquhart,  whom  he  had  lost 
all  too  soon  in  his  student  days.  Dr.  Brown  had  been 
taken  away,  and  in  the  great-hearted  Swiss  Lacroix, 
over  whose  grave  he  long  after  poured  out  a  eulogy 
worthy  of  David  and  Jonathan,  he  found  some  of  the 
affection  that  strong  men  cherish.  Many,  who  knew 
little  of  the  far  higher  work  he  was  doing  for  all  time, 
had  desired  to  see  him  Dr.  Brown's  successor,  and  to 
this  he  alludes  in  these  letters  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Laurie, 
the  Madras  chaplain,  by  whom  he  had  been  hospitably 
received  on  his  way  to  Calcutta.  The  fervour  of  his 
friendly  longing  bursts  forth,  as  it  ever  did  to  those  he 
valued.  Here,  too,  we  see  his  interest  in  the  soldiers, 
for  whom  few  then  cared  : — 

"  College  Square,  Calcutta,  Is^  Nov.,  1830. 
"  My  Dear  Friend, — Bold  indeed  must  that  heart 
be,  and  cheerless  that  soul,  that  would- not  experience, 
I  will  not  say  pleasure  simply,  but  strong  emotions 
of  holy  love  and  ardour  on  the  perusal  of  your  truly 
apostolic  letter.  I  have  not  for  a  long  time  received 
anything  so  refreshing  and  to  myself  so  humbling. 
With  the  sincerity  of  conviction  I  felt  that  you  treated 
me  and  mine  with  more  than  a  brother's  kindness,  and 
manifested  towards  me  more  than  the  natural  tokens 
of  a  brother's  love,  and  I  appeared  to  feel  that  it  was 
not  possible  to  regard  any  other  brother  in  Christ 
with  a  more  tender  affection.  But  since  the  receipt 
of  your  last  letter  you  seem  as  if  more   endeared  than 


v£t.  24.  WOKK    AMONG    SOLDIERS.  243 

ever  to  my  soul.  Such  warmth,  sucli  earnest  anxietj^ 
such  bowels  of  compassion,  such  yearnings  of  a  father 
for  the  souls  of  his  people  !  Truly  was  I  cheered  and 
aroused,  as  with  a  message  from  heaven,  and  humbled 
to  the  very  dust.  Oh,  that  I  had  one  half  the  zeal  and 
anxious  longing  for  the  redemption  of  lost  souls  and 
the  continued  welfare  of  such  as  appear  to  be  within 
the  fold  of  Christ !  Oh  pray  with  me,  and  for  me, 
that  all  the  cold  and  frozen  apathy  of  nature  may 
disappear  before  the  genial  influences  of  a  heavenly 
fire  ! 

"It  need  scarcely  be  added,  that  immediately  after 
receiving  your  letter  the  necessary  inquiries  were 
made  respecting  the  regiment  in  behalf  of  which  you 
expressed  such  deep  and  unfeigned  interest.  The 
information  obtained  was  that  one  half  of  the  regi- 
ment had  reached  Calcutta,  and  proceeded  straight  on 
to  Chinsurah,  thirty  miles  to  the  north  ;  that  Chinsurah 
itself  was  only  to  be  a  temporary  station,  as  the  inten- 
tion was  that  they  should  proceed  without  delay  to  the 
upper  provinces.  By  this  arrangement  I  am  not  only 
deprived  of  the  opportunity  of  being  useful  to  them, 
but  also  precluded  from  the  possibility  of  seeing  them 
at  all.  I  trust,  however,  that  they  will  not  be  for- 
saken, that  He  who  hath  begun  a  good  work  will 
accomplish  it  unto  the  end.  While  at  Chinsurah  they 
may  derive  benefit  from  the  instructions  of  Mr.  Pear- 
son, missionary  of  the  London  Society.  On  Monday 
last  week  he  came  down  to  Calcutta  on  business  :  to 
him  I  represented  the  case  as  strongly  as  possible. 
He  felt  for  them,  and  stated  that  on  Sunday,  24tli 
October,  about  forty  assembled  and  listened  atten- 
tively to  his  address ;  and  that  his  efforts  should  not 
be  spared  so  far  as  his  other  duties  would  admit  of 
it.  Hence  you  perceive  that  the  Lord  has  dealt  very 
graciously  with  them ;  and  our  prayers  should  be  that 


244  TilFB    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1830. 

at  every  station  some  man  of  God  may  be  raised  up 
to  comfort  and  cheer  this  little  baud  in  the  perilous 
voyage  to  eternity,  warn  them  of  danger,  strengthen 
them  for  the  toil  of  a  busy  warfare,  and  direct  them 
in  safety  to  the  blissful  haven  of  eternal  rest. 

"  It  is  interesting  to  think  that  after  reaching  Cal- 
cutta the  idea  suggested  in  your  letter,  of  employing 
pious  and  respectably  educated  soldiers  as  teachers, 
occurred  so  forcibly  to  my  mind  that  the  first  attempt 
to  secure  teachers  was  directed  to  that  quarter ;  and 
it  was  only  after  the  attempt  proved  fruitless  that 
my  attention  was  particularly  directed  towards  'the 
country-born,'  as  they  are  commonly  called.  Among 
these,  after  much  trouble,  anxiety  and  waste  of 
time,  I  succeeded  in  securing  two  or  three  young 
men  of  apparent  piety  and  steady  consistency  of 
conduct.  For  this  I  feel  thankful  to  God,  and  trust 
that  in  future,  with  God's  blessing,  the  requisite 
supply  of  subordinate  teachers  may  be  had  from  this 
class. 

"  I  would  now  be  inclined  to  give  you  some  account 
of  all  my  proceedings  for  the  last  five  husy  busy 
months,  but  know  not  where  to  begin  or  how  to 
end,  so  multifarious  and  closely  crowded  are  the 
materials  accumulated.  A  volume,  not  a  few  sheets, 
would  be  required.  This  note,  however,  is  but  the 
preliminary  notice,  as  it  were,  of  what  I  trust  will  be 
a  frequent  and  delightful  correspondence.  In  order 
to  meet  your  wishes,  when  you  write  be  so  kind  as  to 
state,  in  the  form  of  question,  those  subjects  on  which 
you  would  desire  to  be  informed,  and  I  in  return  will 
take  the  same  liberty  witli  you.  I  have  now  traversed 
every  part  of  Calcutta  and  its  vicinity  ;  have  resolved, 
after  much  anxious  inquiry,  to  make  Calcutta  my  head- 
quarters ;  have  found  the  impossibility  of  instituting, 
in   the  first  instance,   a  central   seminary  of  the  de- 


^t.   24.  HE    DESCEIBES    HIS    WOKK.  245 

scription  proposed  by  the  Assembly's  committee ;  have 
found,  after  much  investigation,  that,  in  the  present 
state  of  things  in  Calcutta,  it  is  more  advisable  for  the 
Assembly's  ultimate  purpose  to  maintain  English  in 
preference  to  Bengalee  schools ;  have  proved,  by  a 
most  successful  experiment  on  a  large  scale,  that,  with 
proper  management,  elementary  English  education, 
including  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  by  the  most 
advanced  classes,  may  be  carried  on  to  almost  any 
extent ;  and  that,  in  the  course  of  a  very  few  years 
indeed,  a  central  institution  for  a  higher  education  will 
be  absolutely  demanded.  I  cannot  enter  into  detail. 
In  the  school  now  formed  in  the  building  formerly 
occupied  as  a  Hindoo  college,  on  the  Chitpore  road, 
there  are  present  every  day,  after  making  the  neces- 
sary allowance  for  temporary  engagements  and  sick- 
ness, not  less  than  250  from  the  age  of  six  to  twenty- 
four,  and  of  all  classes  from  the  Brahman  downwards. 
The  labours  of  every  day  are  commenced  with  prayer 
— generally  the  Lord's  Prayer,  as  that  has  been  fully 
explained;  about  ninety  read  a  portion  of  the  New 
Testament  in  English,  and  listen  to  any  explanations 
or  remarks.  So  far  well.  The  Lord  alone  can  give 
the  effectual  blessing.  I  have  been  and  still  am  in  a 
whirling  vortex  of  employment.  Excuse  therefore  my 
haste.  Pray  write  me  without  delay.  Remember  me 
in  kindness  to  those  dear  friends  who  share  in  our 
Christian  affection  —  Messrs.  Dalmahoy,  Bannister, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wardrope,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Webster,  Mr. 
Smith  and  Mr.  Ridsdale.  I  have  no  recollection  of 
one  of  the  name  of  Rodgers  at  St.  Andrews.  I  pray 
fervently  with  my  whole  heart  that  he  may  prove  a 
faithful,  zealous  and  devoted  fellow-worker  with  you 
in  the  ministry.  Oh,  who  can  estimate  the  blessing 
of  a  messenger  of  God,  having  the  same  mind  and 
bearing  the   shame  with  and  for  Christ !     Who  can 


246  LIFE    or   DR.    DUFF.  183 1. 

estimate  the  curse  of  an  emissary  of  Satan,  wearing 
the  outward  garb  and  glorying  only  in  the  riches  of 
Christ's  visible  Church  !  The  last  accounts  from  Dr. 
Brown  are  cheerless ;  I  fear  he  is  no  more ;  if  so, 
happy,  happy,  happy  he  !" 

"29th  December,  1831. 

"  Things  here  are  in  a  very  complicated  state,  and 
very  difficult  to  unravel  in  all  that  concerns  the  vitals 
of  religion,  whether  among  Europeans  or  natives.  I 
think  it  not  unlikely  that  when  a  decided  movement 
shall  take  place  it  will  be  simultaneous  among 
all  classes,  and  probably  sudden  in  its  appearance. 
Be  this  as  it  may,  the  elements  of  change  are  at 
present  accumulating  rather  than  any  great  or  deci- 
sive change  developed.  Much  is  visible  to  call  forth 
gratitude  to  God,  but  nothing,  nothing  to  equal  the 
expectations  raised  at  home  or  justify  the  gloryings 
of  many. 

"  I  am  still  little  else  than  an  explorer  of  the  field, 
though  the  success  of  the  large  English  school  estab- 
lished is  pleasing,  and  with  the  Divine  blessing  it  may 
become  one  of  the  nurseries  of  a  higher  and  better 
institution.  Since  the  departure  and  death  of  our 
mutually  much  esteemed  friend,  Dr.  Brown,  I  am 
left  absolutely  alone.  Many,  many  are  exceedingly 
kind  and  friendly,  but  there  is  not  one  who  can  feel 
and  co-operate  with  me  as  a  brother.  Often  I  think  of 
Madras  and  of  the  kind  friends  there,  and  especially 
of  you,  my  brother.  More  I  cannot  say — I  always 
fear  giving  vent  to  my  feelings,  lest  there  might  escape 
a  word  that  indicated  repining  or  dissatisfaction  with 
the  allotments  of  the  Almighty. 

"My  spare  time — and  it  has  hitherto  been  very 
limited — is  devoted  to  the  languages.  Here,  with 
God's  blessing,  I  experience  little  difficulty — the  want 


^t.  25.  ARRIVAL    OF    DANIEL    WILSON.  247 

of  time  is  my  grand  enemy.  I  have  had  no  tidings 
from  home  of  late,  though  I  daily  expect  to  hear  some- 
thing about  fellow-labourers  on  their  way  or  arriving. 
Education  can  be  pursued  to  almost  any  extent  in 
Calcutta,  with  proper  agents  and  adequate  funds.  I 
intend  very  soon  to  transmit  home  a  report  or 
memorial  on  the  practicability  and  necessity  of  found- 
ing an  institution  for  the  more  advanced  branches  of 
a  literary,  scientific  and  Christian  course  of  instruction, 
to  which  the  labours  of  European  teachers  shall  be 
chiefly  confined,  while  the  branch  schools  may  always 
be  conducted  by  less  qualified  individuals  to  be  found 
already  in  the  country,  and  the  direct  preaching  of 
the  gospel  shall  be  carried  on  to  the  utmost  practicable 
extent. 

"  Has  your  colleague  arrived  ?  and  does  he  profess 
a  kindred  spirit  ?  Many  here  have  wished  to  per- 
suade me  to  apply,  or  allow  application  to  be  made, 
that  I  might  succeed  Dr.  Brown,  but  I  have  per- 
emptorily declined,  on  the  ground  that  my  motives 
might  be  misrepresented  and  misconstrued — that  the 
act  might  be  viewed  as  an  inglorious  abandonment 
of  the  cause  which  I  have  engaged  to  promote,  and 
that  in  this  way  the  cause  itself,  so  far  as  its  present 
connection  with  the  Church  of  Scotland  is  concerned, 
might  languish  and  suffer.  But  from  my  soul  I 
pray,  and  I  am  sure  you  will  join  me  in  this  prayer, 
that  a  man  of  Grod  may  appear  to  heal  the  breaches 
that  have  been  opened  in  our  Zion. 

"  Have  you  written  Dr.  Inglis  ?  or  found  it  prudent 
to  attempt  making  any  collection  for  the  General 
Assembly's  fund  ?     Yours  very  truly, 

"Alexander  Duff." 

Daniel  Wilson's  arrival  in  1832,  as  fifth  Bishop  of 
Calcutta,    brought    together   two    men  of    the   same 


248  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1832. 

evangelical  spirit  though  separated  Dy  ecclesiastical 
forms.  "  A  visit  to  Dr.  Carey  at  Serampore," 
writes  the  bishop's  biographer,  "  elicited  many  in- 
teresting reminiscences  of  the  early  Christianity  of 
India.  A  friendly  conversation  with  Dr.  Duff  fur- 
nished important  information  on  the  subject  of  native 
education."  Daniel  Wilson's  episcopate  was  to  last 
nearly  as  long  as  Duff's  apostleship  in  India.  Al- 
though the  most  "  churchy  "  of  evangelicals  the  bishop 
wrote  of  Lord  W.  Bentinck,  as  he  might  have  done  of 
Duff,  "  Lord  William  is  rather  more  of  a  Whig  and 
less  of  a  churchman  than  I  could  desire,  but  incom- 
parably better  than  the  highest  churchman  if  without 
piety,  vigour  and  activity.  Lord  William  reverences 
religion  and  its  sincere  professors  and  ministers, 
but  he  has  prejudices  against  bishops."  Like  Duff, 
the  Governor- Greneral  had  told  the  new  bishop,  who 
applied  to  him  in  vain  to  have  his  sacerdotal  claims 
over  the  chaplains  legally  acknowledged,  "  Christianity 
is  my  object."  The  bishop  rejoined  with  characteristic 
prejudice  :  "  With  a  feeble  people  like  the  Hindoos 
there  must  be  creeds,  a  liturgy  and  an  established 
ministry."  Yet  Duff  had  won  his  first  four  converts 
there,  and  the  revolution  he  had  begun  was  so  fer- 
menting that  the  bishop  wrote  in  March,  1833  :  "  A 
most  interesting  moment  is  dawning  on  India.  The 
native  mind  is  at  work.  A  beginning  of  things  is 
already  made." 

Europeans  and  Americans  constituted  only  one-half 
of  the  professing  Christian  or  born  Christian  commu- 
nity in  India.  Before  the  influence  of  missionaries 
and  chaplains,  the  overland  route  and  liberal  furlough 
rules  combined  to  make  the  married  life  of  white 
settlers  in  India  all  that  the  wife  of  Sir  Henry  Lawrence 
longed  for  it  to  be,  in  the  Calcutta  Review,  the  Eura- 
sians   (Europe-Asia)   or    East    Indians    had    become 


^t.  26.  THE  EURASIANS  AND  THE  DOVETON  COLLEGES.     249 

strong  in  numbers,  the  offspring  of  English  fathers 
and  native  mothers.  In  1833  Duflf  developed  into  a 
system  his  labours  for  them. 

Leaving  out  the  half-caste  children  of  the  earlier 
Portuguese,  who  had  been  allowed  to  fall  near  the 
level  of  the  lower  castes  by  the  Romish  Church  which 
should  have  cared  for  its  sons,  the  mixed  offspring  of 
their  officers  and  writers  early  forced  the  Company  to 
attend  to  them.  So  far  as  these  children  had  sprung 
from  soldiers,  the  Military  Orphan  School,  for  which 
David  Brown  first  went  to  India,  was  established  in 
1783,  and  the  Female  Orphan  Asylum  in  1815' — noble 
charities  still.  In  1789  the  charity  school  for  others 
was  developed  into  the  Free  School,  originally  endowed 
with  part  of  the  compensation  paid  by  the  Moorsheda- 
bad  Government  for  its  sack  of  old  Calcutta.  The 
immortal  three  of  Serampore  established  the  Benevolent 
Institution  in  Calcutta  to  meet  the  increasing  need, 
while  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Marshman  conducted  high-class 
schools  at  Serampore  for  the  benefit  of  the  mission. 
More  recently  the  third  of  a  million  sterling,  left  by 
the  Frenchman,  Claude  Martin,  who  "  came  to  India  a 
private  soldier  and  died  a  major-general,"  as  his  tomb 
records,  was  spent  in  Martiuieres  or  boarding  schools 
for  poor  Christians  in  Calcutta,  Lucknow,  and  his 
native  city  of  Lyons.  Finally,  the  great  and  good 
Henry  Lawrence  endowed  the  hill  Asylums  which  bear 
his  name,  for  the  children  of  our  Christian  soldiers 
not  otherwise  provided  for.  It  is  a  bright  roll  of 
Christlike  love  covering  a  multitude  of  sins,  not 
judging,  but  healing  and  atoning  for  an  evil  and,  to 
its  victims,  inevitable  past. 

Now  in  all  this  there  is  no  independent  self-effort. 
The  Eurasian  community  has  given  India  and  Eng- 
land some  of  its  best  men  and  women,  whose  virtues 
were  nursed  on  self-reliance  and  the  fear  of  God.     In 


250  LIFE   OP   DR.    DUFF.  1832. 

1823  the  Eurasians  of  Calcutta  united  to  found  a 
joint  proprietary  scliool,  catholic  within  the  limits  of 
Protestantism,  for  the  higher  education  of  their  chil- 
dren. Their  fine  ideal  they  somewhat  stiffly  ex- 
pressed in  the  name  they  gave  to  what  became  the 
germ  of  the  Doveton  Colleges,  the  Parental  Aca- 
demic Institution.  In  this  they  followed  the  Baptist 
founders  of  the  Benevolent  Institution  and  the  Ar- 
menian conductors  of  the  Philanthropic  Institution, 
under  that  good  man  and  scholar,  Johannes  Avdall. 
Their  leader  was  the  son  of  an  English  ensign 
who  fell  at  the  siege  of  Seringapatam,  John  William 
Ricketts.  He  rose  from  the  Military  Orphan  School, 
through  the  East  India  Company's  establishment 
at  Bencoolen,  to  be  the  first  of  his  class  in  India. 
This  college  was  the  boon  he  left  them,  as  well  as 
the  right  of  sitting  on  juries  side  by  side  with  their 
fellow  Christians.  But  he  did  more.  He  deserves 
to  be  remembered  as  the  one  citizen  of  Calcutta  who, 
when  a  public  meeting  was  about  unanimously  to  vote 
a  complimentary  address  to  the  Honble.  Mr.  Adam, 
protested  against  so  honouring  the  man  who  had 
stripped  the  press  in  India  of  liberty. 

We  have  seen  how  Duff  had  been  led,  in  his  early 
despair  of  finding  assistants,  to  think  of  soldiers,  and 
how  he  had  secured  the  young  adventurer,  Clift.  His 
experience  of  the  two  lads  Sunder  and  Pereira,  who 
were  his  first  pupil-teachers,  and  the  zeal  which  led 
him  to  examine  and  advise  all  the  schools  in  and 
around  Calcutta  of  every  kind,  brought  him  into  close 
relations  with  the  collegiate  school  of  the  Eurasians. 
His  great  services  to  it  led  the  managers  to  nominate 
him  visitor,  side  by  side  with  the  patron.  Lord  Met- 
calfe, of  whose  merits  as  a  Christian  statesman  this 
is  not  the  least,  that  he  was  the  first  official  to  help 
the  Eurasians  to  help  themselves,  as  Lord  Northbrook's 


.-F,t.  2  6.        lk;ilT    lOU    THE    RIGHTS    OF    CONSCIENCE.  25  I 

Government  did  long  after,  when  alarmed  at  the 
increase  of  Christian  poverty  in  India  caused  by  the 
thoughtless  neglect  of  all  the  intervening  administra- 
tions. "  Much  as  has  been  gained,"  he  told  the  com- 
mittee, teachers  and  youth  of  the  school  after  the  tenth 
successful  examination  in  1833  :  "  much  yet  remains  to 
be  won.  Let  this  community  rise  by  its  own  endea- 
vours ;  unless  men  act  as  men,  what  can  Governments 
do  ?  Moral  and  intellectual  knowledge  are  not  sepa- 
rated, and  we  gain  the  highest  dignity  of  our  nature 
when  we  cultivate  both." 

For  the  Eurasians  as  for  the  Native  Christians  and 
all  who  were  not  either  Hindoos,  Muhammadans  or 
European  British-born  subjects,  Duff  was  in  the  front 
of  those  who  fousrht  the  battle  for  the  risi'hts  of  con- 
science,  which  Lord  William  Bentinck  partially  and 
Lord  Dalhousie  and  Lord  Lawrence  long  after 
completely  secured  to  all  classes.  With  a  true  toler- 
ance, but  in  ignorance  of  what  it  involved,  Warren 
Hastings  in  his  code  of  1772  guaranteed  to  Hindoos 
and  Muhammadans  their  own  laws  of  inheritance. 
But  these  laws  exclude  dissidents  from  their  respective 
religions  from  all  civil  right  to  ancestral  property. 
Conversion  meant  disinheritance,  and  Parliament,  with 
ignorance  equal  to  that  of  Hastings,  wrote  such  a  law 
on  the  English  statute-book.  As  if  this  were  not 
enough,  the  East  India  Company  had  by  legislation 
excluded  all  converts  from  public  office  of  any  kind. 
Duff  had  not  been  long  in  Calcutta  when  he  awoke 
to  the  enormity  of  enactments  which  Muhammadans 
themselves  would  never  have  passed  or  enforced,  and 
which  fossilized  Hindooism  for  ever.  From  1830  the 
missionaries  all  over  India  agitated  the  question,  the 
Court  of  Directors  was  stirred  up  by  memorial,  and 
the  Eurasians  sent  home  Mr.  Ricketts  to  petition  Par- 
Uament,   which    examined  him.     The   result    was  the 


252  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1832. 

Regulation  of  1822,  which  provides  that  no  one  shall 
lose  any  rights  or  property,  or  deprive  any  other  of 
rights  or  property  by  changing  his  religion.  Lord 
William  Bentinck  had  previously  thrown  open  the 
public  service  to  all  the  natives  of  India,  including 
the  outlawed  Native  Christians,  enacting  that  there 
should  be  no  exclusion  from  of&ce  on  account  of  caste, 
creed  or  nation.  The  development  of  an  enlightened 
legislation  under  Macaulay,  Peacock,  Maine  and 
Stephen,  has  now  given  the  varied  creeds  and  races  of 
India  better  codes  than  any  country  possesses,  and, 
save  as  to  the  rights  of  minors  and  age  of  majority — 
not  yet  settled  in  England — nothing  more  is  needed. 

But  how  desirable  that  is  still  may  appear  from  the 
first  colhsion  with  the  law,  or  rather  the  lawyers,  in 
defence  of  the  rights  of  conscience.  The  missionaries 
were  those  of  the  Church  of  England,  their  natural 
defender  was  the  newly  arrived  Bishop  Wilson,  but 
their  actual  leader  was  the  young  Highlander,  whose 
zeal  for  fair-play  and  civil  and  religious  liberty  led  him 
alone  into  the  breach  and  to  victory. 

The  case  occurred  just  after  the  whole  Mission- 
ary Conference  had  publicly  answered  a  thoughtless 
attack  upon  them  by  the  then  rising  orientalist,  H.  H. 
Wilson,  and  had  forced  that  keen  Hindooizer  to 
apologise  to  them.  From  the  day  when,  in  1808, 
Wilson  reported  his  arrival  at  Calcutta  a  young 
assistant  surgeon,  he  became  popular  as  an  amateur 
actor  and  musician  in  the  local  theatre,  and  as  a  most 
versatile  and  accomplished  member  of  society.  But 
he  worked  hard  at  Sanscrit  in  the  midst  of  all  his 
amusements,  so  that  in  five  years  he  published  his 
first  translation,  that  of  Kalidasa's  Meghaduta  or 
"  Cloud  Messenger,"  and  in  six  more  his  great 
Sanscrit-English  dictionary  appeared.  He  gradually 
established  his  reputation  as,  next  to  Colebrooke,  the 


Ait.   .'6.     II.  II.  WILSON  APOLOGISES  TO  Tlin  MISSIONARIES.    253 

greatest  of  English  orientalists.  Just  before  lie  went 
home,  in  1832,  to  be  the  first  Boden  professor  of 
Sanscrit  in  Oxford,  an  appointment  which  he  gained 
by  the  narrow  majority  of  seven  over  the  learned  and 
devout  Dr.  Mill,  he  wrote  a  letter  on  the  study  of 
Sanscrit  literature  in  England,  at  the  request  of 
Bishop  Turner.  In  that  letter  this  passage  occurred : 
"  In  Beno^al  the  better  order  of  Hindoos  resfard  the 
missionaries  with  feelings  of  inveterate  animosity, 
whilst  they  invariably  express  a  high  respect  for 
clergymen  of  the  Established  Church.  They  cannot 
avoid  seeing  that  the  latter  are  held  in  higher  estima- 
tion by  the  European  society,  and  that  they  cannot 
be  reproached  with  practices  which  not  unfrequently 
degrade  the  missionary  character  in  the  eyes  of  the 
natives."  Called  to  account  for  this  "snobbish"  as 
well  as  libellous  statement  by  "  the  missionaries  of 
all  denominations  in  Calcutta,"  Dr.  H.  H.  Wilson  ex- 
plained that  the  letter  was  private  and  had  not  been 
published  by  him,  and  that  he  was  exceedingly  sorry 
to  learn  it  "  should  have  given  pain  to  the  missionaries 
of  Calcutta,  for  whom  generally  I  have  a  high  respect, 
and  with  several  of  whom  I  have  long  been  and  hope 
long  to  be  on  terms  of  kind  and  friendly  intercourse." 
His  defence  on  the  merits  was,  that  he  merely  re- 
ported the  opinions  of  high  caste  Bengalee  society, 
which  he  did  not  share.  This  made  it  the  more  im- 
portant that  the  missionaries  should  meet  the  reflec- 
tions upon  them,  which  they  did  in  a  letter  signed 
by  the  Rev.  C.  G-ogerly,  the  Conference  secretary,  and 
full  of  historical  interest  to  all  who  would  trace  the 
development  of  Christianity  in  India.* 

The  truth  is,  that  Dr.  H.  H.  Wilson  only  too  ac- 
curately, because  undesignedly    and   without  malice, 

•  Calcutta  Ghristian  Observer  for  Oct.,  1832,  vol.  i.,  p.  233, 


\ 


254  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1832. 

expressed  the  contempt  with  which  missionaries  had 
been  regarded  by  men  and  ministers  of  the  world,  in 
the  days  of  the  vile  treatment  of  Carey  and  his 
colleagues  by  their  home  committee,  which  tempted 
the  sneers  of  Sydney  Smith  in  the  Edinhurgh  Bevieio. 
For  men  to  live  in  poverty,  and  die  unknown  by  their 
contemporaries,  for  the  sake  of  oppressed  or  savage 
or  superstition-ridden  races,  while  really  the  pioneers 
of  the  Government  which  proscribed  them  and  the 
founders  of  civihzation  and  scholarship,  was  to  be  pro- 
nounced mean,  weak,  illiterate  creatures.  Alexander 
Duff  in  Eastern,  as  John  Wilson  in  "Western  India, 
was  the  first  to  change  all  that,  even  before  the  gentle 
Carey's  death,  alike  by  his  work  and  by  such  an 
exposure  of  the  calumny  that  the  boldest  scofier 
dared  not  repeat  the  lie. 

It  happened  thus.  Dufi''s  success  had  led  the 
Church  Missionary  Society  to  open  an  English  school 
in  its  Amherst-street  mission-house.  Of  that  Duff's 
second  convert,  Krishna  Mohun  Banerjea,  had  been  ap- 
pointed master.  There  Brijonath  Ghose,  after  several 
months'  instruction,  sought  baptism,  and  took  refuge 
with  his  own  countryman,  the  master,  to  escape  the 
persecution  of  his  family.  He  was  above  fourteen 
years  of  age,  then  believed  to  be  the  Hindoo  age  of 
discretion,  as  it  is  more  than  that  of  puberty  and 
marriage.  Blackstone  lays  it  down  that  a  boy  "  at 
fourteen  is  at  years  of  discretion,  and  therefore  may 
consent  or  disagree  to  marriage."  The  father  had 
taken  the  youth  from  the  Hindoo  College,  lest  the 
purely  secular  education  there  should  make  him  a 
"  nastik "  or  atheist,  and  had  placed  him  under  so 
well-known  a  Christian  convert  as  Krishna  Mohun, 
after  hearing  the  bishop  declare  that  instruction  in 
Christianity  was  the  grand  object  of  the  school.  Yet, 
under  a  writ  of  habeas  corjpus,  to  which  Krishna  Mohun 


/Et.  24.  THE    FIRST    HABEAS    CORPUS    CASE.  255 

replied  that  the  boy  was  not  in  his  custody,  Brijonath 
himself  appeared  at  the  bar  of  the  Supreme  Court. 
After  pleadings  on  both  sides,  it  was  decided  that  he 
must  be  delivered  up  to  his  father  as  not  of  age,  being 
only  "  fourteen  years  or  thereabouts."  Documentary 
evidence  of  age,  from  the  horoscope,  is  fabricated  in 
India  with  an  ease  which  has  led  the  civil  service 
commissioners  in  England  to  reject  it  altogether, 
while  oral  witnesses  can  be  purchased  at  sixpence  a 
head.  The  test  of  discretion,  of  intelligence,  of  sincer- 
ity, seems  to  have  been  rejected,  as  it  never  was  in 
England  in  cases  which  were  then  frequent  in  Chancery 
as  to  Protestant,  Roman  Catholic,  and  Jewish  minors. 
The  daily  papers,  by  no  means  prejudiced  in  favour 
of  men  at  whose  puritanism  they  were  too  ready  to 
laugh,  described  the  scene  at  this  the  first  attempt  to 
vindicate  for  the  natives  themselves,  who  will  one  day 
be  grateful  for  the  act,  the  rights  of  conscience. 
"  The  poor  fellow,"  reported  the  Bengal  Hurharn, 
"  was  then  seized  hold  of  by  the  father,  who  could  not 
get  him  out  of  the  court  without  considerable  exertion. 
The  little  fellow  cried  most  bitterly,  repeated  his 
appeals  to  the  judges,  seized  hold  of  the  barristers' 
table,  and  was  dragged  inch  by  inch  out  of  the  court, 
amidst  the  sympathy  of  some  and  the  triumph  of 
others."  Bishop  Wilson,  who  was  to  have  baptized 
him,  felt  "  lively  grief ;  "  but  he  contented  himself  with 
this  remark,  "  A  free  agent  I  really  believe  that  boy 
was ;  and  the  law  of  deliverance  has  been  to  him  and 
still  is  an  imprisonment."  In  three  years  thereafter, 
when  the  most  intolerant  could  no  longer  doubt  his 
age,  the  youth,  earnest  and  consistent  amid  all  the 
persecution,  was  with  three  others  baptized. 

The  father's  counsel  was  Mr.  Lougueville  Clark, 
who  had  then  been  ten  years  at  the  Calcutta  bar,  and 
continued  there  for  nearly  forty  more,  with  the  repu- 


256  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1832. 

bation  of  being  one  of  tlie  best  cbess-players  m  the 
world.  To  the  legitimate  arts  by  which  he  served  his 
client,  he  added  in  open  court  the  statement  which, 
under  other  circumstances  and  as  afterwards  intensi- 
fied, might  have  been  libellous,  that  "  this  was  a  case 
of  great  importance,  as  the  rights  of  Hindoo  parents 
were  too  often  invaded  by  the  missionaries  in  Cal- 
cutta!" Brijonath's  was  the  first  case  of  the  kind;  it 
involved  great  legal  as  well  as  moral  principles,  certain 
to  be  again  questioned ;  and  the  charge  was  repeated 
against  the  whole  body  of  missionaries  not  many 
months  after  they  had  received  a  courteous  apology 
from  Dr.  H.  H.  Wilson,  After  in  vain  appealing  to  the 
most  experienced  agents  of  the  missionary  societies 
to  vindicate  the  common  purity  of  motive,  rectitude 
of  action  and  inevitable  sense  of  duty,  Mr.  Duff,  the 
youngest  among  them,  entered  the  lists.  Having 
failed  to  obtain  from  Mr.  Clark  the  most  microscopic 
evidence  of  his  statement  beyond  general  assertions, 
which  added  to  the  injury  the  insult  that  the 
conduct  of  the  missionaries  was  "  flagitious  and 
dangerous,"  Mr.  Duff  resolved  to  publish  the  corre- 
spondence. 

But  where  ?  The  three  daily  papers  he  believed  to 
be  hostile  to  him  at  that  time.  Fortunately,  Mr.  Stoc- 
queler,  also  of  the  Sans  Souci  theatre  set  of  amateurs, 
had  come  round  from  Bombay  to  Calcutta,  and  had 
bought  the  Tory  newspaper  of  Dr.  Bryce,  the  John 
Bull.  Securing  as  his  staff  of  heavy  writers  Sir  John 
Peter  Grant,  who  had  resigned  the  Bombay  bench  after 
his  squabbles  with  Sir  John  Malcolm,  Mr.  John  Farley 
Leith,  now  M.P.  for  Aberdeen,  and  Mr.  Charles  Thack- 
eray, uncle  of  the  great  prose  satirist,  the  new  editor 
converted  the  almost  defunct  daily  into  the  liberal 
Englishman.  At  that  press  Macaulay  used  soon  after 
to  print  the  rough  proofs  of  those  essays  which  ho 


^t.  26.  OASTIGATES    MR.    LONGUEVILLE    CLARK.  257 

sent  from  India  to  ISTapier,  while  IIol well's  monument 
to  the  memory  of  those  who  died  in  the  Black  Hole 
still  perpetuated  the  humiliation,  and  Plassey  looked 
as  it  had  done  on  that  morning  of  sunshine  breaking 
through  the  rain-clouds  when  Clive  gave  the  order  to 
cross  the  river.  Mr.  Duff  found  the  new  editor  will- 
ing to  look  at  the  correspondence,  though  alarmed  by 
its  bulk,  and  was  surprised  to  find  the  whole  in  next 
morning's  paper,  introduced  by  fair  and  even  bold 
editorial  remarks.  The  case  is  only  another  illustra- 
tion of  that  marvellous  power  of  persuasion  which, 
resting  always  on  a  good  cause,  made  Duff  irresistible, 
even  by  experts  like  himself,  in  private  discussion  still 
more  than  in  his  most  skilful  and  eloquent  orations. 
We  remember  a  later  case,  in  which,  in  the  more 
judicial  Friend  of  India,  one  who  has  since  proved 
the  most  brilliant  of  English  journalists,  having  advo- 
cated one  side  of  a  question,  was  led  by  the  moral 
suasion  and  logical  power  of  Duff,  directed  by  a  spirit 
of  purest  philanthropy,  to  confess  that  he  was  wrong, 
frankly  stated  the  other  side,  convinced  the  Govern- 
ment, and  altered  the  proposed  action. 

Never,  in  all  the  controversies  which  we  have  read 
or  heard,  have  first  thoughtless  misrepresentation 
and  then  deliberate  malice  received  such  a  castiofation. 
There  are  passages  in  the  twenty  octavo  pages  of 
Duff's  alternate  scorn  and  ridicule,  reasoned  demon- 
stration and  rhetorical  appeal,  of  which  Junius  would 
have  been  worthy  if  that  pitiless  foe  had  fought  with 
sacred  weapons  and  for  other  than  self-seeking  ends. 
The  Christian  is  never  forgotten,  for  it  is  the  rights 
of  conscience  and  the  supremacy  of  truth  for  which 
he  fights.  Nor  is  the  man,  the  Celt,  the  indignant  de- 
fender of  the  honour  of  his  colleagues,  of  the  glory  of 
his  Master  in  them,  and  of  the  grandeur  of  their  one 
mission,  wanting.     The  reply  of  the  barrister  was  the 

s 


258  LIFE    or   DR.    DUFF.  1832. 

mocking  laugh  of  Mepliistoplieles,  the  expression  of 
a  desire  to  secure  the  missionary  "  for  our  Calcutta 
Drury."  The  press  and  all  society  were  disgusted 
or  indignant  at  the  lawyer  assailant,  to  whom  was 
applied  the  couplet  from  Young's  Epistle  to  Pope : — 

'*  He  rams  his  quill  with  scandal  and  with  scoff, 
But  'tis  so  very  foul  it  won't  go  off." 

The  episode  closed,  for  ever,  the  period  of  super- 
cilious contempt  and  intolerant  misrepresentation  of 
men  and  of  a  cause  soon  found  to  be  identified  with 
the  best  interests  of  the  Hindoos  themselves  as  well 
as  of  the  British  Government.  The  defeated  barrister 
expressed  the  desire  of  seeking  the  satisfaction  appro- 
priate to  himself,  in  a  challenge  to  fight  a  duel,  which 
only  the  black  coat  of  the  defender  of  the  faith  pre- 
vented him  from  sending.  But  he  went  so  far  as  to 
consult  a  friend  on  the  subject. 

All  the  local  honours  and  attentions  which  Calcutta 
society  could  at  that  time  off'er  had  been  pressed  upon 
Mr.  Duff  ever  since  the  first  examination  of  his  school. 
Especially  did  the  leading  men  urge  him  to  join  the 
Bengal  Asiatic  Society,  although  with  most  of  them 
he  was  conducting  the  Oriental  controversy.  But  duty 
to  his  daily  work  prevailed  over  his  natural  tastes,  and 
the  memory  of  Dassen  Island  was  never  absent  from 
him  in  the  face  of  what  he  regarded  as  temptations  to 
literary  self-indulgence.  Of  the  publications,  library, 
and  other  aids  of  the  Society  he  made  full  use  in 
the  war  of  languages,  alphabets  and  systems.  Much 
more  evident  to  him  was  the  duty  of  using  the  Agri- 
cultural Society  of  India,  founded  by  Carey  for  the 
improvement  of  the  peasantry  and  the  enlightenment 
of  the  great  zemindars  whom  the  permanent  settlement 
of  Lord  Cornwallis  had  recognised  as  copyhold  land- 
lords  on  a  vast  scale.     Of  this  body  he  was  long  a 


^t.  26.       DECLINES    TO    ATTEND    AN    OFFICIAL    BALL.  259 

member,  alike  in  its  executive  and  in  its  publications 
committee,  and  thus  he  found  outlets  for  many  of 
the  educated  natives,  non-Christian  as  well  as  Chris- 
tian. 

Of  the  social  life  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Duff  at  this  period  \i 
we  have  one  significant  glimpse.  The  accession  of 
William  IV.  to  the  throne  was  marked  by  an  official 
ball  at  Government  'House,  to  which  they  were  duly 
invited  by  Lord  and  Lady  William  Bentinck.  Per- 
plexed, the  Scottish  missionary  took  counsel  of  a  chap- 
lain, who  assured  him  that,  viewing  the  invitation  as 
a  command,  he  was  in  the  habit  of  going  to  Govern- 
ment House  on  such  occasions,  of  making  his  bow  to 
the  Governor-General  and  his  wife  and  at  once  retiring. 
This  compromise  did  not  commend  itself  to  Mr.  Duff, 
even  although  he  had  not  remembered  the  memorable 
experience  of  the  first  Bishop  of  Calcutta.  On  the 
occasion  of  the  trial  of  Queen  Caroline,  a  witness  for 
the  defence  attempted  to  justify  her  presence  at  an 
indecent  dance  by  the  assurance  that  he  had  seen 
Bishop  Middleton  and  his  family  at  a  nautch  in 
Government  House.  A  reference  made  to  Calcutta 
elicited  the  fact  that  Dr.  Middleton's  family  were 
present  but  not  himself ;  and  the  Marquis  of  Hastings 
sent  the  explanation  to  the  Lord  Chancellor  that  the 
movement  of  a  woman's  feet  while  she  sings  cannot 
be  called  dancing.  This,  however,  was  not  a  nautch, 
but  an  official  ball  for  Europeans  only,  such  as  that  from 
which,  at  a  later  period.  Lord  Elgin  carefully  excluded 
native  nobles,  who  were  liable  to  misunderstand  the 
motives   of   Ensrlish  ladies   on  these  occasions.     Mr. 

o 

Duff  frankly  stated,  in  a  letter  to  the  private  secretary, 
the  reasons  why  he  could  not  conscientiously  obey  the 
most  kind  and  courteous  command  of  the  ruler  of 
India.  After  long  delay  he  received  the  Governor- 
General's    cordial   approval  of   his  spirit  and  action. 


26o  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1834 

Soon  after  liis  Excellency  begged  the  missionary  and 
his  wife  to  meet  him  at  dinner  in  one  of  those  frequent 
gatherings  where  the  two  men  discussed,  in  a  like 
spirit,  the  highest  good  of  the  people  and  the  govern- 
ment of  India. 

Lord  William  Bentinck  left  India  after  sickness  had 
driven  Duff  home  for  a  time.  He  was  a  statesman 
and  a  philanthropist  worthy  to  'be  associated  in  the 
spiritual  as  well  as  intellectual  reformation  of  India 
with  the  man  to  whom,  in  his  absence  and  when 
bidding  all  the  missionaries  good-bye,  he  made  this 
reference,  after  answering  those  who  would  use  the 
force  of  the  conqueror  and  the  influence  of  the 
state-paid  bishop  to  induce  the  profession  of  Chris- 
tianity :  "  Being  as  anxious  as  any  of  these  excellent 
persons  for  the  diffusion  of  Christianity  through  all 
countries,  but  knowing  better  than  they  do  the  ground 
we  stand  upon,  my  humble  advice  to  them  is.  Rely 
exclusively  upon  the  humble,  pious  and  learned  mis- 
sionary. His  labours,  divested  of  all  human  power, 
create  no  distrust.  Encourage  education  with  all  your 
means.  The  offer  of  religious  truth  in  the  school  of 
the  missionary  is  without  objection.  It  is  or  is  not 
accepted.  If  it  is  not,  the  other  seeds  of  instruction 
may  take  root  and  yield  a  rich  and  abundant  harvest 
of  improvement  and  future  benefit.  I  would  give 
them  as  an  example  in  support  of  this  advice,  the 
school  founded  exactly  upon  those  principles,  lately 
superintended  by  the  estimable  Mr.  Duff,  that  has  been 
attended  with  such  unparalleled  success.  I  would  say 
to  them  finally,  that  they  could  not  send  to  India  too 
many  labourers  in  the  vineyard  like  those  whom  I  have 
now  the  gratification  of  addressing.  Farewell.  May 
Grod  Almighty  give  you  health  and  strength  to  prose- 
cute your  endeavours,  and  may  He  bless  them  with 
success."      The  deputation  to  whom  the   great  pro- 


^t  28.  THE    SCHOOL   BECOMES    A    COLLEGE.  26 1 

consul  addressed  words  such  as  had  never  before  been 
heard  from  a  Governor-General's  lips — nor  since — ■ 
consisted  of  the  venerable  Dr.  Marshman,  the  saintly 
Lacroix  and  Mackay,  Messrs.  Sandys,  Yates  and  W. 
I\rorton. 

Lord  William  Bentinck  left  the  land  for  which  he 
had  done  so  much,  in  March,  1835,  eight  months  after 
Duff,  whose  work  he  legislatively  completed  in  the  last 
wrecks  of  his  seven  years'  administration.  But  Duff 
was  not  driven  from  his  position,  even  by  almost  deadly 
disease,  until  he  had  developed  his  school,  with  Mackay 
at  his  side,  into  '*  a  complete  Arts  College  including 
the  thorough  study  of  the  Bible  as  well  as  the  evi- 
dences and  doctrines  of  natural  and  revealed  re- 
lisrion."  The  annual  examination  of  the  classes  in 
the  town-hall  became  one  of  the  notable  events  of  the 
year,  when  there  assembled  the  best  representatives  of 
all  society,  European  and  native,  from  the  Governor- 
General  and  his  wife,  and  the  learned  son  of  the 
founder  of  the  orthodox  Dharma  Sobha,  the  Raja 
Rhadakant  Deb,  to  the  humblest  Baboo  or  middle- class 
Bengalee.  Reporters,  througli  all  the  newspapers, 
spread  the  facts  of  the  six  hours'  testing  of  Hindoos 
in  Biblical  as  well  as  secular  knowledge,  over  Southern 
and  Eastern  Asia.  Mr.  Mack,  the  able  graduate  of  the 
University  of  Edinburgh,  whom  the  Serampore  three 
had  associated  with  them  in  their  educational  and 
literary  labours,  used  to  publish  a  critical  estimate  of 
the  whole,  which  guided  the  many  imitators  of  Duff, 
Christian  and  non- Christian,  to  higher  efforts.  We 
may  leave  with  him  for  a  time  the  famous  General 
Assembly's  Institution,  with  this  description  of  its 
founder  as  he  first  appeared  to  a  little  trembling  eager- 
eyed  boy  brought  in  from  the  jungles  of  Bengal  to 
learn  English  by  an  orthodox  father,  who  ran  the  risk 
of  afterwards  seeing  his  son  a  Christian  and  in  time 


262  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1834. 

a  missionary.     The  Rev.  Lai  Behari  Day  writes  of  this 
time : — * 

"  It  was  some  day  in  the  year  1834  that  I  accompanied  my 
father  to  the  General  Assembly's  Institution.  It  was  about  a 
month  after  I  had  been  admitted  into  the  institution  that  I 
caught  a  near  view  of  the  illustrious  missionary.  He  came 
into  the  class-room  while  we  were  engaged  in  reading  the  first 
page  of  the  *  First  Instructor  ' — the  first  of  a  series  of  class- 
books  compiled  by  himself ;  and  though  forty-four  years  Lave 
elapsed  since  the  occurrence  of  the  incident  my  recollection 
of  it  is  as  vivid  as  if  it  had  happened  only  yesterday.  I  cannot 
say  he  walked  into  the  class-room — he  rushed  into  it,  his  move- 
ments in  those  days  being  exceedingly  rapid.  He  was  dressed 
all  in  black,  and  wore  a  beard.  He  scarcely  stood  still  for  a 
single  second,  but  kept  his  feet  and  his  hands  moving  inces- 
santly, like  a  horse  of  high  mettle.  He  seemed  to  have  more 
life  in  him  than  most  men.  He  had  his  white  pocket-hand- 
kerchief in  his  hand,  which  he  was  every  now  and  then  tying 
round  his  arm  and  twisting  into  a  thousand  shapes.  He 
seemed  to  be  a  living  personation  of  perpetual  motion.  But 
what  attracted  my  notice  most  was  the  constant  shrugging  ot 
his  shoulders,  a  habit  which  he  afterwards  left  off  but  which 
he  had  at  that  time  in  full  perfection.  In  our  lesson  there 
occurred  the  word  '  ox ' :  he  took  hold  of  that  word  and 
catechised  us  on  it  for  about  half  an  hour.  He  asked  us  (the 
master  interpreting  his  English  to  us  in  Bengalee)  whether  we 
had  seen  an  ox,  how  many  legs  it  had,  whether  it  had  any 
hands,  whether  it  had  any  tails,  to  the  infinite  entertainment 
of  us  all.  From  the  ox  he  passed  on  to  the  cow,  and  asked  us 
of  what  use  the  animal  was.  The  reader  may  rest  assured  that 
he  did  not  speak  before  Hindoo  boys  of  the  use  made  of  the 
flesh  of  the  cow,  but  dwelt  chiefly  on  milk,  cream  and  curds. 
He  ended,  however,  with  a  moral  lesson.  He  knew  that  the 
word  for  a  cow  in  Bengalee  was  goroo,  and  he  asked  us  whether 
we  knew  another  Bengalee  word  which  was  very  like  it  in 
sound.  A  shai-p  class-fellow  quickly  said  that  he  knew  its 
paronym  and  that  it  was  gooroo,  which  in  Bengalee  means  the 

*  Recollections  of  Alexander  Duff,  I).D.,  LL.D.,  and  of  the  Mission 
College  which  he  founded  in  Calcutta.    1879. 


ALL  28.  HE    WEARS   HliMSELP    OUT.  26 


o 


Brahman  spiritual  guide.  He  was  quite  deliglited  at  the  boy's 
discovery,  and  asked  us  of  what  use  the  gooroo  was,  and  whether, 
on  the  whole,  the  goroo  was  not  more  useful  than  the  gooroo. 
He  thea  left  our  class  and  went  into  another,  leaving  in  our 
minds  seeds  of  future  thought  and  reflection.'' 

To  his  own  college  teaching  and  such  school  super- 
vision Mr.  DufF  added  a  constant  attention  to  the 
aggressive  work  of  the  Bengal  auxiliary  of  the  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society  and  of  the  Religious  Tract 
and  Book  Society.  His  Sunday  evenings  were  given 
up  in  1833-34  to  a  new  course  of  lectures  and  discus- 
sions, contrasting  Christianity  with  Hindooism  and 
Muhammadanism.  For  these  public  controversies  he 
purchased  an  excellent  bungalow  in  the  native  city,  at 
a  point  where  four  main  thoroughfares  met.  Night 
after  night  for  a  long  time  eager  inquirers,  earnest 
disputants  and  curious  spectators  crowded  the  place 
almost  to  suffocation.  Every  year  was  adding  to  the 
intelligence  of  the  native  public,  the  purely  spiritual 
and  moral  suasion  of  Christianity  was  coming  to  be 
understood,  and  this  last  course  proved  the  most 
popular  of  all.  Even  Muhammadans  attended  and 
took  part  in  the  grave  quest  after  divine  truth,  and 
the  crowds  spread  the  story  not  only  over  the  city  but 
into  many  a  rural  village  where  the  Christian  mis- 
sionary had  not  been  seen. 

But  what  of  the  man  himself  who,  for  four  years, 
did  not  cease  to  burn  thus  lavishly  and  incessantly 
the  physical  energy  he  had  brought  from  the  Scottish 
Grampians,  the  exhaustless  enthusiasm  he  ever  fed  at 
its  heavenly  source  ?  He  had  received  his  first  warn- 
ing in  the  great  cyclone  of  May,  1833,  but  heeded  it  not. 
Prematurely  came  the  rain  that  year,  marshalled  by 
the  rgtary  hurricane  which,  revolving  within  itself,  as 
if  the  destroying  counterpart  of  the  harmony  of  the 
spheres,  moved  rapidly  over  the  land.      From  the  Bay 


264  LIFE    OP    DR.    DUFF.  1833. 

of  Bengal,  the  mighty  waters  of  which  it  dragged  in 
its  devastating  train,  over  island  and  mainland,  forest 
.and  field,  village  and  town,  the  wild  fury  of  the  cyclone 
rolled  itself  north  and  west.  Here  the  storm-wave 
and  the  wind  bore  inland  for  miles  to  some  rising 
ground  a  full  freighted  Indiaman  of  1500  tons,  among 
the  hamlets  of  the  peasantry,  where  for  months  after 
it  lay  a  marvel  to  all.  There  it  swept  into  sometimes 
instant  but  more  frequently  lingering  death  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  human  beings  and  their  cattle,  whose 
vain  strusrsfles  to  clin":  to  roofs  and  trees  and  the 
floating  wreck  of  their  desolated  homes  suggested 
thoughts  of  a  greater  flood  and  prayers  for  the  bow 
of  mercy.  Most  graphic  of  all  was  this  incident,  which 
we  tell  as  Duff  himself  told  it  to  the  writer.  His 
authority  was  the  Argyllshire  fellow-countryman  who, 
on  that  dreadful  day,  was  superintending  the  clearing 
of  the  jungle  on  Saugar  Island. 

For  several  weeks  before  his  party  had  been  an- 
noyed by  the  night  attacks  of  a  tiger  of  unusual  size 
and  ferocity.  It  carried  away  some  of  their  animals 
employed  in  agricultural  operations,  as  well  as  two  or 
three  human  beings.  When  the  cyclone  prevailed 
and  the  water  continued  to  rise  over  the  island, 
as  many  natives  as  could  swim  went  to  the  Scots- 
man's bungalow  for  shelter,  until  it  was  greatly  over- 
crowded. At  last,  while  watching  the  flood  rapidly 
rising  to  a  level  with  the  floor,  at  a  distance,  driven 
before  the  tempest  along  the  mighty  torrent  of  waters, 
he  noticed  the  famous  tiger  evidently  aiming  at  reach- 
ing the  house.  Happily  he  had  a  double-barrelled 
gun  loaded  and  ready.  The  tiger  reached  the  bun- 
galow, laid  hold  of  it,  leaped  into  it,  worked  a  way 
trembling  through  the  dense  mass  of  human  baings, 
and  did  not  stop  till  he  got  head  and  nose  into  the 
remotest  corner,  where  he  continued  to  lie  still  quiver- 


^t.  27.       THE  OYOLONE  AND  THE  TIGER.  265- 

ing  like  an  aspen  leaf.  The  Scotsman  concluded 
that  though,  under  the  influence  of  terror  produced 
by  the  violence  of  the  tempest,  he  was  then  quite 
tame,  if  the  bungalow  escaped  and  the  storm  abated 
the  genuine  nature  of  the  savage  brute  would 
return,  and  all  the  more  speedily  from  the  exhaus- 
tion it  must  have  undero^one  swimrains:  and  struo^- 
gling  to  reach  the  bungalow.  So  he  very  coolly  took 
the  gun  and  pointed  the  barrel  to  the  hearb,  rest- 
ing it  on  the  skin,  which  he  afterwards  showed  to  all 
Calcutta  as  a  trophy  of  that  cyclone.  Thus  mingled 
Avere  the  terrors  of  the  tempest,  which  has  often  since 
recurred,  and  on  the  last  occasion,  in  !I876,  even  more 
horribly. 

The  effect  on  the  survivors  was  for  a  time  quite  as 
deadly.  Many  who  escaped  the  flood  fell  by  the  pesti- 
lence which  it  brousrht  when  the  waters  subsided  and 
the  cold  season  of  1883-34  came  round.  Malarious 
fever,  bred  by  the  rotting  carcases  and  vegetation, 
spread  a  blight  over  the  fairest  portions  of  the  rice 
land.  Inexperienced  in  tropical  sanitation,  and  bound 
to  discharge  the  duty  of  inspecting  the  prosperous 
branch  school  at  Takee,  Mr.  Duff,  his  family  with  him, 
set  off"  by  native  boat  for  the  place,  which  is  seventy 
miles  due  east  of  Calcutta.  It  was  November, 
and  the  country  was  only  beginning  to  dry  up. 
Scarcely  had  they  left  the  city  when  they  came  upon 
a  mass  of  putrid  bodies,  human  and  animal,  through 
which  they  had  to  work  their  way.  All  was  beautiful 
to  look  at  in  the  green  jungle  forests  of  the  Soonder- 
buns,  but  the  abundant  fruit  from  which  the  Bengalees 
take  their  proverbial  word  for  "  hypocrite  "  symbol- 
ised the  reality.  Mr.  Duff  plucked  the  tempting 
rakJuilee  only  to  find  it  filled  with  nauseous  slime. 
Mr.  Barlow,  son  of  Sir  George  Barlow  who  had  been 
interim  Governor-General,  was  in  charge  of  the  Com- 


266  LIFE   OP   DR.    DUFF.  1834. 

panj^'s  salt  station  of  Takee  on  £8,000  a  year.  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Temple  received  the  missionary  and  his  party 
with  their  usual  hospitality.  The  return  journey,  by 
palankeen,  was  even  worse,  and  the  missionary  was 
laid  low  by  his  first  illness,  jungle  fever  in  its  deadliest 
form.  His  fine  constitution  showed  that  robust  elas- 
ticity which  often  afterwards  resulted  in  rapid  recovery, 
and  after  tossing  amid  the  sea  breezes  of  the  Sand- 
heads  for  two  or  three  weeks  he  was  once  more  in 
the  midst  of  his  loved  work.  But  with  the  heat  of 
April,  1834,  a  remittent  fever  came  on  which  his 
vigour  of  will  resisted  so  far  as  to  take  him,  again  and 
in  that  weather,  to  Takee.  Dr.  Temple,  alarmed  at 
his  appearance,  at  once  sent  him  back,  warning  him 
against  the  scourge  which,  even  more  than  cholera  still, 
was  then  the  opprohrium  medicorum — dysentery. 

On  his  return  at  the  height  of  the  hot  season 
he  found  as  his  guest  the  good  Anthony  Groves, 
surgeon-dentist  of  Exeter,  who  gave  wp  all  he  had 
for  a  mission  to  Baghdad,  and  was  the  first  and  best 
of  the  Plymouth  Brethren.  The  romantic  and  very 
pathetic  story  of  that  mission  to  Muhammadans  under 
a  Government  which  punished  apostasy  with  death, 
the  experience  of  Francis  W.  Newman  and  Mr.  Parnell 
and  the  young  Kitto — this  is  not  the  place  to  tell,  as 
Groves  told  it  in  the  sympathising  and  sometimes 
amused  ear  of  Alexander  Duff  in  4,  Wellington  Square, 
Calcutta.  For  when  the  two  widowers.  Groves  and 
Parnell,  and  the  young  bachelor,  Newman,  left  Bagh- 
dad, they  could  not  leave  behind  them  their  one  con- 
vert, the  lovely  Armenian  widow  of  Shiraz,  Khatoon, 
nor  could  she  travel  with  them  save  as  the  wife  of  one 
of  them.  So  they  cast  lots,  and  the  lot  fell  on  John 
Vesey  Parnell,  graduate  of  Edinburgh  University ;  and 
when  he  succeeded  his  father,  the  first  Baron,  in  1842 
she  became  Lady  Congleton.     So  we  have  seen  more 


^t.  28.  VISIT   OF   ME.    ANTHONY    GUOVES.  267 

recently,  but  according  to  their  regular  custom,  the  lot 
fall  on  the  Moravian  who,  having  descended  from  the 
snowy  solitudes  of  Himalayan  Lahoul  to  receive  the 
brides  sent  out  by  the  followers  of  Zinzendorf,  married 
one  and  conducted  the  others  to  his  expectant  brethren. 
Duff  must  have  smiled  when  his  guest,  of  high,  even 
childlike  spirituality,  gravely  told  him  how  when  Parnell 
had  invited  the  British  Resident  at  Baghdad  and  the 
European  assistants  to  dinner,  he  applied  Luke  xiv.  13 
literally  by  calling  in  some  fifty  of  the  poor,  the  maimed, 
the  lame  and  the  blind  to  share  the  feast. 

Having  come  round  by  Bombay  and  Tinnevelly, 
where  he  renewed  an  old  friendship  with  Mr.  E,heuius, 
and  was  charmed  by  the  primitive  simplicity  of  the 
native  church  there,  as  Bishop  Cotton  was  thirty  years 
after,  Mr.  Groves  found  himself  in  a  new  world  when 
among  the  young  Brahmans  who  were  searching  the 
Scriptures  diligently.  After  a  general  survey  of  the 
whole  school  and  college  he  was  closeted  with  the 
highest  class,  and  left  to  examine  them  on  the  Bible, 
on  theology,  and  in  detail  on  the  evidences  of  Chris- 
tianity. Himself  an  excellent  scholar,  Mr.  Groves  was 
astonished  at  the  intelligence  and  promptitude  of  the 
replies.  But  the  whole  force  of  his  loving  nature  was 
drawn  out  when  he  came  to  examine  these  Hindoos  on 
the  design  and  effect  of  the  sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God 
on  the  Cross  of  Calvary.  His  questioning  burst  forth 
into  an  appeal  which  pressed  home  on  their  conscience 
the  knowledge  they  had  shown,  while  he  wept  in  his 
fervour,  and  the  eyes  of  the  young  men  glowed  with 
reflected  inspiration.  Then  turning  suddenly  to  Mr. 
Duff  he  exclaimed,  "  This  is  what  I  have  been  in 
quest  of  ever  since  I  left  old  England.  At  Baghdad 
I  almost  daily  exhorted  the  adidt  natives,  but  in  the 
case  of  even  the  most  attentive  I  always  painfully  felt 
there  was  a  crust  between  their  mind  and  mine.     Here 


268  LIFE    OF   DR.    DDFF.  1834. 

I  feel  that  every  word  is  finding  its  way  within.  I 
CO  aid  empty  the  whole  of  my  own  soul  into  theirs. 
How  is  this?"  Duff's  answer  was  to  open  the  door 
into  the  large  hall  and  point  to  the  busy  scene,  to 
the  children  in  the  infant  gallery  lisping  the  English 
alphabet.  "There,"  he  said,  "is  the  explanation. 
Well  do  I  remember  how  I  would  have  loathed  such 
employment,  not  only  as  insufferably  dull,  but  as 
beneath  the  dignity  of  the  clerical  oflB.ce.  But  on 
coming  here  I  soon  found  that  this,  with  a  specific 
view  to  the  systematic  attainment  of  higher  ends,  was 
imperatively  demanded  as  auxiliary  to  the  ultimate 
renovation  of  India.  On  the  principle  of  becoming 
all  things  to  all  men  and  new  things  in  new  circum- 
stances, there  four  years  ago  did  I  teach  ABC. 
Pilloried  though  I  was  at  the  time,  in  the  scorn  of 
some,  the  pity  of  others,  and  the  wonder  of  all,  the 
work  was  persevered  in.  And  you  have  seen  some  of 
the  fruits.  The  processes  that  followed  the  alphabet- 
ical training  tended  in  a  gradual  and  piecemeal  way  to 
break  up  and  remove  that  very  crust  which  interposed 
an  impassable  barrier  between  your  instruction  and 
the  minds  of  your  auditors.  Was  it  not  worth  while 
to  begin  so  low  in  order  to  end  so  high  ?  "  "  Indeed," 
replied  Groves,  "  this  throws  new  light  on  the  whole 
subject.  I  frankly  confess  I  left  England  an  avowed 
enemy  to  education  in  connection  with  missions ;  but 
I  now  tell  you  as  frankly  that  henceforth,  from  what 
I  have  seen  to-day,  I  am  its  friend  and  advocate." 

That  was  Duff's  last  day,  for  a  long  time,  in  his 
loved  Institution.  Even  then  the  agony  of  dysentery 
had  begun,  and  its  prostration,  more  terrible  mentally 
than  physically,  soon  followed.  A  generation  was  to 
pass  before  the  specific  of  ipecacuanha  was  to  be  used 
to  charm  away  the  bloody  flux  which  used  to  sweep 
off  thousands  of  our  white  soldiers.     Four  physicians 


^t.  28.  ORDERED    HOME.  2C9 

failed  to  heal  the  visibly  dying  missionary.  The  good 
Simon  Nicolson,  the  Abercrombie  of  Bengal,  had  just 
been  succeeded  by  Dr.  now  Sir  Ranald  Martin,  him* 
self  now  followed  by  Sir  Joseph  Fayrer.  Ranald 
Martin  was  called  in,  pronounced  the  case  desperate, 
but  asked  permission  to  try  an  experimental  remedy 
which  had  saved  one  or  two  of  his  patients.  The 
result  was  that,  after  a  long  and  profound  trance  as  it 
seemed  to  the  sufferer,  he  woke  up  to  consciousness,  to 
revival,  to  such  a  point  of  convalescence  that  he  could  fy 
be  carried  on  board  the  first  Cape  ship  for  home. 
The  devoted  Groves  had  slept  beside  him  day  and 
night,  nursing  him  with  a  brother's  tenderness.  For 
he  was  not  the  only  invalid.  On  the  day  that  the 
stricken  family  were  laid  in  their  berths  in  the  John 
M'LellaUy  bound  for  Greenock,  with  Groves  as  their 
fellow-passenger,  a  son  was  born,  to  whom  the  name  of 
Groves,  as  well  as  his  father's  name  was  given.  From 
Mrs.  Duff's  letter  communicating  the  departure  to  Dr. 
Chalmers  we  learn  that,  even  when  thus  rescued  from 
the  very  gates  of  death,  the  ardent  missionary  im- 
plored the  doctors  to  send  hi:n  on  a  brief  voyage  short 
of  Great  Britain.  "  I  devoted  myself  to  the  Lord,"  he 
pleaded,  *'  to  spend  and  be  spent  in  His  service  in  this 
land."  Ranald  Martin's  stern  reply  was  :  "  In  the 
last  nine  months  you  have  suffered  more  from  tropical 
disease  than  many  who  have  passed  their  lives  in  India. 
Let  not  a  day  be  lost."  As  the  Greenock  Indiaman 
dropped  down  the  Hooghly  his  boy  was  taken  to 
comfort  him.  But  he  would  have  been  still  more 
cheered  had  he  known  that  at  that  very  time,  in  July, 
1834,  his  old  friend,  David  Ewart,  was  being  ordained 
as  the  third  missionary  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  and 
would  soon  after  arrive  to  help  Mr.  W.  S.  Mackay. 

Thus    closed  the   first   five    years    since    Duff    had 
been  sent  forth  from  St.  George's,  with  the  charge  of 


270  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1834, 

Thomas  Chalmers  ringing  in  his  ears,  ordained  to 
preach  the  gospel  in  India.  Thus  ended  the  first 
period  of  his  Indian  service  since  he  opened  his 
famous  Institution  in  the  great  Bengalee  thoroughfare 
of  Chitpore  road,  Calcutta.  Even  the  half-century 
which  has  passed  since  Inglis  planned  and  Chalmers 
preached  and  Duff  responded,  "  Here  am  I,  send  me," 
enables  us  to  say  that  that  lustrum  is  entitled  to 
rank  with  the  most  memorable  eras  when  human 
progress  has  taken  a  new  start  to  the  enlightening 
and  the  blessing  of  a  whole  continent.  As  the  mis- 
sionary is  borne  to  the  life-giving  breezes  of  ocean 
from  the  sweltering  pestilence  of  a  Bengal  July,  the 
precious  seed  he  has  been  sent  to  sow  is  germinating 
and  growing  up  night  and  day,  he  knoweth  not  how. 


CHAPTER    X. 

1835. 
THE    INVALID    AND    TEE    ORATOR. 

Unwillingness  to  leave  India. — The  Yoyage  Home. — The  Reform 
Election  and  Sir  Robert  Peel. — Welcome  from  Dr.  Chalmers. — 
Ignorance  of  the  Committee  after  death  of  Dr.  Inglis. — First 
Addresses. — Comes  to  an  understanding  with  the  Committee. — 
Contidential  Notes  on  the  Four  Converts. — Letter  from  Go- 
peenath  Nundi  to  his  spiritual  Father. — First  Campaign  in 
London. — Rev.  John  Macdonald. — Seized  with  his  old  fever  at 
Mr.  Joseph  Gurney's. — Letter  to  Ewart. — Expect  great  things. — 
General  Assembly  of  1835,  in  the  Tron  Kirk. — DufF  rises  from 
bed  to  make  his  first  speech. — The  Oration  described. — Extracts. 
— The  tremendous  effect. — Contemporary  Accounts. — Oppof^i- 
tion  and  Discu-^sion. — The  Orator  contrasted  with  the  models 
whom  he  studied. — India  and  India  for  Christ  as  the  theme  of 
eloquence. 

Having  successfully  founded  and  to  some  extent 
built  up  the  mission  in  Calcutta  and  Bengal,  Mr.  Duff 
is  summoned,  though  he  knows  it  not,  to  do  tht 
equally  necessary  work  of  creating  a  living  missionary 
spirit  in  the  Cliurch  at  home.  The  apparently  dying\ 
apostle  is  really  being  sent  on  that  parallel  or  alter- 
nating service  which  divided  his  whole  career  into 
two  indispensable  and  co-operating  sets  of  activities 
ill  East  and  West.  Having  set  the  battle  in  array  in 
'  front,  and  fought  for  years  at  the  head  of  his  scanty 
forces,  he  had  then  to  leave  the  post  of  danger  to 
colleagues  of  his  own  spirit,  for  the  less  honourable 
but  not  less  necessary  duty  of  looking  to  his  reserves 
and  sending  forward  his  ammunition.  Thus  it  was 
that  he  became  at  once  the  missionary  worker,  the 


2/2  LIFE    OP    DR.    DUFF.  1834. 

unresting  civilizing  force  in  India,  and  the  missionary 
organizer,  tlie  unmatclied  Christian  orator  and  preacher 
at  home.  He  led  two  lives,  and  in  each  his  splendid 
physique,  his  burning  enthusiasm,  his  divine  call  and 
support,  enabled  him  to  do  more  than  the  work  of 
many  men  together. 

Yet,  as  consciousness  returned  and  strength  began 
to  come  back,  it  was  natural  that  the  young  missionary 
should  long  to  be  left  at  his  post,  should  even  some- 
what murmuringly  marvel  why  he  had  been  taken 
away  in  the  hour  of  victory.  The  very  elements 
seemed  to  conspire  to  keep  him  in  Bengal.  The  John 
M'LeUan  could  not  breast  the  fury  of  the  south-west 
monsoon  in  a  Bengal  July,  her  decks  were  swept 
again  and  again  of  the  live  stock  laid  in  for  the  long 
voyage,  and  after  six  weeks'  tossing  she  had  to  put 
into  Madras  for  stores.  By  the  time  that  she  sighted 
South  Africa  Mr.  Duff  had  become  so  far  reconciled 
to  the  chano;e  as  to  be  able  to  write  thus  to  Dr. 
Bryce  : — "  The  very  thought  of  returning  home  at 
the  commencement  of  my  labours  and  infancy  of  the 
Assembly's  mission  would  have,  I  verily  believe,  broken 
my  heart,  were  it  not  that  God,  by  successive  afflic- 
tions, which  thrice  brought  me  to  the  verge  of  the 
grave,  disciplined  me  into  the  belief  and  conviction 
that  a  change  so  decided  was  absolutely  indispensable, 
and  that  to  resist  the  proposal  to  leave  Calcutta 
would  be  tantamount  to  a  resistance  of  the  will  of 
Providence.  I  shall  not  revert  to  the  pain  and  mental 
distress  at  first  experienced.  God  has,  I  trust,  over- 
ruled all  for  my  spiritual  improvement;  and  I  trust, 
moreover,  that  by  my  return  for  a  season  to  Scotland 
the  great  cause  may  be  effectually  furthered."  It  was 
during  this  otherwise  tedious  time  of  slow  convalescence 
that  he  seems  to  have  read  the  Bible  straight  through 
three  times.     Beginning  with  the  enthusiastic  convic- 


Alt  28.  TUE    FIRST    REFORM    ACT.  2/3 

tion,  born  of  his  own  success,  that  the  Church  in 
the  world  would  gradually  glide  into  a  millennium  of 
godliness,  this  comparative  and  repeated  study  brought 
him  to  the  conclusion  that  the  missionary  work  is 
merely  preparatory  to  the  great  outpouring  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  In  history,  as  in  the  prophets,  he  ever 
found  righteousness  and  peace  preceded  by  judg- 
ments. 

The  invalid  was  just  able  to  land  at  Cape  Town, 
and  with  the  assistance  of  a  friendly  arm  walk  to 
church,  where  Dr.  Adamson,  his  host  five  years  be- 
fore, baptized  the  child  born  on  the  day  they  had  left 
Calcutta.  AVhen  the  ship  entered  the  Firth  of  Clyde 
it  was  Christmas-day.  The  sea  breezes  had  done  their 
best  for  five  months,  and  the  apparently  restored  mis- 
sionary rejoiced  in  the  strong  frost  which  greeted 
him  as  from  his  own  Grampians.  When  he  landed  at 
Greenock  he  found  the  whole  country  in  the  exuberant 
excitement  of  the  general  election  under  the  first  Reform 
Act,  which  had  extended  the  franchise  from  two  thou- 
sand electors  who  returned  all  the  Scottish  members 
of  Parliament  to  something  like  a  fairer  proportion. 
The  time  of  freedom  in  Church  as  well  as  State  had 
begun — the  conflicts  which  ended  in  the  disruption 
of  the  Kirk  and  the  abolition  of  the  Corn  Laws  ten 
or  twelve  years  after.  The  sight  of  election  hustings 
was  as  new  to  Scotland  as  it  was  to  Mr.  Duff.  Every- 
where he  heard  only  abuse  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington. 
In  Edinburgh  Lord  Campbell  talked  of  impeaching 
"  the  multifarious  minister "  who  for  the  hour  held 
eight  cabinet  offices,  till  it  was  said,  "  the  cabinet 
council  sits  in  his  head  and  the  ministers  are  all  of 
one  mind."  It  was  seen  in  time  that  the  Duke  was 
only  doing  his  duty  till  Sir  Robert  Peel  should  return 
from  Italy  and  form  the  new  ministry  which  first  put 
Mr.  Gladstone  in  office.     In  such  circumstances  who, 

T 


2  74  I-IFE    OP   DR.    DUFF.  1835 

in  kirk  or  public  meeting,  would  listen  to  the  tale 
of  a  triumph  so  remote  and  so  obscure  as  that  which 
Mr.  Duff  had  modestly  to  tell.  Yet  the  tale  was 
really  one  of  a  spiritual  revolution  affecting  millions, 
compared  with  which  the  Reform  Act,  the  policy  of 
Sir  Robert  Peel,  and  the  training  of  Mr.  Gladstone 
were  but  single  events  in  a  constitutional  series ! 
After  a  few  days  spent  in  Greenock  with  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Menzies,  formerly  librarian  of  St.  Andrews  University, 
and  in  Glasgow  with  his  old  fellow-student.  Dr. 
Lorimer,  for  both  of  whom  he  preached,  Mr.  Duff 
turned  his  face  towards  the  committee  in  Edinburgh. 
He  reached  the  capital  by  what  was  then  the  easiest 
and  quickest  means,  the  canal  track-boat.  Finding 
that  Mrs.  Duff's  mother  had  been  removed  by  death, 
he  and  his  family  settled  down  in  the  sea-bathing 
suburb  of  Portobello,  in  a  house  in  Pitt  Street  lent 
|,to  them  by  the  trustees  of  her  father's  estate. 
[  The  first  member  of  committee  and  personal  friend 
'on  whom  Mr.  Duff  called  was  Dr.  Chalmers,  then 
\redeeming  the  fame  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh 
in  its  theological  faculty.  Most  courteous  and  even 
enthusiastic  was  the  greeting  of  the  greatest  Scotsman 
of  his  day,  who  added  to  all  his  other  gifts  that  large- 
hearted  friendliness  which  is  the  rule  of  his  countrymen 
scattered  abroad.  The  hour  sped  rapidly  in  a  fire  of 
question  and  answer  about  the  progress  of  the  mission 
and  the  state  of  things  in  India.  On  accompanyiug 
his  visitor  to  the  door  Dr.  Chalmers  demanded  of 
him,  "  Where  is  your  cloak  ?  "  "I  have  not  had  time 
to  get  any,"  was  the  reply.  "  That  will  never  do  in 
this  climate ;  it  is  now  very  frosty,  and  you  are  as 
thinly  clad  as  if  you  were  in  India :  let  me  not  see 
your  face  again  till  you  have  been  at  the  tailor's."  The 
young  missionary  was  already  an  old  Indian  in  this, 
that  the  fire  of  the  tropics  had  made  him  indifferent 


^t.  29.  IGNORANCE    OF   THE    COMMITTEE.  275 

to  his  first  winter  in  Scotland,  after  which  comes 
the  reaction  that  often  drives  the  sufferer  to  the  sun 
of  the  south. 

But  where  was  there  another  Chalmers  or  one 
worthy  of  him  at  that  time  in  Scotland  ?  Dr.  Inglis, 
the  founder  of  the  mission,  was  gone.  Dr.  Brunton 
had  not  then  been  appointed  his  permanent  successor. 
He  and  the  other  members  received  the  ardent  ad- 
vances of  the  astonished  Duff  with  a  polite  indifference, 
or  replied  with  congratulations  on  the  fact  that  so 
good  a  conservative  statesman  as  Sir  Robert  Peel  had 
been  placed  at  the  head  of  affairs,  as  if  to  save  and 
even  to  extend  the  Kirk  which  had  been  for  years 
furiously  assailed  by  the  Voluntaries.  More  than  once 
was  the  young  Highlander  stung  into  the  warning  that 
for  the  Kirk  to  trust  any  secular  statesman,  however 
respectable,  was  to  lean  on  a  broken  reed.  The  tran- 
scendent interests  of  a  great  spiritual  institution  like 
the  Church  of  Scotland,  he  said,  must  be  placed  only 
on  Christ  Himself,  its  living  Head.  There  was  one 
minister,  besides  Chalmers,  who  had  watched  the 
work  done  in  Bengal  and  had  genius  enough  to  appre- 
ciate it.  He  at  once  invited  Mr.  Duff  to  begin  his 
crusade  in  Falkirk.  That  was  John  Brown  Patterson, 
the  marvel  of  the  High  School  of  Edinburgh,  whom 
Pillans  took  with  him  to  the  University ;  the  student 
who  had  there  gained  the  hundred  pound  prize 
proposed  by  the  Government  commissioners  on  the 
universities  of  Scotland  for  the  best  essay  on  the 
character  of  the  Athenians — an  essay  which,  when 
published,  was  pronounced  unsurpassed  in  English 
literature  at  the  time,  for  its  learning  and  style.  The 
result  of  Duff's  preaching  in  Falkirk,  and  of  a  public 
meeting  with  formal  resolutions  to  advance  the  Bengal 
mission,  was  not  only  a  collection  of  money  which 
surprised  all  in  that  day,  but  the  lighting  of  a  flame 


276  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1835. 

which,  in  coming  days  and  years,  Duff  was  to  fan  and 
spread  till  it  covered  the  land,  and  fired  America  and 
many  other  parts  of  Christendom.  The  glad  report 
of  this,  made  formally  to  the  committee,  was  received 
with  respectful  silence.  Nor  was  the  bitterness  of  Mr. 
Duff's  heart  assuaged  till,  about  the  same  time,  two 
theological  students  called  upon  him  for  information 
regarding  his  mission.  The  interview  gave  him  a 
new  confidence  for  the  future,  for  he  reasoned  that  if 
any  number  of  the  divinity  students  were  like  these, 
the  India  mission  would  never  lack  men  worthy  of 
it.  His  young  visitors  were  the  saintly  Murray 
M'Cbeyne  and  he  who  is  still  Dr.  A.  N.  Somerville 
of  Glassrow. 

Somewhat  dubious  now  as  to  the  attitude  of  the 
committee,  Mr.  Duff  received,  with  hesitation,  the  next 
invitation  to  tell  the  public  of  his  work.  Dr.  A. 
Paterson,  who  had  been  driven  out  of  Russia  by  the 
intolerance  of  the  Czar  Nicholas,  asked  him  to  address 
half  a  dozen  godly  folks  who  met  once  a  month  in  the 
Edinburgh  house  of  Mr.  Campbell,  of  Carbrook,  for 
prayer  for  foreign  missions.  On  finding  the  drawing- 
room  crowded  by  a  large  audience  he  remonstrated, 
and  refused  to  remain.  But  explanation  showed  that 
no  endeavour  had  been  made  to  summon  the  audience, 
whom  he  therefore  consented  to  address.  The  result 
was,  such  an  impression  in  many  circles  outside  as 
well  as  in  the  Kirk,  that  an  English  visitor  who  had 
been  present  rode  down  to  Portobello  next  morning 
to  make  a  large  donation  to  the  mission,  and  Mr.  Dufi" 
was  formally  summoned,  for  the  first  time,  to  meet 
the  committee  in  the  rooms  in  the  University  which 
Dr.  Brunton  occupied  as  librarian.  Marvelling  what 
the  sudden  cause  could  be,  but  delighted  that  at  last 
he  would  have  an  opportunity  of  giving  an  account  of 
his  stewardship,  Mr.  Duff  hurried   to  the  spot  with 


^t.  29.  FFGHTING    THE    COMMITTRK.  2/7 

that  punctuality  for  which,  like  all  successfully  busy 
meu,  he  was  ever  remarkable. 

It  was  thus  he  used  to  tell  the  story  : — Enterincr 
the  room  he  found  that  nearly  all  the  members  of 
committee  were  present.  After  prayer  the  acting 
convener  rose,  and  standing  in  the  middle  of  the  floor, 
in  substance  spoke  as  follows  : — He  had  thought  it 
rio'ht  to  summon  a  meetino^  to  settle  and  determine 
the  case  of  Mr.  DufF,  who,  in  these  days  of  agitation, 
turmoil,  and  revolutionary  tendencies  and  irregulari- 
ties of  every  description,  had  taken  it  upon  him  to 
hold  not  exactly  a  public,  but  at  the  same  time  a 
very  large  meeting  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Campbell,  of 
Carbrook,  with  the  view  of  addressing  it  on  the  sub- 
ject of  missions.  Now  he  regarded  this  as  a  very  un- 
warrantable and  irregular  proceeding.  Mr.  Duff  had 
given  him  no  intimation  of  his  intention  to  hold  such 
a  meeting,  nor  had  he  any  means  of  knowing  what 
might  be  the  leading  subject  of  the  address.  He 
thought  it  therefore  right  to  consult  his  colleagues, 
to  induce  them  to  lay  down  rules  to  regulate  Mr. 
Duff's  proceedings  on  such  matters  in  future,  as  it 
would  never  do,  in  unsettled  times  like  these,  to  allow 
the  agent  of  a  responsible  committee  to  adopt  what 
measures  he  chose. 

Immediately  Mr.  Duff  stood  up,  and  taking  pos- 
session of  the  middle  of  the  floor,  respectfully  ad- 
mitted that  he  was  the  agent  of  the  committee,  but  of  a 
committee  guided  by  moral  and  spiritual  influences  and 
considerations.  While  in  one  respect  therefore  he  was 
their  agent,  in  another  respect  he  must  be  considered 
on  a  footing  of  religious  co-equality,  co-responsibility 
with  themselves ;  but  not  to  insist  further  on  this,  he 
would  soon  bring  the  matter  to  a  decisive  issue.  When 
he  went  to  India  originally  he  declared  that  he  would 
not  go  if  hampered  by  any  conditions  which  his  own 


2yS  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1835. 

conscience  did  not  approve;  that,  entering  upon  an 
entirely  new  field,  full  discretion  must  be  allowed  him 
within  the  limits  of  reason  and  sobriety  to  follow  what 
courses  he  might  deem  most  effective  for  the  ends 
which  the  committee  and  himself  had  alike  in  common. 
This  reasonable  concession  was  at  once  cheerfully 
yielded  by  Dr.  Inglis  and  his  committee;  and  now 
when  he,  Mr.  Duff,  had  returned,  after  several  years  of 
multiplied  experiences,  he  thought  that  full  discretion 
should  be  allowed  him  to  adopt  what  course  might 
seem  best  for  awakening  an  interest  in  the  Church's 
mission,  so  long  as  he  was  ready  to  take  any  coun- 
sel or  advice  which  the  home  experiences  of  members 
of  committee  friendly  to  missions  might  suggest. 
He  then  explained  how  the  recent  meeting  had 
not  originated  with  him;  though  when  he  came  to 
understand  it  he  fully  approved  of  it,  and  thought 
that  the  successful  result  sufficiently  proved  its  provi- 
dential legitimacy.  Of  course,  if  the  committee  had 
any  work  for  him  to  do  of  any  kind  anywhere,  he 
would  at  once  relinquish  all  other  duty  for  the  sake 
of  taking  up  that;  but  beyond  this  he  could  not 
possibly  go.  He  was  an  ordained  minister  of  the 
gospel,  and  therefore  supposed  to  be  endowed  with 
ordinary  ministerial  gifts,  graces  and  attainments. 
He  was  in  all  respects  therefore  the  free-man  of  the 
Lord ;  free  to  carry  out  whatever  his  blessed  Master 
might  indicate  as  His  most  gracious  will.  That 
liberty  he  would  not  and  could  not  for  ten  thousand 
worlds  relinquish.  The  decisive  issue,  therefore,  came 
to  be  this :  if  the  committee  resolved,  as  they  had  a 
perfect  right  to  do,  to  draw  up  some  peremptory 
instructions  to  regulate  Mr.  Duff's  proceedings  in 
purely  spiritual,  ministerial,  and  missionary  matters, 
he  must  at  once  write  out  his  resignation  as  their 
agent.     If  on  reconsideration  they  came  to  the  con- 


^t.  29.  CONQUERING   THE    COMMITTEE.  279 

elusion  tliat  it  was  better  to  allow  tilings  to  remain 
as  they  were,  and  grant  him  full  liberty  of  action 
within  the  reasonable  limits  stated  by  himself,  he 
would  rejoice  in  continuing  as  their  agent,  and  do 
what  he  possibly  could  to  create  a  deeper  interest  in 
the  mission  throughout  the  bounds  of  the  Church, 
and  thereby  help  to  increase  the  funds  and  the  number 
of  agents  to  be  sent  abroad.  For  the  people  being 
profoundly  ignorant  of  the  whole  subject,  their  being 
wakened  to  take  a  deeper  interest  in  so  spiritual  a 
work  as  the  evangelisation  of  the  world  would  not 
only  be  carrj'ing  out  more  fully  the  last  great  com- 
mission of  our  blessed  Saviour,  but  also  tend  in 
many  remarkable  ways  spiritually  to  benefit  their  own 
souls.     Having  so  spoken  he  sat  down. 

Instantly,  all  present,  without  any  one  of  them 
uttering  a  single  word,  went  out  precipitately,  leaving 
Mr.  Duff  and  the  convener  alone  in  the  middle  of 
the  floor  to  look  at  each  other  in  a  sort  of  dumb 
amazement.  "  Probably,"  said  the  former  with  great 
calmness,  "  we  have  had  enough  of  the  subject  for 
this  day." 

So,  on  that  memorable  occasion,  the  uncompromis- 
ing devotion  to  duty  of  the  young  missionary  proved 
to  be  more  powerful  than  all  tact  or  ecclesiastical 
finesse,  as  it  had  done  in  more  difficult  circumstances 
among  the  Bengalees.  Dr.  Inglis  was  gone.  The 
country  and  the  Church  knew  nothing  of  the  Bengal 
mission  save  from  the  meagre  report  printed  once  a 
year  for  a  General  Assembly  which  had  not  then 
become  a  popular  parliament.  The  unhappy  commit- 
tee wanted  only  a  head  to  lead  them.  Dr.  Brunton 
woke  up  to  the  new  duties  which  his  rare  courtesy 
always  afterwards  sought  to  discharge  with  kind- 
liness. Had  he  referred  to  the  scanty  records 
of   which    he    took    charge    on    appointment    to   his 


28o  LIFE    OF    Dr.    DUFF.  1835. 

office,  he  would  liave  found  an  official  communica- 
tion, written  bj  Mr.  Duff  as  lie  sailed  up  the  Clyde, 
and  thus  concluding  : — "  Why  is  it  that  the  Lord 
was  pleased  so  to  reduce  me  to  the  verge  of  exist- 
ence that  I  left  the  field  of  labour  in  that  all  but 
desperate  condition  of  a  dying  man,  and  has  since 
been  pleased  so  wonderfully  to  bless  the  voyage  to 
me  that  by  the  time  I  have  reached  my  native 
shores  I  feel  enabled  to  encounter  any  reasonable 
share  of  bodily  exertion  ?  Surely  it  may  be,  or  rather 
must  be,  that  the  Father  of  spirits  has  something 
or  other  to  do  with  me,  in  promoting  in  this  land 
the  glorious  cause — even  the  glorious  cause  of  the 
Redeemer  to  which  my  heart  and  soul  and  life  are 
exclusively  devoted.  Oh,  may  God  grant  that  wise 
thoughts  may  be  put  into  our  minds,  so  that  when 
we  meet,  measures  may  be  devised  for  the  occupa- 
tion of  my  time  while  I  remain  in  Scotland  which 
He  Himself  will  abundantly  bless  for  the  promotion 
of  His  own  glory  in  connection  with  the  Assembly's 
mission  to  the  perishing  heathen." 

After  Falkirk  the  next  call  came  from  Dr.  Wilson  of 
Irvine.  Dundee  followed,  led  thereto  by  a  visit  which 
Mr.  Duff  had  paid  to  all  its  ministers  on  his  way  north 
to  Moulin  to  visit  his  father  and  mother.  Meanwhile 
his  official  and  private  correspondence  shows  how 
necessarily  active  he  was  in  educating  the  new  con- 
vener and  committee  in  the  progress  of  the  mission, 
much  of  the  history  of  which  had  passed  away  with 
Dr.  Inglis.  A  letter  from  the  Rev.  W.  S.  Mackay 
on  the  work  in  Bengal  called  forth  these  "running 
notes  "  on  the  converts  : — 

"March  20th,  1835. 
"If  these  had  not    been  so  specially  referred  to  by  Mr. 
Mackay  I  should  be  silent.     Many  in  Calcutta  know,  and  none 
more  than  my  dear  colleague,  how  much  I  was  called  on  to 


^t.  29.   WUY  TWO  CONVERTS  JOINED  THE  ENGLISH  CHUUCH.  28  I 

do  for  tliese,  and  how  much  to  bear  from  them  during  tho 
time  of  their  infidehty  and  the  progress  of  their  inquiries  after 
truth ;  God  only  is  witness  of  all  I  had  to  do  and  endure, 
how  I  had  to  toil  and  struggle  and  travail  in  soul  for  them. 
It  may  easily  be  imagined  then  how  peculiar  must  my  feelings 
towards  them  be.  When  the  two  first  joined  the  English 
Church  I  was  not  much  surprised,  owing  to  the  very  satis- 
factory reasons  stated  by  Mr.  Mackay.  And  if  the  ground  of 
their  reasons  had  not  been  removed  (as  it  happily  now  is),  I 
should  not  have  expected  any  talented  young  man  who  burned 
with  zeal  to  be  employed  in  ai'ousing  his  countrymen,  to  re- 
main with  us — indeed  I  could  not  ask  any.  If  the  Church  of 
England  offered  to  ordain  and  support  them  as  missionaries, 
and  we  could  not,  then  for  the  good  of  India  would  I  say, 
'  rather  than  remain  unemployed,  or  betake  yourselves  exclu- 
sively to  secular  professions,  by  all  means  join  the  Church  of 
England  or  any  other  Church  of  Christ  that  will  engage  to 
send  you  forth  as  effective  labourers  into  the  missionary 
field.^ 

"  While  therefore  I  did  not  feel  surprised  at  the  two  first 
converts  separating  themselves  from  me,  I  do  confess  that 
there  was  an  apparent  want  of  consideration  to  my  feelings  in 
the  mode  of  the  separation.  But  while  others  blamed  them 
for  the  act  as  well  as  tho  mode,  and  charged  them  with  in- 
gratitude, I  really  could  not  blame  them  so  much  as  their 
instigators  and  advisers.  They  did  not  consult  me,  as  I  think 
they  were  in  gratitude  bound  to  do.  The  former  were  young 
and  inexperienced ;  the  latter,  I  fear,  were  actuated  more  by 
the  spirit  of  proselyting  to  a  party  than  by  the  love  of  Christ 
and  the  love  of  the  brethren  :  the  latter  therefore,  in  my 
estimation,  must  bear  the  main  burden  of  the  blame,  if  blame 
there  be.  My  mind  is  satisfied,  aye  my  very, soul  kindles  into 
joy  at  the  thought  that  these  my  spiritual  children  continue 
steadfast  in  the  faith,  full  of  zeal  for  their  Master,  and  con- 
scientiously endeavour  to  serve  Him.  This  noble  testimony 
from  ray  dear  colleague  is  to  me  glad  tidings  indeed,  for  though 
in  a  measure  separated  in  time,  we  may  yet  rejoice  together, 
and  rejoice  over  the  fruits  of  our  separate  labours,  in  the 
realms  of  bliss. 

"  The  obvious  remedy  for  such  defections  from  our  Church, 
though  not  from  the  Church  of  Christ,  is  (1)  the  power  of  ordaiu- 


282  LIFE    OP    DE.    DUFF.  1835. 

ing  and  supporting  qualified  labourers  :  (2)  The  supporting 
promising  young  men,  when  cast  off  by  their  friends  on 
account  of  their  specially  devoting  themselves  to  the  work  of 
preparation  for  the  Christian  ministry  :  (3)  The  erection  of  a 
higher  institution  for  the  communication  of  the  more  advanced 
branches  of  knowledge,  literary,  scientific  and  theological. 
The  first  of  these  is  now  granted ;  the  two  last  are  yet  want- 
ing, and  till  these  be  granted  too  it  is  utterly  impossible  for 
the  Assembly's  missionaries  in  India  to  be  responsible  for  the 
continued  adherence  of  well-educated  pious  young  men  to  the 
communion  of  the  Church  of  Scotland. 

'^  Nothing  would  pain  me  more  than  that  I  should  be  thought 
to  have  formed  too  high  an  estimate  of  the  character  of  these 
young  men,  and  have  led  others  to  do  so.  I  conscientiously 
believe  that  I  have  understated  rather  than  overrated  that 
character  as  a  whole,  and  that  many  Christians  in  Calcutta 
would  give  a  far  more  flaming  account  than  I  have  ever  done 
or  ever  will  do.  I  simply  stated  a  few  clear  and  notorious  facts  ; 
I  might  have  stated  more,  and  drawn  more  glowing  inferences, 
but  purposely  refrained  from  doing  so.  God  knows  that 
under  the  most  powerful  temptations  to  write  strongly  I  have 
often  written  in  modified  terms,  and  often  not  at  all.  I  always 
shrink  instinctively  Irom  raising  expectations  that  could  not 
be  realized,  and  if  I  do  not  greatly  mistake,  I  think  the 
whole  tenor  of  my  communications  with  the  committee  for  the 
last  five  years  bears  me  out  in  this  assertion. 

"  In  the  case  of  the  first  two  that  were  baptized,  if  they  did 
not  consult  me,  as  they  should  have  done,  it  was  a  matter 
altogether  personal  to  myself,  and  no  one  perhaps  could  feel 
for  them  as  I  did,  or  make  for  them,  in  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances of  their  situation,  the  same  allowances.  And  seeing 
that  the  matter  was  personal  to  myself,  and  that  I  had  long 
forgiven  them  before  God,  and  that  in  all  other  respects,  so 
far  as  I  could  observe,  they  continued  to  walk  worthy  of  their 
high  calling,  yea,  to  labour  without  ceasing  in  their  Master's 
service,  I  could  not  feel  myself  for  a  moment  justified  in  the 
attempt  to  lower  their  general  high  character  or  impede  their 
usefulness  by  dwelling  on  circumstances  to  me  of  so  personal 
a  nature.  And  as  the  matter  is  so  very  liable  to  misconstruc- 
tion on  the  part  of  those  who  must  ever  be  more  or  less  un- 
acquainted with  the  peculiarities  of  the  position  of  these  young 


^t.  29.   WHY    TWO    CONVERTS    JOINED    OTLIEil    MISSIONS.      283 

man,  and  so  apt  therefore  to  do  injury  to  our  cause,  I  would 
beg  the  committee  never  to  refer  to  the  topic  of  '  ingratitude  * 
towards  me.  Let  the  causes  of  separation  from  us  be  freely 
and  fully  stated,  if  any  questions  be  put,  and  stated  too  in  order 
to  rouse  our  brethren  to  put  us  speedily  in  possession  of  the 
remedy  against  future  defections. 

"When  Gopeenath  Nundi  was  appointed  at  my  own  recom- 
mendation to  the  school  at  Futtehpore,  it  was  not  in  connection 
with  any  society.  The  surgeon  of  the  station,  in  his  applica- 
tion to  me,  expressly  stated  that  the  school  was  founded  and 
would  be  supported  by  the  British  residents  of  the  place.  Its 
being  taken  under  the  patronage  of  the  Church  of  England 
Missionary  Society  w-as  altogether  a  subsequent  event.  We 
could  not  obviate  this,  as  we  had  no  disposable  funds  to  offer 
which  might  secure  the  permanency  of  the  institution. 

"In  June  or  July,  183o,  Archdeacon  Corrie  was  about  to 
proceed  to  the  upper  provinces  on  his  ministerial  visitation. 
This  was  thought  a  favourable  opportunity  for  Gopee,  as  the 
Archdeacon  kindly  offered  to  take  him  along  with  himself.  On 
his  return  to  Calcutta  the  Archdeacon  spoke  of  Gopee  in  the 
very  highest  terms,  and  so  also  did  Messrs.  Hill  and  Paterson, 
missionaries  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  at  Bcrhampore, 
and  others  whom  Gopee  had  visited  in  his  passage  up  the  river. 
From  himself  I  have  never  had  the  slightest  intimation  of  an 
intention  to  join  the  English  Church,  though  for  my  own 
part  I  scarcely  see  how  he  can  avoid  it.  Ho  is,  I  presume, 
supported  to  a  certain  extent  (though  I  never  heard  any  par- 
ticulars) by  the  Church  of  England  Missionary  Society.  Out 
of  Calcutta  (thanks  to  the  supineness  of  our  Church  and  her 
friends)  he  cannot  enjoy  the  benefit  of  Christian  ordinances 
but  in  connection  with  the  Church  of  England.  How  in  these 
circumstances  Gopee  can  avoid  joining  the  Church  of  England 
I  cannot  well  see.  Mr.  Mackay  states  that  he  still  retains  his 
affection  for  me ;  I  am  rejoiced  to  hear  it,  for  it  did  appear 
to  me  strong  as  death. 

"  Anundo^s  case  is  of  course  under  consideration." 


Gopeenath  was  afterwards  ordained  by  the  Ameri- 
can Presbyterian  Church.  Anundo  had  been  induced 
by  Mr.  Groves  to  accompany  him  to  England,  in  the 


284  LIFE    OF   Dli.    DUFF.  1835. 

same  ship  witli  Mr.  Duff.  On  his  return  to  India  lie 
became  a  catecliist  of  the  London  Missionary  Society, 
and  died  in  1841.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  motives 
which  actuated  those  who  induced  Duff's  first  two 
converts  to  leave  their  spiritual  father,  all  must  re- 
joice in  the  fine  catholicity,  in  the  rare  self-abnegation 
which  marked  his  own  action  and  have  ever  since 
made  his  college  the  nursery  of  evangelists  for  all  the 
Protestant  agencies  of  Northern  and  Eastern  India. 
He  at  least  never  grudged  the  Church  of  God  what  his 
own  committee  were  unwilling  or  unable  to  utilize. 
And  in  letters  such  as  this  from  Gopeenath  Nundi, 
as  well  as  in  the  continued  reports  of  Mr.  Mackay 
and  Mr.  Ewart  regarding  others,  he  found  a  solace 
and  a  joy  of  the  rarest  kind.  Two  years  after  his 
baptism  Gopeenath  thus  concluded  a  long  letter  to 
Mr.  Duff,  from  Futtehpore,  beyond  Allahabad,  where 
in  the  Mutiny  of  1857  he  was  to  witness  a  good  con- 
fession, haviugbeen,  as  he  here  desired,  "  kept  faithful 
unto  death  ": — 

"After  I  was  separated  from  you  in  July,  1833,  I  was 
almost  thrown  alone  into  the  world.  Often  I  was  tempted  to 
be  hopeless,  and  felt  the  need  of  your  society.  When  I  feel 
my  lonesomeness,  or  want  of  a  friend  to  open  my  heart  to,  I  go 
to  Him  who  is  ever  kind  to  me,  and  disclose  my  secrets.  He 
is  the  only  searcher  of  all  those  that  are  lost.  He  is  the  only 
friend  of  all  the  broken-hearted.  He  is  the  true  leader,  who 
leads  out  of  the  world  and  temptation,  particularly  to  the 
new  and  inexperienced.  Jesus  is  sweet  unto  all  those  that  call 
upon  Him  in  faith.  Did  He  not  promise  that  He  shall  he  with 
me  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world — then  what  fear  ?  '  Let 
your  loins  be  girded  about,  and  your  lights  burning  !'  Such 
are  my  expressions  in  the  hour  of  temptation.  Oh  what  a 
comfort  to  have  Christ  always^  and  have  fellowship  with  Him  I 
Is  it  not  a  great  blessing  to  have  Christ,  a  friend,  a  companion, 
and  a  conductor  in  all  things?  Then  let  these  lines  be  my  con- 
tinual expression : — 


^t.  29.  TUE    BUOTUERHOOD    IN    CHRIST.  285 

*  If  on  my  face,  for  Thy  dear  Name, 
Shame  and  reproaches  be  ; 
All  hail  reproach,  and  welcome  shame, 
If  Thou  remember  me/ 

"Oh  what  a  great  mistake  of  them  that  are  still  wanderino", 
not  knowing  where  to  harbour  at !  Did  not  our  Lord  pro- 
nounce peace  on  all  that  are  His  ?  '  Peace  I  leave  with  you, 
My  peace  I  give  unto  you,  not  as  the  world  giveth,  give  I  unto 
you  :  let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,  neither  let  it  be  afraid.' 
Is  this  peace  pronounced  not  for  all  ?  I  say  it  is  for  all, 
whoever  he  may  be,  whatever  nation  or  country  he  belongeth 
to ;  so  I  am  sure  His  peace  resteth  on  me  so  long  as  I  have 
sufficient  faith,  even  unto  the  end  of  my  life. 

"Although  we  are  separated  by  sight,  still  our  hearts  are 
combined  in  the  Lord.  As  for  my  part,  I  find  that  the  hearts 
which  are  once  in  the  fellowship  of  Jesus  cannot  on  any 
account  be  separated,  neither  by  time  nor  by  distance.  We 
are  merely  separated  by  earthly  boundaries ;  but  our  Christian 
love  grows  stronger  and  stronger  as  the  day  of  salvation  ap- 
proaches. Only  a  few  thousand  miles  are  between  you  and 
me;  but  I  have  you  always  in  my  heart,  and  make  mention  of 
you  in  my  prayers  :  you  are  scarcely  gone  out  of  my  sight. 
But  oh,  remember  rae  sometimes  in  your  prayers.  Pray  not 
only  for  my  sinful  soul,  that  I  may  be  kept  faithful  unto  death, 
but  also,  and  especially,  for  the  souls  of  the  poor  heathens 
around  me,  that  they  may  soon  be  freed  from  the  chains  of 
Satan  and  be  blessed  in  the  name  of  Jesus.  Whether  I  live 
or  die,  let  Christ  be  glorified  by  the  ingathering  of  sinners  to 
Him.  I  have  many  more  trials  and  temptations  yet  to  meet ; 
but  oh,  may  I  cut  short  all  of  them  through  Him  who  is  ever 
gracious  to  me.  Those  days  are  gone  by  when  we  used  to 
converse  on  religious  topics ;  more  especially  on  Christ's  con- 
descension to  save  poor  sinners.  But  we  have  a  sure  hope, 
that  they  will  be  renewed  in  a  better  place,  and  at  a  better 
time,  when  we  come  to  dwell  in  the  mansions  of  our  heavenly 
Father.  Oh  may  we  soon  come  to  that  place,  and  greet  each 
other  with  a  brotherly  embrace, — singing  praises  to  the  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  for  ever  and  ever.  Amen.  Yours 
alFectionately,  "  Gopeenath  Nundi." 

"  These  lines,"  wrote  Duff  wlien  publishing   them 


286  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1835, 

long  after,  "in  their  touching  simplicity  require  no 
comment.  It  surely  is  not  possible  for  any  experienced 
Christian  to  peruse  them  without  being  sensible  that 
he  is  holding  converse  with  a  mind  not  only  generi- 
cally  but  specifically  the  same  as  his  own ;  that  he  is 
in  union  and  communion  with  a  perfectly  congenial 
spirit — a  spirit  new-moulded  and  fashioned  after 
the  similitude  of  Christ — a  spirit  whose  heavenward 
breathings  would,  with  talismanic  effect,  mark  out  its 
possessor  from  amidst  the  countless  throng  of  his 
turbaned  countrymen  as  belonging  to  the  spiritual 
confederacy  and  brotherhood  of  the  faithful." 

In  April,  1835,  after  making  the  amende  honorable, 
the  convener  submitted  to  Mr.  Duff  a  letter  from  the 
clerk  of  the  Presbytery  of  London,  expressing  pro- 
found interest  in  the  India  mission  of  the  established 
Church  of  Scotland,  and  inviting  the  missionary  to 
preach  to  and  address  each  of  the  congregations, 
which  were  ready  to  begin  a  system  of  contributions 
for  the  good  cause.  There  was  only  one  dissentient 
in  the  Presbytery,  as  it  proved,  and  that  solely  from 
ignorance.  He  was  the  Rev.  John  Macdonald,  who, 
when  he  heard  the  good  news  of  God  from  Bengal  and 
understood  how  an  educational  agency  like  Duff's  was 
the  most  evangelistic  of  all  as  directed  to  cultured 
Hindoos,  gave  himself  to  the  same  service,  resigning 
his  London  charge  for  the  Calcutta  mission.  HaviDg 
accomplished  his  congenial  task,  Mr.  Duff  happened  to 
be  breakfasting  with  Mr.  Joseph  Gurney,  the  Christian 
philanthropist  who  superintended  the  system  of  short- 
hand reporting  in  the  House  of  Lords.  The  mis- 
sionary was  about  to  set  out  for  the  final  meeting  of 
representatives  of  all  the  congregations,  when,  as  he 
lifted  a  cup  of  coffee  to  his  lips,  he  was  seized  with 
the  violent  shivering  which  marked  the  return  of  his 
old  fever.     He  was  nursed  in  Alderman  Pirie's  house 


ALL  29.  LEITER   TO   DAVID    EWART.  287 

for  three  weeks,  and  insisted  on  returning  to  Edin- 
burgh for  the  General  Assembly,  which  he  reached 
by  steamer  apparently  a  wasted  skeleton. 


"London,  Camberwell,  20th  May,  1835. 

"  My  Dear  Ewart, — I  need  not  say  how  rejoiced  I 
was  when  I  heard  of  the  step  you  had  taken.  May 
the  God  of  grace  strengthen  and  uphold  you  :  may  He 
pour  upon  you  of  the  richest  effusions  of  His  grace  : 
and  may  He  render  your  labour  effectual  in  advancing 
the  Redeemer's  kingdom  in  the  benighted  land  of 
your  adoption.  By  this  time  you  will  have  become 
acquainted  with  the  state  of  things  in  Calcutta.  It  is 
needless  therefore  for  me  to  refer  to  it.  The  pushing 
on  of  the  advantages  already  gained  in  our  Institution 
is  a  matter  of  paramount  importance.  The  raising  up 
of  a  class  of  native  teachers  and  preachers  from  our 
Institution  is  the  only  thing  that  will  meet  the  de- 
mands of  India,  the  only  thing  that  will  reconcile  the 
people  at  home  to  our  proceedings.  Therefore  every 
nerve  should  be  strained  towards  the  accomplishment 
of  this  end.  The  day  that  the  presbyterial  board  of 
Calcutta  shall  ordain  one  of  our  young  men  for  the 
work  of  the  ministry  will  be  a  glorious  day  for  India 
and  for  our  cause.  Such  an  event  would  do  more  than 
anything  else  in  the  way  of  arousing  our  countrymen 
at  home.  When  ordained,  of  course  the  young  mis- 
sionary should  be  employed  in  or  near  Calcutta,  within 
reach  of  superintendence  and  direction. 

"  I  came  to  Loudon  about  a  month  ago,  and  have 
preached  or  delivered  addresses  in  all  our  Scotch 
churches  here.  All  of  them  have  now  formed,  or  are 
about  to  form,  congregational  associations  in  support 
of  our  cause.  I  was  to  have  spoken  at  some  of  the 
great  anniversary  meetings  held  here  in  May ;  but  on 


2S8  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1835; 

Saturday,  the  2nd  of  May,  I  was  seized  with  a  severe 
attack  of  my  old  friend,  or  enemy,  the  Bengal  inter- 
mittent fever,  which  has  up  to  this  date  conj&ned 
me  to  the  house.  I  am  now  through  God's  blessing 
nearly  recovered ;  but  the  consequence  has  been  that 
for  the  present  the  finest  opportunities  for  making 
our  cause  extensively  known  in  this  great  metropolis 
have  been  lost.  It  does  look  mysterious,  but  no 
doubt  we  shall  yet  find  that  God  has  ordered  it  for 
the  best. 

"  While  I  have  been  advocating  the  claims  of  our 
mission  generally,  and  the  necessity  of  increasing 
prayerfulness  and  increasing  contributions,  I  have 
not  forgotten  the  special  calls  for  more  suitable 
accommodation  for  our  Institution,  for  an  extensive 
library,  apparatus,  etc.  Things  are  progressing  to- 
wards something  eff"ectual  being  done  in  these  respects. 
I  have  now  just  attended  a  general  meeting  of  the 
Religious  Tract  and  Book  Society,  and  pled  in  behalf 
of  our  Institution.  The  committee  have  accordingly 
unanimously  voted  a  grant  of  all  their  publications, 
amounting  in  value  to  about  £30.  My  affectionate 
regards  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mackay,  Dr.  Bryce,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Charles,  the  members  of  session,  brother 
missionaries,  etc.      Yours  affectionately, 

**  Alexander  Duff." 

Duff"  had  now  a  work  to  do,  and  to  do  at  once,  com- 
pared with  which  his  crusade  in  Bengal  had  been 
pleasant.  The  opposition  there  was  what  he  had 
counted  on ;  it  had  inspirited  him  with  eagerness  for 
the  battle,  and  he  had  been  successful.  In  his  own  land 
he  had  had  just  experience  enough  to  sound  the  depth 
of  ignorance,  and  consequent  indifference  to  India 
and  the  state  of  its  people.  The  few  who  were  of 
the  spirit  of  Dr.  Inglis,  removed  by  death;    Simeon, 


JEt.  2g.  "expect   GREAT  THINGS."  289 

near  liis  end;  Dr.  Love,  removed  to  Glasgow  after 
founding  the  Loudon  Missionary  Society ;  John 
Foster,  Charles  Grant  and  Wilberforce,  gathered 
round  the  societies,  leaving  Churches,  as  such,  colder 
than  before.  Irvine  and  Falkirk  were  exceptions 
in  the  presbyteries  of  his  own  Kirk ;  even  the  Lon- 
don Scotsmen  were  represented  as  more  desirous  to 
wipe  off  the  reproach  of  Unitarianism  by  inviting 
him  to  their  midst  than  to  advance  foreign  missions. 
We  have  seen  what  his  own  committee,  on  the  removal 
of  Dr.  Inglis,  knew  of  his  doings,  and  how  little  they 
understood  the  magnitude  of  his  aims.  Just  ten  years 
had  passed  since  the  General  Assembly  had  been  induced 
with  difficulty  to  invite  a  general  collection  for  the  pro- 
posed Indian  Mission,  by  the  assurance,  prominently 
published,  that  it  was  "  not  to  be  repeated,"  yet  not. 
fifty  out  of  its  thousand  churches  made  any  response.  / 
Dr.  Inglis  was  so  delighted  by  the  consent  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Edinburgh  to  make  an  annual  collection, 
even  in  1831,  that  he  announced  it  to  Duff  as  a  tri- 
umph, and  declared  he  would  now  fix  the  maximum 
revenue  for  the  mission  at  £1,200  a  year.  From  the 
front  of  the  battle,  in  all  its  heat  and  vastness,  the  mis- 
sionary had  replied,  "  Not  £1,200  but  £12,000,  and  doj 
not  stop  at  that."  How  had  that  reply  been  received  ?  ^ 
"When,  before  the  Assembly  of  1835,  Duff  was  reading 
up  the  meagre  records  of  the  committee,  he  found  that 
a  leading  member  had  written  on  the  margin  of  that 
reply,  "  Is  the  man  mad  ?  Has  the  Indian  sun  turned 
his  head  ?  "  When  he  pointed  out  the  query,  its  writer, 
now  himself  convener,  tore  it  off  and  threw  it  into  the 
fire,  exclaiming,  "  No  more  will  be  heard  on  that  sub- 
ject." But,  in  high  and  low,  this  was  the  want  of  know- 
ledge and  of  faith  which  the  first  Scottish  missionary 
who  had  returned  from  India  was  called  to  meet.  And 
the    return   of  the  old  fever  of  the  rice    swamps    of 

u 


290  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1835. 

Bengal,  following  his  London  campaign,  had  mado 
him  once  more  a  gaunt  invalid. 

Physicians  and  friends  tried  to  dissuade  him,  and 
the  list  of  business  that  year,  which  followed  the 
ecclesiastical  reforms  of  1834,  was  so  large  that  it  was 
doubtful  if  time  would  be  found  for  even  the  India 
Mission.  What  was  all  the  administration  of  Lord 
William  Bentinck,  or  all  the  codes  and  the  essays  of 
Macaulay,  to  a  general  election  ?  what  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  Bengal  to  the  presbyters  of  Auchterarder  ? 
But  Duff  knew  that  this  was  his  time ;  that  if  he  died 
he  must  yet  deliver  his  soul  and  tell  his  tale.  He  could 
have  no  prosperous  mission  in  India  without  Scotland, 
"^and'  every  Scottish  man,  woman  and  child  could  be 
reached  best  through  the  reports  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, which  the  reforms  of  1834  had  made  the  most 
popular  of  parliaments. 

Casting  himself  on  the  promise  to  Paul,  the  first 
and  greatest  of  missionaries,  that  the  grace  of  God 
would  be  sufficient  for  him,  yea,  would  be  perfected 
even  by  his  weakness,  Mr.  Duff  resigned  himself 
passively  into  the  Divine  hands.  In  those  days  he 
did  not  commit  a  speech  or  address  to  writing,  but 
thoroughly  conned  over  the  materials  of  it,  leaving 
the  expression  to  the  time  when  he  should  stand  eye 
to  eye  with  the  crowd.  The  reforming  party  in  the 
Kirk  had  established  the  Scottish  Guardian  as  their 
weekly  newspaper,  in  Glasgow,  and  the  editor,  the 
Bev.  George  Lewis,  had  formed  a  volunteer  staff  of 
reporters  of  the  Assembly's  proceedings.  Brother  of 
one  who  was  a  warm  friend  of  Mr.  Duff — Dr.  James 
Lewis — and  himself  one  of  the  few  interested  in  the 
subject,  he  instructed  his  staff  to  take  down  as  full  a 
report  of  the  missionary's  speech  as  possible.  Monday, 
the  25th  May,  1835,  had  been  assigned  for  what  had 
hitherto  been  the  purely   formal    duty  of  presenting 


^t.  29.  IN    THE    GENERAL   ASSEMBLY    OF    1835.  29 1 

the  annual  report  of  the  India  Mission.  Tlio  Assem- 
bly met  in  that  most  uuecclesiastical  large  box  called 
the  Tron  kirk  of  Edinburgh.  Though  in  the  m:'^*]ian- 
ical  sense  unprepared,  and  just  risen  from  a  sick  bed, 
Mr.  Duff  testified  often  after,  that  never  during  his 
whole  life  did  he  more  thoroughly  experience  the 
might  of  the  Divine  saying,  "  As  thy  day  so  shall  thy 
strenQ:th  be."  At  first  it  seemed  as  if  he  could  not 
go  on  beyond  a  few  sentences,  and  he  was  conscious 
that  many  were  gazing  at  him,  apprehensive,  as  they 
afterwards  said,  that  he  would  soon  drop  on  the  floor. 
But,  leaping  by  one  effort  into  the  very  heart  of 
his  subject,  he  became  unconscious  of  the  presence 
of  his  audience  save  as  of  a  mass  which  was  gradually 
warming  to  his  heat.  Advancing  from  stage  to 
stage  of  what  was,  for  him,  "  a  brief  exposition,"  he 
whispered  out  his  at  that  time  unmatched  peroration 
with  an  almost  supernatural  effect,  and  subsided 
drenched  with  perspiration  as  if  he  had  been  dragged 
through  the  Atlantic,  to  use  his  own  expression.  Then 
for  the  first  time  he  marked  the  emotion  of  his  hearers, 
many  of  them  callous  laAvyers  and  lords  of  session, 
cool  men  of  the  world  or  antipathetic  "  moderates." 
Down  the  cheeks  of  even  these  the  tears  were 
trickling. 

With  the  unconsciousness  of  the  highest  art  their 
first  Indian  missionary  at  once  planted  the  General 
Assembly  beside  him  in  Bengal,  as  he  set  himself  to 
"  the  conversion  of  a  hundred  and  thirty  millions  of 
idolaters."  Step  by  step  he  hurried  them  on  from  the 
first  attempt,  on  the  old  system,  to  influence  the  edu- 
cated Hindoos,  through  the  statement  of  the  evidences 
of  Christianity,  of  miracles,  prophecy  and  the  demand 
for  the  proof  of  the  missionary's  authority,  till  this 
conclusion  was  reached  :  "  The  power  of  conveying 
the  necessary  knowledge  seems  to  me  to  be  the  only 


292  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1835. 

substitute  we  possess  instead  of  the  power  of  working 
miracles.  But  it  is  surely  one  thing  to  say,  that  a 
sound  liberal  education  is  greatly  advantageous  towards 
the  establishment  of  the  evidence  and  authority  of 
the  Christian  revelation,  and,  consequently,  towards 
securing  a  candid  and  attentive  hearing,  and  quite 
another  to  say,  that  it  is  indispensably  and  universally 
necessary  to  the  heart  reception  of  the  gospel  remedy. 
The  former  position  we  do  most  firmly  maintain,  but 
in  the  solemnity  of  apostolic  language,  we  exclaim, 
God  forbid  that  we  should  ever  maintain  the  latter  ! 
Instead  of  demanding  your  authority  for  the  truth 
of  Christianity,  the  Brahman  may  challenge  you  to 
invalidate,  if  you  can,  the  claims  of  his  system.  You 
soon  find  that  there  is  no  common  ground  in  logic,  and 
you  turn  to  the  experimental  principles  of  physical 
science  to  find  the  cataclysms  of  the  Hindoo  cosmo- 
gony exalted  against  the  petty,  the  recent  learning  of 
the  West.  You  turn  to  theology  proper,  only  to  find 
that  the  Yedic  Shasters  sanctify  and  render  infallible 
all  Brahmanism,  secular  as  well  as  sacred.  Do  then," 
exclaimed  Duff,  after  pleading  for  the  supply  of  mis- 
sionaries "qualified  to  silence  the  intellectually  proud 
as  well  as  to  edify  the  spiritually  humble," 

"  Do  tlieu  let  me  again  crave  the  attention  of  this  venerable 
court  to  the  grand  'peculiarity ,  that  if  in  India  you  only  impart 
ordinary  useful  knowledge,  you  thereby  demolish  ivhat  by  its 
people  is  regarded  as  sacred.  A  course  of  instruction  that  pro- 
fosses  to  convey  trutJb  of  any  land  thus  becomes  a  species  of 
religious  education  in  such  a  land — all  education  being  there 
regarded  as  religious  or  theological.  Every  branch  of  sound 
general  knowledge  which  you  inculcate  becomes  the  destroyer 
of  some  corresponding  part  in  the  Hindoo  system.  It  is  this 
that  gives  to  the  dissemination  of  mere  human  knowledge,  in 
the  present  state  of  India,  such  awful  importance :  it  is  this  that 
exalts  and  magnifies  it  into  the  rank  of  a  prwiiarz/ instrument  in 
epreading  the  seeds  of  reformation  throughout  the  land.     I  ask 


^t.  29.  HIS    FIRST    ORATION.  293 

not,  whether  sound  useful  kuowleclge  be  universally  necessary, 
either  as  the  precursor  or  friendly  ally  of  tliat  wliich  is  divine. 
Such  is  ticither  my  own  impression  nor  belief.  But,  seeing 
that  the  communication  of  useful  knowledge  becomes,  in  the 
circumstances  described,  such  a  tremendous  engine  for  breaking 
down  the  accumulated  superstitions  and  idolatries  of  ages,  I  do 
ask,  in  opposition  to  those  who  decry  and  denounce  useful 
knowledge,  not  in  the  abstract  but  as  totally  inapplicable  to 
missionary  purposes, — I  do  ask,  witli  humble  but  confident 
boldness,  as  in  the  sight  of  Heaven,  '  Who  is  it  that  will  hence- 
forward have  the  hardihood  to  assert  that  the  impartation  of 
such  knowledge  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  christianizatiou  of 
India?'" 

But  the  European,  the  foreign  missionary  to  the 
educated  Hindoos  soon  comes  to  discover  further,  that 
if  the  gospel  is  to  be  extensively  preached  with  power 
it  must  be  by  natives  themselves,  whom  it  is  his  task 
to  duly  qualify.  Appealing  to  the  Highland  ministers 
among  his  audience,  the  speaker  used  the  same  old 
analogy  of  the  Gaelic  and  English  which  he  employed 
with  such  eflfect  against  the  one-sided  orientalists  of 
Calcutta : — 

"  Oh,  there  is  that  in  the  tones  of  a  foreigner's  voice  which  X 
falls  cold  and  heavy  on  the  ear  of  a  native,  and  seldom  reaches 
the  heart ! — whereas,  there  is  something  in  the  genuine  tones 
of  a  countryman's  voice,  which,  operating  as  a  charm,  falls 
pleasantly  on  the  ear,  and  comes  home  to  the  feelings,  and 
touches  the  heart,  and  causes  its  tenderest  cords  to  vibrate. 
Doubtless  there  have  been,  and  there  may  be  now,  individual 
cases  of  foreigners  having  in  some  degree,  or  even  altogether, 
surmounted  this  grand  practical  difficulty.  But  these  rare 
cases  form  such  palpable  exceptions  from  the  general  rule,  that 
they  can  scarcely  be  counted  on,  in  providing  a  naf/onaZ  supply 
of  preachers  of  the  everlasting  gospel.  Thus,  again,  is  the 
comparative  inefficiency  of  European  agency,  when  put  forth 
directly  in  proclaiming  the  gospel,  forced  upon  the  mind ;  and 
the  necessity  of  having  recourse  to  native  agents  in  the  work 
is  once  more  suggested  with  a  potency  that  is  resistless.    They 


294  ^^^^    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1835. 

can  withstand  that  blazing  sun,  they  can  bear  exposure  to  that 
unkindly  atmosphere,  they  can  locate  themselves  amid  the 
hamlets  and  the  villages,  they  can  hold  intercourse  with  their 
countrymen  in  ways  and  modes  that  we  never  can.  And 
having  the  thousand  advantages,  besides,  of  knowing  the 
feelings,  the  sentiments,  the  traditions,  the  associations,  the 
habits,  the  manners,  the  customs,  the  trains  of  thought  and 
principles  of  reasoning  among  the  people,  they  can  strike  in 
with  arguments,  and  objections,  and  illustrations,  and  imagery 
which  we  could  never,  never  have  conceived.  How  glorious 
then  must  be  the  day  for  India  when  such  qualified  native 
agents  are  prepared  to  go  forth  among  the  people,  and  shake 
and  agitate,  and  rouse  them  from  the  lethargy  and  the  slumber 
of  ages  ! 

"  It  is  for  reasons  like  the  preceding,  that  a  man  of  fervent 
piety,  going  forth  with  the  fullest  intention  of  doing  nothing 
but  directly  and  exclusively  preaching  the  gospel  in  the  native 
tongues,  often  finds  himself,  in  such  a  country  as  India,  con- 
strained to  think  of  other  and  more  effectual  means  of  ulti- 
mately accomplishing  the  same  work,  and  hastening  the  same 
consummation.^' 

Then  followed  a  graphic  description  of  tlie  speaker's 
own  mode  of  overcoming  such  difficulties ;  a  patbetic 
picture  of  the  separation  of  his  third  convert  from 
father  and  mother,  from  brothers  and  friends,  for  ever; 
and  a  contrast,  which  time  has  unhappily  only  proved 
at  once  a  prediction  and  a  justification,  in  the  political 
results  of  the  system  which  the  Grovernment  of  India 
alone  of  all  ruling  powers,  civilized  or  barbarous,  pur- 
sues— public  instruction  carefully  divorced  from  all 
religion : — 

"  If  in  that  land  you  do  give  the  people  Icnowledge  without 
religion,  rest  assured  that  it  is  the  greatest  blunder,  politically 
speaking,  that  ever  was  committed.  Having  free  unrestricted 
access  to  the  whole  range  of  our  English  literature  and  science 
they  will  despise  and  reject  their  own  absurd  systems  of 
learning.  Once  driven  out  of  their  own  systems,  they  will  in- 
evitably become  infidels  in  religion.     And  shaken  out  of  the 


^t.  29.  HIS   riRST   ORATION.  295 

mechanical  routiue  of  their  own  religious  observances,  without 
moral  principle  to  balance  their  thoughts  or  guide  their  move- 
ments, they  will  as  certainly  become  discontented,  restless 
agitators, — ambitious  of  power  and  official  distinction,  and 
possessed  of  the  most  disloyal  sentiments  towards  that  Govern- 
ment which,  in  their  eye,  has  usurped  all  tho  authority  that 
rightfully  belonged  to  themselves.  This  is  not  theory,  it  is  a 
statement  of  fact.  I  myself  can  testify  in  this  place,  as  I  have 
already  done  on  the  spot,  that  expressions  and  opinions  of  a 
most  rebellious  nature  have  been  known  to  drop  from  some  of 
the  very  proteges  of  that  Government  which,  for  its  own  sake, 
is  so  infatuated  as  to  insist  on  giving  knowledge  apart  from 
religion.  But  as  soon  as  some  of  these  became  converts  to 
Chi'istianity,  through  the  agency  already  described,  how  totally 
dittei'ent  their  tone  of  feeling  towards  the  existing  Government  ? 
Their  bowels  yearned  over  the  miseries  of  their  countrymen. 
T/ieif  now  knew  the  only  effectual  cure.  And  their  spontaneous 
feeling  was,  '  Ah !  woe  be  unto  us,  if  the  British  Government 
were  destroyed  and  the  Hindoo  dynasties  restored  !  The  first 
thing  would  be  to  cut  us  off,  and  what  would  then  become  of 
our  poor  degraded  country  ?  We  pray  for  the  permanence 
of  the  British  Government,  that,  under  the  shadow  of  its  pro- 
tection, we  may  disseminate  the  healing  knowledge  of  Chris- 
tianity among  our  brethren, — that  knowledge  which  alone  can 
secure  their  present  welfare  and  immortal  happiness.'  In 
like  manner,  and  for  the  same  reason,  there  are  not  more  loyal 
or  patriotic  subjects  of  the  British  crown  than  the  young  men 
that  compose  the  more  advanced  classes  in  our  Institution.  So 
clearly  and  strongly  did  this  appear  to  many  members  of  the 
present  Government  in  India,  that  instead  of  regarding  us  with 
jealousy  and  suspicion  as  enemies,  they  looked  upon  us  as  the 
truest  friends  of  the  British  Government,  the  staunchest  sup- 
porters of  the  British  power." 

The  adoption  of  English  as  the  language  of  the 
higher  education,  the  abolition  of  foreign  Persian  as 
the  official  medium,  the  use  of  the  vernaculars  for 
giving  knowledge  to  the  millions,  the  spread  of  the 
higher  education  from  Calcutta  to  the  great  cities  and 
jfeudatory  states  of  Upper  and  Central  India,  and  the 


296  LIFE    OF'  DE.    DUFF.  1835, 

'  duty  of  Scotland  through  its  Kirk,  all  the  more  since 
the  death  of  Inglis,  carried  the  orator  to  his  climax, 
which  became  a  model  of  rhetoric  for  many  a  year 
after  in  the  schools  and  manuals  of  elocution : — 

*'  Whenever  we  make  an  appeal  in  behalf  of  the  heathen,  it 
is  constantly  urged  that  there  are  enough  of  heathen  at  home, 
— that  there  is  enough  of  work  to  be  done  at  home,  and  why 
roam  for  more  in  distant  lands  ?  I  strongly  suspect  that 
those  who  are  most  clamorous  in  advancing  this  plea  are  just 
the  very  men  who  do  little,  and  care  less,  either  for  heathen 
at  home  or  heathen  at  a  distance.  At  all  events,  it  is  a  plea 
far  more  worthy  of  a  heathen  than  of  a  Christian.  It  was 
not  thus  that  the  apostles  argued.  If  it  Avere,  they  never 
would  have  crossed  the  walls  of  Jerusalem.  There  they  would 
have  remained  contending  with  unbelieving  Jews,  till  caught 
by  the  flames  that  reduced  to  ashes  the  city  of  their  fathers. 
And  if  we  act  on  such  a  plea,  we  may  be  charged  with  de- 
spising the  example  of  the  apostles,  and  found  loitering  at  home 
till  overtaken  by  the  flames  of  the  final  conflagration.  But 
shall  it  be  brooked  that  those  who  in  this  Assembly  have  so 
far  succeeded  to  their  oSice,  should  act  so  contrary  a  part  ? 
Let  us  pronounce  this  impossible.  I  for  one  can  see  no  con- 
ti'ariety  between  home  and  foreign  labour.  I  am  glad  that 
so  much  is  doing  for  home  :  but  ten  times  more  may  yet  be 
done  both  for  home  and  for  abroad  too.  It  is  cheering  to 
think  of  the  overmastering  energy  that  is  now  put  forth  in 
the  cause  of  church  extension  in  this  land,  as  well  as  in  refer- 
ence to  improved  systems  of  education,  and  model-schools, 
.  and  more  especially  the  enlightenment  of  the  long-neglected 
and  destitute  Highlands.  I  know  the  Highlands;  they  are 
dear  to  me.  They  form  the  cradle  and  the  grave  of  my 
fathers ;  they  are  the  nursery  of  my  youthful  imaginings ; 
and  there  is  not  a  lake,  or  barren  heath,  or  naked  granite  peak 
that  is  not  dear  to  me.  How  much  more  dear  the  precious 
souls  of  those  who  tenant  these  romantic  regions !  Still, 
though  a  son  of  the  Highlands,  I  must,  in  my  higher  capacity 
as  a  disciple  of  Jesus,  be  permitted  to  put  the  question.  Has 
not  Inspiration  declared,  that  '  the  field  is  the  world '  ? 
And  would  you  keep  your  spiritual  sympathies  pent  up  withia 


yEt.  29.  THE    PEROKATION.  297 

tlie  craggy  ramparts  of  tlio  Grampians  ?  Would  you  havo 
them  enchained  within  the  wild  and  rocky  shores  of  this  dis- 
tant isle  ?  '  The  field  is  the  world/  And  the  more  we  are 
like  God, — the  more  we  reflect  His  image, — the  more  our 
nature  is  assimilated  to  the  Divine, — the  more  nearly  will  we 
view  the  world  as  God  has  done.  '  True  friendship/  it  has 
been  said,  '  has  no  localities/  And  so  it  is  with  the  love  of 
God  in  Christ.  The  sacrifice  on  Calvary  was  designed  to 
embrace  the  globe  in  its  amplitude.  Let  us  view  the  subject 
as  God  views  it — let  us  view  it  as  denizens  of  the  universe — 
and  we  shall  not  be  bounded  in  our  efforts  of  philanthi'opy, 
short  of  the  north  or  south  pole.  Wherever  there  is  a  human 
being  there  must  our  sympathies  extend. 

"  And  since  you,  here  assembled,  are  the  representatives  of 
that  National  Church  that  has  put  forth  an  emphatic  expres- 
sion of  faith  in  the  Redeemer's  promises;  an  emphatic  ex- 
pression of  expectation  that  all  these  promises  shall  one  day 
be  gloriously  realized — and  in  these  troublous  times  this  is  a 
precious  testimony — I  call  upon  you  to  follow  it  up  with  deeds 
proportionate.  '  Faith  without  works  is  dead.'  Let  you, 
the  representative  body  of  this  Church,  commence,  and  show 
that  the  pulse  of  benevolence  has  begun  to  beat  higher  here, 
and  if  so,  it  will  circulate  through  all  the  veins  of  the  great 
system.  Let  the  impulsive  influence  begin  here,  and  it  will 
flow  throughout  the  land.  Let  us  awake,  arise,  and  rescue 
unhappy  India  from  its  present  and  impending  horrors.  Ah  ! 
lonfj,  too  lonjjT  has  India  been  made  a  theme  for  the  visions  of 
poetry  and  the  dreams  of  romance.  Too  long  has  it  been 
enshrined  in  the  sparkling  bubbles  of  a  vapoury  seutimentalism. 
One's  heart  is  indeed  sickened  with  the  eternal  song  of  its 
balmy  skies  and  voluptuous  gales — its  golden  dews  and 
pageantry  of  blossoms — its 

'fields  of  paradise  and  bowers, 
Eutwiiiing  amarauthiue  flowers,' — 

its  blaze  of  suns,  and  torrents  of  eternal  light : — one's  heart 
is  sickened  with  this  eternal  song,  when  above,  we  behold 
nought  but  the  spiritual  gloom  of  a  gathering  tempest,  re- 
lieved only  by  the  lightning  glance  of  the  Almighty's  indigna- 
tion— around,  a  waste  moral  wilderness,  where  'all  life  dies, 
and    death    lives ' — and   underneath,    one     vast    catacomb    of 


298  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1835. 

immortal  souls  pei'isliing  for  lack  of  knowledge.  Let  us  arise, 
and  resolve  that  heuceforward  these  'climes  of  tlie  sun'  shall 
not  be  viewed  merely  as  a  storehouse  of  flowers  for  poetry,  and 
fij?ures  for  rhetoric,  and  bold  strokes  for  oratory ;  but  shall 
become  the  climes  of  a  better  sun — even  '  the  Sun  of  right- 
eousness ; '  the  nursery  of  '  plants  of  renown '  that  shall 
bloom  and  blossom  in  the  regions  of  immortality.  Let  us 
arise  and  revive  the  genius  of  the  olden  time  :  let  us  revive 
the  spirit  of  our  forefathers.  Like  them,  let  us  unsheathe  the 
sword  of  the  Spirit,  unfurl  the  banners  of  the  Cross,  sound 
the  gospel-trump  of  jubilee.  Like  them,  let  us  enter  into 
a  Solemn  League  and  Covenant  before  our  God,  in  behalf  of 
that  benighted  land,  that  we  will  not  rest,  till  the  voice  of 
praise  and  thanksgiving  arise,  in  daily  orisons,  from  its  coral 
strands,  roll  over  its  fertile  plains,  resound  from  its  smiling 
valleys,  and  re-echo  from  its  everlasting  hills.  Thus  shall 
it  be  proved,  that  the  Church  of  Scotland,  though  '  poor,  can 
make  many  rich,'  being  herself  replenished  from  the  '  fulness 
of  the  Godhead  : ' — that  the  Church  of  Scotland,  though 
powerless,  as  regards  carnal  designs  and  worldly  policies,  has 
yet  the  divine  power  of  bringing  many  sons  to  glory  j  of 
calling  a  spiritual  progeny  from  afar,  numerous  as  the  drops 
of  dew  in  the  morning,  and  resplendent  with  the  shining  of 
the  Sun  of  righteousness — a  noble  company  of  ransomed 
multitudes,  that  shall  hail  you  in  the  realms  of  day,  and  crown 
you  with  the  spoils  of  victory,  and  sit  on  thrones,  and  live  and 
reign  with  you,  amid  the  splendours  of  an  unclouded  universe. 
"  May  God  hasten  the  day,  and  put  it  into  the  heart  of  every 
one  present  to  engage  in  the  glorious  work  of  realizing  it !  " 

The  long-drawn  sigh  of  the  profoundly  moved 
hearers  relieved  the  suppressed  emotion  which  lighted 
up  or  bedimmed  every  face.  The  presence  of  God 
alone  was  the  fitting  place  at  such  a  time,  and 
Dr.  Grordon  was  unanimously  called  on  to  lead  the 
devotions  of  the  Assembly  in  praise  and  thanksgiving 
to  God.  When  the  tumult  of  emotion  was  thus 
chastened,  one  after  another  of  the  leaders  of  the 
house,  on  both  sides,  rose  to  give  expression  to  his 
feelings.    Among  these  was  the  venerable  Dr.  Stewart, 


^t.  29.  IMMEDIATE    EFFECT    OF   THE    SPEECH.  299 

of  Erskine,  wlio  thus  spoke : — "  Moderator,  it  has 
been  my  privilege  to  hear  Mr.  Fox  and  Mr.  Pitt  speak 
in  the  Plouse  of  Commons,  that  grand  focus  of  British 
eloquence,  when  in  the  very  zenith  of  their  glory  as 
statesmen  and  orators.  I  now  solemnly  declare  that  I 
never  heard  from  either  of  them  a  speech  similar,  or 
second  to  that  to  which  we  have  now  listened,  alike 
for  its  lofty  tone,  thought  and  sentiment,  its  close 
argumentative  force,  its  transcendent  eloquence  and 
overpowering  impressiveness."  The  Rev.  J.  W. 
Taylor,  of  Flisk,  still  lives  to  give  us  this  reminiscence 
of  that  day  : — 

"  Before  Alexander  Duff  left  St.  Andrews  for  India  there 
was  a  meeting  of  the  Students'  Missionary  Society  ia  St. 
Mary's  College.  I  stumbled  up  the  dark  stairs,  and  when  I 
got  into  the  I'oom,  I  found  Duff  addressing  a  small  meeting, 
and  lamenting  in  his  own  pathetic  way  the  little  interest 
which  the  cause  of  Christ  and  of  missions  was  awakeningr  in 
the  student  mind.  The  next  time  I  heard  Duff  was  in  the 
General  Assembly  of  1835.  I  was  there  as  a  volunteer 
reporter  to  the  Scottish  Guardian.  It  was  fortunate  that  the 
reporting  of  Duff's  speech  was  entrusted  to  the  cool  head  and 
steady  hand  of  Professor  Chalmers  of  London.  All  the  rest 
of  us  reporters  sat  spell-bound.  There  stood  Duff  in  front  of 
the  square  box-like  enclosure  which  contained  the  moderator, 
the  procurator,  the  clerks,  and  the  more  distinguished  leaders 
of  the  Assembly.  The  look  of  modesty,  of  dignity,  of  anxiety, 
as  if  conscious  that  the  futui'e  of  his  plan  of  Indian  missions 
was  suspended  under  God  upon  the  impression  which  would 
be  made  that  day  upon  that  Assembly,  won  the  interest  of 
every  one  in  the  crowded  house.  And  as  the  great  missionary 
went  on  expounding  in  his  own  deep  heart-moving  tones  his 
great  method  of  overthrowing  Hindooism  by  the  combined 
agencies  of  a  sacred  education  and  of  the  Bible,  for  betwixt 
two  and  thi-ee  hours  he  held  the  vast  audience  under  the  sway 
of  his  commanding  eloquence,  and  when  he  finished  one 
conviction  possessed  every  heart — this  is  the  key-note  for 
India's  evangelization.  Many  old  ministers  who  had  been 
cold  in  the  cause  of  missions,  and  many  moderate  ministers 


300  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1835. 

who  had  been  opposed  to  missions,  dated  the  rise  of  missionary 
zeal  in  their  hearts  from  the  speech  of  that  day.  Even  Dr. 
George  Oook,  who  in  his  lectures  to  his  students  was  accus- 
tomed to  argue  against  foreign  missions,  under  the  stirring 
impulse  of  Dr.  Duff^s  address  rose  and  vied  with  the  evan- 
gelical brethren  in  expressing  his  admiration  of  the  zeal,  the 
skilfulness,  the  devotedness  and  big-heartedness  of  the  great 
missionary. 

"  The  first  India  mission  speech  of  Duff  was  sufficient  of 
itself  to  signalise  any  Assembly.  But  the  Assembly  of  1835 
was  rendered  further  illustrious  by  the  famous  speech  of  Rev. 
Andrew  Gray,  demanding  for  chapels  of  ease  the  status  of 
Presbyterian  Churches,  and  the  constitutional  provision  of 
kirk-sessions  and  representation  in  the  Presbytery." 

The  Scottish  Guardian  of  next  day  wrote  thus : — 
*'  Mr.  Duff's  speech  will  be  found  at  full  length  in  our 
columns,  occupying  the  most  prominent  place  in  the 
proceedings  of  the  Assembly  of  yesterday.  It  has 
thrown  a  flood  of  light  upon  the  christianization  of 
India,  and  furnished  principles  and  information  for 
ffuiding:  our  Church  which  will  lead  to  an  entire  new 
model  of  missions,  and  give,  we  trust,  a  new  direction 
to  all  the  efforts  of  the  Christians  of  Britain  in  behalf 
of  India.  It  would  be  vain  for  us  to  attempt  to 
describe  the  impression  which  the  lofty,  intelligent 
Christian  enthusiasm  and  fervid  eloquence  of  Mr. 
Duff  produced  upon  the  Assembly.  Every  heart  felt 
his  appeal,  and  every  understanding  approved  the 
wisdom  and  sagacity  of  the  means  which  he  proposed 
for  giving  success  to  the  missionary  enterprise  and 
achieving  the  christianization  of  India.  It  will  be 
long  ere  the  Assembly  will  forget  his  pleading.  His 
appearance  has  thrown  a  sacredness  around  its  meet- 
ing, and  will  give  a  Christian  elevation  and  dignity  to 
the  whole  of  its  procedure.  His  speech  will  yet  tell 
in  its  moral  influence,  not  only  in  the  cottages  of  India, 
but  in  the  cottages  of  our  own  laud,  and  will  send 


ALt.  29.   THE    FIRST    BATTLE    OF    THE    HOME    CAMPAIGN.         3OI 

back  our  clerg^y  to  tlieir  homes  smitten  with  the 
missionary  and  apostolic  spirit  that  burns  with  sweet 
fervour  in  the  breast  of  our  devoted  missionary.  Who 
would  not  pray  God  that  he  might  have  the  same 
wisdom  and  Christian  zeal,  and  might  bring  these 
to  bear  upon  the  christianizatioQ  of  his  own  allotted 
vinej^ard  in  the  Church,  with  the  same  success  as  Mr. 
Duff  promises  to  concentrate  them  upon  his  Indian 
enterprise  ?  " 

The  Presbijtenan  Beview  of  the  following  July 
described  the  whole  house  as  "  absorbed  in  one  feeling, 
exquisite  even  to  pain ;  tears  ran  down  almost  every 
cheek  "  during^  the  address.  The  historian  of  "  the 
ten  years'  conflict,"  declaring  that  it  is  difficult  to 
refer,  at  this  distance  of  time,  to  the  impression  which 
it  produced  without  using  what  may  seem  like  the 
lano^uan:e  of  exaoi'Sferation,  records  : — "  It  was  indeed  a 
token  that  better  days  had  come  for  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  when  Chalmers  and  Duff  were  contempor- 
aneously making  the  whole  country  resound  with 
their  noble  pleadings — the  one  for  the  heathen  at 
home,  the  other  for  the  heathen  abroad."  The 
General  Assembly  ordered  the  publication  of  the 
address,  and  two  editions  of  twenty  thousand  copies, 
following  the  newspaper,  spread  it  abroad,  not  only 
over  Great  Britain,  but  in  America  and  many  parts  of 
the  continent  of  Europe.  In  Scotland,  as  in  India, 
the  first  battle  of  the  campaign  had  been  won. 

But  only  the  first.  For  it  was  natural  and  advan- 
tageous that  this,  the  earliest  adequate  statement  in  the 
West  of  what  has  since  been  called  the  educational 
system  of  missions,  should  excite  discussion  and  bring 
down  on  its  advocate  the  charges,  now  of  overlooking 
other  agencies  and  then  of  being  an  innovator,  now  of 
departing  from  apostolic  precedents  and  again  of  not 
sufficiently    recognising    the    difference    between    the 


302  LIFE    or   DR.    DUFF.  1835. 

state  of  the  British  and  of  that  of  the  Roman  empire. 
Dr.  Wilson  also  had  protested  against,  and  had  de- 
parted from  the  stereotyped  and  fruitless  policy  of 
the  missionaries  whom  he  had  found  in  Western  India, 
but  that  was  in  India  itself,  and  the  Scottish  Mission- 
ary Society  had  reproved  him  instead  of  publishing  his 
communications.  Both  the  Bengal  and  the  Bombay 
apostles  taught  and  practised  the  system  which  Scrip- 
ture, their  Church  and  experience  alike  led  them  to 
elaborate  independently  of  each  other — that,  of  chris- 
tianizing the  Hindoos,  Parsees  and  Muhammadans, 
who  are  each  the  inheritor  of  a  complex  body  of 
religion,  philosophy  and  literature,  by  public  and 
private  discussion,  and  by  continuous  instruction  in 
Western  truth  through  the  English  language.  In 
their  hands,  and  that  of  all  their  worthy  successors 
in  every  Church  and  society,  colleges,  lectures,  frank 
discussion,  daily  tuition  become,  for  these  classes^  as 
truly  evangelistic  and  converting  as  village  preaching 
and  purely  vernacular  teaching  for  the  simple  non- 
Aryan  peoples. 

Never  did  public  speaker  in  any  assembly  think 
less  of  himself  or  of  the  form  of  his  oratory,  and 
more  of  the  message  which  he  believed  he  was  charged 
by  his  Master  to  deliver  to  the  Church  and  the 
country,  than  did  Duff.  Hence  the  immediate  in- 
fluence on  those  who  heard  him,  and  the  abiding 
power  of  the  printed  report  of  what  he  said,  although 
that  fell  far  below  the  reality  in  days  when  verbatim 
reporting  was  unknown.  He  spake  as  a  prophet,  not 
as  a  carefully  prepared  rhetorician.  This  redeemed 
'his  orations  from  the  dangers  of  the  florid  style 
which  was  the  fashion  of  that  period  of  literature, 
while  it  gave  him  the  power  of  the  more  recent  school 
of  eloquence,  of  which  Mr.  Bright  is  the  master. 
More  nearly  than  any  of    the    speakers  of   the  first 


^t.  29.  THE    STYLE    OF    HIS    ORATORY.  303 

half  of  tlie  nineteenth  century,  Duff  thus  reahzod  that 
which  Mr.  Gladstone  has  pronounced  the  supreme  in- 
fluence of  the  speaker,  the  power  of  "  receivinof  from 
his  audience  in  a  vapour  what  he  pours  back  on  them 
in  a  nood.'*  JiJut,  while  eschewing  tiie  "meclianical 
or  formally  rhetorical  preparation  which  would  have 
cramped  while  it  polished  his  utterance.  Duff  did  not 
neglect  the  careful  and  admiring  study  of  the  masters 
of  English  eloquence,  from  Chatham  and  Burke  to 
Erskine  ^nd  Canning.  A  little  collection  of  their 
master-pieces  published  in  1827  seems  to  have  been, 
at  one  time,  his  constant  companion.  It  is  carefully 
marked  at  such  speeches  as  these — Mr.  Pitt,  in  vindi- 
cation of  his  father.  Lord  Chatham ;  Mr.  Fox,  in 
respect  to  the  Grovernment  of  India ;  Mr.  Grattan,  on 
moving  for  a  committee  on  the  claims  of  the  Roman 
Catholics ;  and  Mr.  Brougham  on  the  slave  trade. 
From  these  was  the  form  of  his  oratory  unconsciously 
derived  ;  but  not  more  from  these  than  from  Chalmers 
— his  St.  Andrews  lectures  on  moral  philosophy,  eman- 
cipation speech  and  sermons,  such  as  Mr.  Gladstone 
to  this  day  pronounces  equalled  only  by  the  very 
different  "reasoned  homilies"  of  John  Henry  Newman. 
Duff,  too,  was  at  once  as  fortunate  and  unfortunate 
in  his  principal  theme  as  his  greatest  models.  For  if 
the  India  of  popular  fancy  casts  a  glamour  over  the 
imagination,  the  novelty  of  its  names,  customs,  and 
beliefs  repels  the  mind  which  desires  the  passive  en- 
joj^ment  of  eloquence  in  proportion  to  the  earnestness, 
the  fulness  and  the  accuracy  of  the  speaker.  On 
India  showy  platitudes  tell  where  authoritative  know- 
ledge, even  when  expressed  in  the  chastest  rhetoric, 
fails  to  attract.  Witness  the  contrast,  at  the  present 
day,  between  the  popularity  of  Macaulay  and — in  this 
sense — his  successor,  Sir  Henry  Maine.  Duff's  first 
Assembly    address    was    precisely    what    Sheridan's 


304  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1835. 

celebrated  Begum  of    Oudli  speech  had  been — unex- 
pectedly magical  in  its  effect  on  the  hearers,  but  lost 
to  a  great  extent  in  the  report.     It  was  India  that 
revealed  Burke  as  the  orator  he  became.     The  know- 
ledge which  he  gained  in  the  select  committee  of  1780 
fed  his    imagination  with    events  even   more    distant 
and  new  than  the  Terror  of  the  French  Revolution. 
Into  that  imagination  the  malicious  Francis  dropped 
the  spark  which  caused  it  to  explode  into   the   five 
great  speeches  on  the  impeachment  of  Warren  Hast- 
ings.     After   Sheridan   had   failed   in   that   year,   so 
that,  like  a  living  statesman   of    the    same   type,  he 
exclaimed  to  Woodfall,  "  It  is  in  me,  and  it  shall  come 
out,"  India  enabled  him  to  make  the  speech  which  led 
the  House  to  adjourn,  from  the  impossibility  of  debat- 
ing judicially  after  it.      Burke,  Fox  and  Pitt  united  in 
declaring  it  the  most  extraordinary  effort  of  human 
eloquence,  ancient  or  modern,  just  as  the  venerable 
Stewart  of  Erskine  said  of  Duff's    that  it  surpassed 
the  finest  efforts  of  Fox  and  Pitt,  yet  these  speakers 
were  second  only  to  Burke  in  the  higher  flights  of 
the  imagination,  in  the  abandon  which  resulted  from 
absorption   in  their    subject.     The  impartial  and   ex- 
perienced Wilberforce  did  not  mean  to  praise  Canning 
when  he  said  that  that  speaker  never  drew  you  to  him 
in  spite  of  yourself,  as  Pitt  and  Fox  used  to  do,  yet 
he  was  a  more  finished  orator  than  either.     Canning 
had  wit   and  humour  inconsistent  with  abandon,  but 
as   precious   in   themselves   as   they    are   rare.     Duff 
manifested  powers  of  sarcasm  and  scathing  indignation 
when  he  rose  to  the  heights  of  his  prophetic  message 
and    was    called    to    demolish    opposition   or   expose 
hypocrisy  in  the  name  of  his  Master.     For  it  was  not 
India  only,  but  India  for  Christ,  that  was  the  source 
of  his  inspiration. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

1836-1836. 

BE.    DUFF    ORGANIZING. 

Degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity. — Dr.  Duff  called  to  fill  the  place  of 
Dr.  Inglis  in  Old  Greyfriars. — Offered  South  Church,  Aberdeen, 
and  recommends  Dr.  Tweedie. — The  Higher  Calling  of  the  Mis- 
sionary.— The  IMarnoch  Case. — Pressed  by  the  Earl  of  Fife  to 
prevent  Schism  by  accepting  the  Living. — Plan  of  Rousing  every 
Presbytery  formed  on  the  Voyage  Home. — Foreign  Missions  out- 
side of  Church  Parties. — The  First  Campaign  of  1835. — Ex- 
periences in  the  Far  North. — Enthusiastic  Reception. — Return 
of  Fever. — The  Second  Campaign,  of  1836,  opened  in  Perth. — 
Description  by  Eye-witnesses.  —  Dr.  WiUiam  Thomson.  —  Dr. 
Guthrie  and  the  Opponent  of  the  Law  of  Cravitation. — Invita- 
tions from  England. — Speech  for  the  Church  Missionary  Society. 
— The  Guest  of  Cai'us  in  Trinity  College,  Cambridge. — Sacred 
Interview  with  the  aged  Simeon. — Memories  of  the  Moulin  Re- 
vival.— Whewell. — Original  MS.  of  the  "  Paradise  Lost,"  as  a 
Drama. — Milton  and  the  Cam. — Dr.  Duff  addresses  Public  Meet- 
ing called  by  the  Mayor. — At  Leamington  with  Dr.  Jephson. — 
News  from  Calcutta. — Intercourse  with  Lord  William  Bentinck. 

Fae  more  effectually  than  even  the  speaker  had  dared  \ 
to  dream,  the  first  Assembly  oration  of  the  first  mis-  j"^ 
sionary  of  its  Church  set  Scotland  on  fire.  The 
excitement  of  the  general  election,  which  for  the  hour 
made  Dr.  Chalmers  so  much  of  a  Tory  as  to  call  forth 
the  remark  in  his  broadest  Fifeshire  accent,  "  I  have 
a  moral  loathing  of  these  Whugs,"  had  spent  itself. 
The  new  spiritual  life  which  was  to  work  itself  out 
in  the  disruption  of  1843  had  asserted  its  power  in 
the  General  Assemblies  of  1834  and  1835.  Even 
Dr.  Inglis  had  declared  just  before  his  death,  "  The 


306  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1835. 

kingdom  of  Christ  is  not  only  spiritual  but  inde- 
pendent. No  earthly  government  has  a  right  to 
overrule  or  control  it."  Chalmers,  with  such  disci- 
ples as  the  young  Thomas  Gruthrie,  had  begun  to  go 
forth  on  his  evangelical  mission  of  church  extension 
throuo^hout  the  lenofth  and  breadth  of  Scotland.  Side 
by  side  and  in  loving  co-operation  with  that,  as 
Chalmers  had  always  taught  and  he  himself  had 
again  enforced.  Duff  proclaimed  and  established  the 
claims  of  foreign  missions.  The  whole  people  were 
ready  to  receive  the  missionary ;  almost  every  parish, 
competed  for  a  visit  from  him.  Zealously  anticipating 
St.  Andrews  and  the  other  universities,  Marischal 
College,  Aberdeen,  had  hardly  met  for  the  autumn 
session  of  1835  when  it  honoured  itself  and  surprised 
the  young  divine,  still  under  thirty,  by  presenting  him 
with  the  diploma  of  Doctor  of  Divinity. 

The  most  embarrassing  and  even  annoying  form 
taken  by  the  popularity  thus  suddenly  acquired  and 
steadily  increased  for  many  a  year,  was  that  of  the 
patrons  of  church  livings,  and  the  then  few  congre- 
gations who  had  the  right  to  call  their  own  minister, 
persecuting  Dr.  Duff  to  settle  amongst  them.  He 
must  effectually  clear  this  obstacle  out  of  his  path 
before  entering  on  his  first  home  crusade.  What  to 
some  would  have  seemed  a  flattering  recognition  of 
their  merits  was  to  him  at  once  humiliating  and 
irritating.  That  it  should  be  supposed  he  would  even 
consider  proposals  to  retreat  from  the  front  of  the 
battle  into  the  easy  and  yet  respectable.-, comfort  of 
the  baggage,  was  an  evidence"^ of  the  dense  ignorance 
winch  long  prevailed  regarding  the  missionary  duty 
of  the  Church,  and  a  reflection  on  his  own  sacrifice 
to  that  duty.  Dr.  Inglis  was  gone.  Dr.  Anderson, 
who  had  been  appointed  his  successor,  soon  followed 
him,  and  the  otherwise  attractive  city  charge  of  Old 


yEt.  29.     OFFERED    THE    LIVING    OF    OLD    ORflYFIMAnS.  307 

Greyfriars  was  pressed  upon  Dr.  Duff.  The  patrons 
were  the  Lord  Provost,  then  the  Ilonble.  Mr.  Trotter, 
and  the  town  council  of  Edinburgh,  but  they  had  pro- 
mised to  leave  the  election  in  the  hands  of  the  congre- 
gation if  it  were  unanimous.  On  the  very  morning 
when  Dr.  Duff  was  to  open  his  crusade  in  the  country, 
just  half  an  hour  before  he  was  to  leave  his  house  for 
the  Perth  stage-coach,  which  then  started  from  the 
Black  Bull  Inn,  at  the  head  of  Leith  Walk,  he  was 
stopped  by  a  deputation  from  the  kirk-session  and 
people  offering  him  the  living.  When  he  showed  some 
impatience  under  the  long  catalogue  of  weighty  reasons 
which  they  advanced  for  his  closing  with  their  urgent 
request,  they  thought  that  they  would  secure  him  by 
the  temptation  of  preaching  for  the  rest  of  his  days 
amid  the  grandest  ecclesiastical  and  historical  associa- 
tions, and  in  the  pulpit  of  his  old  friend  Dr.  Inglis. 
Hardly  had  he  escaped  from  a  position  which  Pro- 
fessor Wilson's  cousin,  John  Sym,  was  to  fill  side 
by  side  with  Dr.  Gutlnne,  and  reached  the  Highlands, 
when  the  South  Church  of  Aberdeen  laid  hold  of  him. 
Determined  not  to  lose  the  advantage  of  his  services 
altogether,  the  disappointed  people  besought  him  to 
name  a  candidate  most  like  to  himself.  The  delicacy 
of  this  duty  troubled  him ;  but  he  met  the  repeated 
invitation  to  assist  the  congregation  by  directing 
their  attention  to  Dr.  Tweedie,  his  old  fellow-student, 
whose  ability  he  had  again  personally  recognised  in 
London  AVall  Presbyterian  church.  The  Aberdeen 
people  had  plied  him  with  the  argument  that,  by 
meeting  their  request,  he  would  be  able  to  advocate 
the  claims  of  India  at  home.  In  the  appendix  to  the 
published  sermon  on  the  mutual  duties  and  responsi- 
bilities of  pastor  and  people,  which  he  preached  on 
introducing  the  new  minister  to  the  church,  he  thus 
dealt  with  that  consideration  : — 


308  LIPE    OP   DR.    DUFF.  1835. 

"  Were  I  to  remain  in  my  native  land,  it  would  doubtless  be 
still  in  my  power  to  do  something  by  way  of  advocating  tbe 
claims  of  poor  benighted  India.  In  that  case,  however,  me- 
thinks  my  tongue  would  not  only  falter,  but  often  '  cleave  to 
the  roof  of  my  mouth/  Fearlessly  and  unsparingly  have  I 
reprobated  the  indolence  and  cowardice  of  those  who  kept 
lingering,  lounging  and  loitering  at  home,  in  lazy  expectation 
of  some  snug  peaceful  settlement,  instead  of  nobly  marching 
forward  into  the  wide  field  of  the  world,  to  earn  new  trophies 
for  their  Redeemer,  by  planting  His  standard  in  hitherto 
unconquered  realms.  Neither  have  I  suppressed  my  honest 
indignation  at  the  no  less  criminal  supineness  of  others,  who, 
having  once  obtained  such  settlements,  ingeniously  devise  a 
thousand  petty  frivolous  pretexts  for  continuing  to  wrap  them- 
selves up  in  the  congenialities  and  luxurious  indulgences  of 
home,  instead  of  boldly  daring,  though  at  an  immeasurable 
distance,  to  tread  in  the  footsteps  of  apostles  and  prophets 
and  martyrs.  Not  that  I  would  have  such  loiterers  to  join  our 
storming  ranks.  Far  otherwise.  I,  for  one,  would  wash  my 
hands  of  the  guilt  of  appending  such  drags  to  the  chariot 
wheels  of  the  conquering  Messiah.  The  grand  evil  is  that 
such  persons  should  exist  at  all,  arrayed  externally  in  the  garb 
of  the  heralds  of  salvation.  How  often  have  our  ears  been 
regaled  with  the  music  of  eloquence,  echoing  the  songs  of 
divine  chivalry  and  the  battles  of  the  faith  ?  But  all  the 
while  have  we  not  been  left  in  sorrow  to  exclaim, — Where  the 
rushing  crowd  of  champions,  clad  in  armour  of  light  ?  Where 
the  continued  toiling,  and  struggling,  and  fighting  which  form 
the  certain  prelude  to  decisive  victory  ?  Alas  !  alas  !  if  without 
an  efibrt,  without  a  struggle  and  without  a  sacrifice,  imagina- 
tion alone  could  conquer  all  difficulties,  then,  with  the  ease  of 
some  potent  spell,  and  the  rapidity  of  some  inexplicable  en- 
chantment, might  we  behold  every  howling  waste  converted 
into  gardens  of  delight,  and  golden  palaces  starting  from 
every  barren  shore  !  Such  sentiments  and  expressions  may  be 
deemed  by  many  over-severe  and  not  a  little  uncharitable.  If 
so,  I  cannot  help  it.  What  I  feel  strongly  I  express  strongly. 
How  then  could  I  in  consistency,  after  such  decisive  expression 
of  my  own  feelings,  reconcile  myself  to  the  resolution  of 
throwing  aside  my  weapons  of  aggressive  warfare,  and  timidly 
shrinking  down  into  the  shrivelled  form  of  a  comfort -seeking 


^t.  29.        THE    HIGHER    CALLING    OF    A    MISSIONARY.  3O9 

time-server  at  home  ?  What  a  plausible  corroboration  might 
thereby  be  given  to  the  base  calumny,  that  few  or  none  go 
forth  to  heathen  climes  but  such  as  have  been  unsuccessful 
and  disappointed  candidates  for  office  in  their  native  land, — 
the  only  merit  allowed  them  being  the  ignoble  one  of  making 
a  virtue  of  necessity  ?  What  a  triumph  might  be  furnished 
to  the  thousands  who  stoutly  call  in  question  the  sincerity  of 
those  who  profess  their  willingness  to  submit  to  sacrifices  for 
the  sake  of  Christ  ?  And  with  what  shouts  of  derision  might 
any  appeals  of  mine,  on  the  subject  of  personally  engaging  in 
the  toils  of  missionary  labour,  be  responded  to  ?  " 

The  third  among  many  other  temptations  put  before 
Dr.  DufF  was  of  a  different  and,  in  an  ecclesiastical 
sense,  still  higher  kind.  It  was  nothing  less  than  this, 
that  he  might  save  the  Church  of  Scotland  from  being 
rent  in  two  by  the  conflict  for  spiritual  independence 
which  had  now  entered  on  its  life  and  death  stage. 
The  famous  Marnoch  case,  with  all  the  Strathbogie  scan- 
dals, was  in  its  early  stage,  having  succeeded  the  first 
assault  of  the  civil  courts,  made  in  the  Auchterarder 
case,  on  the  spiritual  independence  in  purely  spiritual 
things  guaranteed  to  the  Kirk  by  Scottish  Acts  of  Par- 
liament, the  Treaty  of  Union  and  the  Revolution  Settle- 
ment. Marnoch  is  a  small  parish  on  the  Deveron, 
nine  miles  south-west  of  Banff.  The  Earl  of  Fife  was 
patron  of  the  living,  which  fell  vacant  after  the  Act 
of  the  General  Assembly  restoring  to  communicants 
their  spiritual  and  historical  right  to  veto  the  patron's 
appointment  of  a  minister  of  whom  they  disapproved. 
The  earl,  who  had  settled  down  in  Duff  House,  was 
indifferent  to  the  Veto  Act,  but  he  did  not  wish  the 
annoyance  of  fighting  his  own  tenantry  on  such  a 
question.  In  the  days  of  his  dissipation  as  boon  com- 
panion of  George  IV.,  he  had  allowed  his  brother. 
General  Duff,  to  promise  the  living,  when  it  should  be 
vacant,  to  one  Edwards,  long  a  tutor  in  the  family. 


3IO  '        LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1835, 

But  the  old  minister  would  not  die,  wliile  the  Yeto  Act 
represented  an  earnest  change  of  popular  opinion  on  the 
traffic  in  livings  which  had  once  already  rent  the  Kirk, 
having  degraded  the  nation  ever  since  Queen  Anne's 
days.  The  earl,  having  sobered  down,  at  first  tried  to 
induce  his  brother  to  release  him  from  the  promise  to 
Edwards.  Failing  in  this,  the  puzzled  and  somewhat 
penitent  patron  put  in  Edwards  as  the  old  minister's 
assistant,  half  hoping  that  the  now  sapless  "  Dominie 
Sampson  "  might  be  accepted  by  the  people  for  pity's 
sake.  Alas !  for  the  earl,  the  tutor  proved  so  prodigious 
a  failure  that  the  little  parish  came  to  hate  him,  and  the 
kirk  became  emptier  than  ever.  Again  the  earl  appealed 
to  his  ruthless  brother:  "John  Edwards  had  been 
fairly  tried  and  found  wanting ;  would  he  accept  this 
fact  as  sufficiently  redeeming  his  promise  to  the  un- 
happy tutor,  which  should  never  have  been  made,  and 
agree  to  another  plan?"  This  was,  to  ask  their  clans- 
man, Dr.  Duff,  to  accept  the  nomination  to  Marnoch, 
which  had  now  become  vacant,  in  the  certainty  that  he 
would  be  unanimously  called  by  the  people  under  the 
Veto  Act.  General  Duff  heartily  consented,  and,  let 
us  hope,  was  inclined  to  provide  for  the  old  tutor  at 
his  own  expense  instead  of  at  the  spiritual  cost  of 
the  parish. 

On  this  the  earl  asked  his  own  minister,  Mr. 
Grant,  of  Banff,  to  plead  with  Dr.  Duff,  to  whom 
the  nomination  was  offered  as  a  mark  of  the  earl's 
good  will,  as  some  recognition  of  his  high  deserts, 
as  the  only  means  of  delivering  the  patron  from  a 
terrible  dilemma  and  of  preventing  a  local  scandal ; 
but,  above  all,  as  a  sure  bulwark  against  the  tide 
of  schism  and  anarchy  which  might  sweep  away 
the  Kirk  itself  and  destroy  even  its  Bengal  Mission. 
Dr.  Duff  was  implored  to  be  the  Cur  tins  who  would 
thus  close  up  the  gulf  for  ever.     It  was  all  in  vain. 


JE\..  29.   THE    MARNOCH    CASE    AND   THE    EARL    OF    FIFE.       31I 

Poor  Edwards  was  forced  on  the  three  Imndred  heads 
of  famiUes  and  thirteen  heritors  aorainst  their  solemn 
dissent,  against  the  law  of  the  Kirk  and  of  the  land  till 
Parliament  altered  it,  and  against  the  rising  clamour 
of  the  whole  country.  He  was  invited  by  only  one 
heritor  besides  the  earl  and  his  brother,  and  one 
parishioner,  "  Peter  Taylor,  the  keeper  of  the  public- 
house  at  which  the  presbytery  were  wont  to  dine." 
No  man  knew  and  no  minister  proved  better  than 
Dr.  Duff  that  Marnoch,  like  Auchterarder  and  Le- 
thendy,  was  but  a  symptom  of  a  disease  to  be  cured 
only  by  the  vis  medicatrix  naturcB  of  the  case — by 
leaving  the  Church  to  the  laws  of  Christ  in  word  and 
conscience,  a  loyal  ally  of  the  state  but  independent 
in  the  purely  spiritual  sphere.  Dr.  Duff  respectfully 
declined  what  was  undoubtedly  intended  to  be  a  liberal 
and  generous  offer.  The  earl  replied  in  a  letter  ex- 
pressing admiration  of  the  consistency  and  self-sacrifice 
of  the  missionary.  But  the  old  companion  of  the  worst 
sovereign  England  has  seen,  turned  to  the  law  courts, 
where  a  majority  of  the  judges,  to  the  grief  of  men 
like  Jeffrey  and  Cockburn,  helped  him  and  his  reverend 
presentee  to  drive  every  member  from  the  kirk  to 
worship  God,  like  their  forefathers  in  persecuting  times, 
in'  a  hollow  in  the  winter's  snow.  With  these  three 
typical  instances  we  dismiss  such  calls  to  home  work. 
How  was  not  only  the  Church  but  all  Scotland  to  be 
organized  for  the  permanent  and  progressive  support, 
by  prayer  and  by  knowledge,  by  men  and  by  money, 
of  missionary  work  in  India  ?  That  was  the  problem 
which  had  occupied  the  thoughts  of  Duff  on  his  home- 
ward voyage,  "  when  rocked  amid  the  billows  of  a 
tempest  off  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,"  and  again  as  he 
paced  the  deck  on  the  return  of  health.  His  resolution 
was  formed  before  he  landed,  only  to  be  intensified  by 
the  early  indifference  of  the  committee  which  his  first 


312  LIFE    or   DB.    DVFF.  1835. 

speecli  had  dissipated,  and  by  the  return  of  the  fever 
which  had  fired  his  spirit  anew.  It  was  "the  favourite 
plan  of  visiting  and  addressing  all  the  presbyteries  of 
the  Church  in  detail "  which  had  thus  forcibly  seized 
his  mind,  and  had  been  elaborated  and  prepared  for 
during  the  first  six  months  of  his  recovery.  Such  a 
proposition,  he  told  the  friends  of  the  India  Mission 
in  1844,  when  its  success  had  been  established  and 
the  organization  had  to  be  renewed  on  a  greater  scale 
owing  to  the  disruption,  "  was  received  in  those  days, 
even  by  the  most  sanguine,  with  grave  doubts  and 
fears  as  to  its  practicability,  and  by  others  with  an 
(expression  of  stark  amazement.  '  What ! '  was  the 
ordinary  exclamation,  '  expect  presbyteries  of  the 
Church,  in  their  oflScial  presbyterial  capacity,  to 
assemble  on  a  week-day  for  the  express  and  sole  end 
of  listening  to  an  exposition  of  the  motives,  obliga- 
tions and  objects  of  the  missionary  enterprise,  and  that 
too,  with  the  ulterior  view  of  organizing  themselves 
into  missionary  associations  ! ' — certain  well-known 
presbyteries,  both  in  the  north  and  in  the  south,  being 
usually  named,  in  regard  to  which  the  realization  of 
such  a  plan  was  felt  to  be  the  very  climax  of  improba- 
bility." 

From  his  own  mind  the  experience  of  Irvine,  and 
from  the  Church  his  Assembly  speech,  removed  every 
doubt.  Generally  preceding  Chalmers  in  the  church 
extension  movement  at  home,  with  a  thoroughness  and 
over  an  extent  of  country  possible  only  in  the  case  of 
one  who  devoted  to  it  his  whole  strength  and  unique 
experience,  Dr.  Duff  went  far  to  anticipate  the  greatest 
triumph  in  Christian  economics,  the  Sustentation 
Fund  for  the  ministers.  The  parallel,  the  necessary 
balance  and  support  of  that  fund,  is  the  system  of 
congregational  associations  under  similar  presbyterial 
supervision  for  the  missionaries  abroad. 


At.  2g.  FOREIGN    MISSIONS   AEE    OF    NO    PARTY.  313 

But  llie  essential  prelimiuary  to  all  success  had  to 
bo  made  known — foreign  missions  are  of  no  party. 
They  are  the  care  and  the  corrective,  the  test  and  the 
stimulus  of  all  parties  in  the  Church.  The  missionary 
who,  as  such,  takes  a  side  in  ecclesiastical  warfare, 
may  gratify  his  own  personal  bias,  but  ho  imperils  the 
cause  in  which  he  ought  to  be  absorbed.  The  missions 
of  the  Scottish  Church,  above  all,  originated  in  pure 
catholicity,  and  have,  even  through  the  disruption, 
been  directed  by  Christlike  charity.  Dr.  Inglis,  their 
founder,  was  a  moderate  by  association  and  an  evan- 
gelical in  spirit,  as  we  have  seen.  When  he  sought 
and  found  the  first  missionary  he  wrote  to  the  most 
pronounced  of  the  moderate  party — "As  to  his  side  in 
the  Church  I  have  made  no  inquiry."  And  it  will  be 
well  at  this  stage  to  ponder  the  fact,  as  the  key  to 
much  of  his  future  action,  that  that  missionary  thus 
early,  alike  in  his  friendly  intercourse  with  and  help 
to  Dr.  Bryce,  in  his  loyalty  to  Dr.  Inglis  and  Dr. 
Brunton,  and  in  this  statement  of  his  ecclesiastical 
policy,  declared  the  superiority  of  himself,  because  of 
his  work,  to  all  party.  Thus  he  became  the  peace- 
maker, in  one  sense  of  the  beatitude,  at  home,  as  in 
the  higher  sense  his  work  in  India  of  reconciling  men 
to  God  won  him  abundantly  the  peacemaker's  blessed- 
ness. He  thus  described  the  success  of  his  first 
campaign  of  1835-7,  and  the  cause  of  that  success. 
As  a  question  of  mere  statistics  he  raised  the  annual 
income  of  the  foreign  missions  scheme  from  £1,200  to 
£7,689  in  1838. 

"My  journeyings  among  the  towns  and  presbyteries  of 
Scotland  were  soon  commenced,  amid  various  interruptions,  of 
longer  or  shorter  continuance,  ai'ising  from  ill  health  and  other 
causes,  till  almost  every  town  and  district  from  the  Solway 
Firth  to  the  mainland  of  Orkney  had  been  visited,  and  many 
of  them  more  than  once, — and  almost  every  presbytery  of  the 


314  ••  LIFE   OF   BR.    DUFF.  1835. 

Cliurcli  addressed  and  organized  into  a  missionary  association. 
Throughout  these  extensive  and  diversified  visitations,  I  was 
received  with  equal  kindness  and  attention  by  all  classes  and 
ranks  in  society — in  the  baronial  residence  of  the  nobility,  and 
the  cottages  of  the  poor,  by  ministers  and  members  of  the 
moderate  and  evangelical  divisions  of  the  Church,  as  well  as 
by  leading  ministers  and  members  of  the  different  dissenting 
communions.  And  why  ?  For  this  chief  reason,  I  have  no 
doubt,  among  others,  that  no  one  kneiv  me  as  a  party  man — no 
one  being  able  to  point  his  finger  to  a  single  overt  act  of  mine 
which  could  fairly  stamp  me  as  such.  Meetings  of  every 
description,  public  and  private.  Church  and  anti- Church,  In- 
trusion and  non-Intrusion,  were  held  in  all  directions  around 
me,  with  the  frequency  and  the  fulness  of  the  showers  of  an 
Indian  rainy  season  ;  and  yet,  up  to  the  hour  of  my  departure 
from  Scotland,  I  never  once  was  so  much  as  present  at  any  one 
of  them.  Everywhere,  accordingly,  was  I  received  in  my 
simple  and  single  character  as  a  missionary  to  the  heathen, 
pursuing,  with  undeviating  fixity  of  purpose,  my  own  chosen 
and  peculiar  vocation.  In  this  way  regions  and  habitations 
were  visited  that  had  never  been  invaded  by  the  sound  of  a 
"missionary's  voice  before.  The  result  was,  that  a  great  deal 
of  new  information  was  communicated,  much  sympathy  and 
interest  in  behalf  of  India  excited,  and  not  a  little  of  hitherto 
unbroken  soil  reclaimed  for  missionary  purposes.  Everywhere 
were  large  and  liberal  collections  made,  prospective  obliga- 
tions voluntarily  undertaken,  and  permanent  associations, 
presbyterial  and  congregational,  special  and  general,  duly 
foi-med.  Ministers  and  other  office-bearers,  on  both  sides  of 
the  Church,  were  brought  into  immediate  friendly  and  co-oper- 
ative contact,  on  a  theme  wholly  exempt  from  the  intrusion  of 
party  jealousies,  rivalries,  and  antagonisms, — a  theme  which 
savoured  pre-eminently  of  the  Cross,  appealed  to  the  most 
generous  motives,  and  aimed  at  the  promotion  of  the  noblest 
ends.  Already  it  was  evident  that  a  better  understanding  and 
better  feeling  was  beginning  to  spring  up  between  various 
parties,  previously  marshalled  in  mutual  opposition;  that 
these  parties  frequently  greeted  and  recognised  each  other 
on  more  cordial  terms,  frequently  visited  each  other  on 
a  more  friendly  footing,  and  frequently  assisted  each  other, 
on  sacramental  and  other  occasions,  in  ways  that  promised  to 


^t.  29.    ACT  CREATING  FOREIGN  MISSION  ASSOCIATIONS.       315 

exert  a  mellowing  and  hallowing  influence,  alike  on  pastors  and 
people.  Amid  scenes  and  experiences  like  these  how  could 
my  heart  bo  otherwise  than  glad?  How  could  I  help  rejoicing 
in  a  growing  process  of  couvergency  and  assimilation  ?  IIow 
could  I  but  long,  with  prayerful  earnestness,  for  the  time, 
when  '  Ephraim  should  not  envy  Judah,  nor  Judah  vex 
Ephraim  ; '  but  when  all,  merging  the  heats  and  tempers  of 
partizanship  in  the  divine  amplitude  of  the  Christian  spirit, 
should  unite,  on  the  broad  basis  of  a  common  faith  and  a 
common  charity,  in  extending  the  empire  of  the  Redeemer 
over  the  remotest  wilds  of  heathenism.'' 


Having  settled  his  family  in  the  old  mansion-house 
of  Edradoiir,  within  a  mile  of  Pitlochrie,  he  recruited 
his  energies  there  during  June,  1835.  Meanv^hile  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Gordon,  as  secretary  of  the  committee,  was 
putting  in  force  the  short  Act  passed  by  the  General 
Assembly  recommending  all  presbyteries  to  give 
Dr.  Dui£.  £L -respectful  hearing  at  meetings  called  for 
the  purpose,  and  to  form  a  presbyterial  association  to 
create  in  each  congregation  an  agency  for  prayer  and 
the  propagation  of  intelligence  regarding  the  evangel- 
ization of  the  world.  This  Act  had  been  drawn  up  by 
Mr.  Makgill  Crichton,  of  Rankeillour,  in  the  back-room 
of  the  publishing  house  of  Waugh  and  Innes,  next  the 
Tron  kirk,  to  give  practical  effect  to  the  enthusiasm 
created  in  the  Assembly  by  the  great  speech,  and  had 
been  unanimously  passed. 

Beginning  with  the  presbytery  of  Meigle,  the  first 
in  Strathmore  to  the  east  of  Perth,  Dr.  Duff  proceeded 
during  the  rest  of  the  year  in  regular  order  to  the 
north,  zigzagging  over  Forfar,  Arbroath,  Brechin, 
Montrose,  Aberdeen,  the  valleys  of  the  Dee  and  the 
Don,  Old  Deer,  Peterhead,  and  Fraserburgh ;  then  west 
through  Strathbogie,  along  the  Spey,  and  through 
Banff,  Elgin,  and  Forres  to  Inverness.  At  the  last  he 
spent  a  week,  but  he  generally  addressed  three  presby- 


3l6  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1835. 

fceries,  including  the  large  congregations,  every  week. 
He  then  went  northwards  to  the  presbyteries  of  Cha- 
nonry,  Dingwall  and  Tain,  still  in  addition  to  these 
addressing  large  congregations.  In  the  morning  of 
the  day  on  which  he  was  to  leave  Tain  for  Dornoch, 
he  was  suddenly,  while  at  breakfast  in  the  manse  of  ■ 
Dr.  Macintosh  (whose  mother  showed  him  all  manner 
of  motherly  attentions,  as  he  had  known  her  brother, 
Mr.  Calder,  and  others  in  Calcutta),  seized  with  a  fit  of 
fever  and  ague.  He  was  thus  obliged  to  betake  him- 
self to  bed,  which  he  was  unable  to  leave  for  three 
weeks.  All  the  arrangements  for  meeting  the  eastern 
presbyteries  of  Sutherland  and  Caithness  were  over- 
turned, and  the  only  one  that  could  be  overtaken  ac- 
cording to  the  old  arrangement  was  that  of  Tongue  in 
the  Reay  country.  He  resolved  to  proceed  thither  di- 
rect across  Sutherland.  A  friend  conveyed  him  to  the 
manse  of  Mr.  MacGrillivray,  at  the  lake  Lairg,  where 
he  remained  one  night,  and  met  there  young  Mr. 
MacGiilivray,  minister  of  Strathy,  half-way  between 
Thurso  and  Tongue,  who  had  come  a  distance  of  nearly 
a  hundred  miles  to  convey  him  to  Tongue.  There 
they  arrived  in  the  midst  of  a  snowstorm.  But  the 
hearts  of  the  people  were  warm.  Nowhere  did  he  meet 
with  a  more  hearty  reception.  From  Tongue  he  pro- 
ceeded eastward  along  the  coast  of  Thurso,  stopping 
one  night  with  Mr.  MacGrillivray  to  address  his  people. 
On  that  occasion  one  of  the  old  peculiar  race  called 
"  the  Men  "  spoke  a  few  words  at  the  close,  and  as 
he  was  speaking  down  came  a  heavy  pour  of  rain 
which  pattered  very  strongly  against  the  windows. 
For  a  moment  the  speaker  paused,  and  looking  gravely 
at  the  people  said  to  them  with  much  earnestness  in 
Gaelic:  "My  brethren,  they  are  the  heavens  that  are 
weeping  over  the  sins  of  the  people,"  but  in  G-aelic 
the  phrase  was  much  more  expressive  than  any  trans- 


^t.  29.  EESULTS   OF    HIS    FIRST   CAMPAIGN.  317 

Latiou  of  it  into  English  can  be.  After  addressing 
the  presbyteries  of  Thurso,  AYick,  and  Dornoch,  as 
well  as  large  congregations  connected  with  these 
places,  Dr.  Duff  returned  to  his  temporary  home  in 
the  vale  of  Athole  in  order  to  recruit  from  the 
exhaustion  of  six  months  incessant  itinerating  and 
public  speaking.  How  thoroughly  even  the  most 
"  moderate  "  presbyteries  did  their  work  on  this  oc- 
casion is  seen  in  the  "  Brief  Exposition  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland's  India  Mission,"  a  well-written  and 
eloquent  appeal  of  thirty-five  pages  by  the  presbytery 
of  Ellon,  for  the  formation  of  a  Foreign  Mission 
Association  in  every  parish  as  giving  to  the  interest 
taken  in  the  diffusion  of  the  gospel  a  fixed  and  per- 
manent character. 

If  Dr.  Duff  was  surprised  by  the  enthusiasm  which 
he  called  forth  in  his  first  tour,  the  result  of  the  second 
exceeded  even  that.  For,  to  the  fame  of  his  Assembly 
speech  there  was  now  added  the  bruit  of  his  eastern 
and  northern  triumphs.  And  he  opened  the  campaign 
of  1836  in  his  own  county  of  Perthshire.  Repeated 
attacks  of  his  old  fever,  in  spite  of  the  occasional 
retreat  to  Edradour,  forbade  the  physicians  to  allow 
him  to  think  of  returning  to  India.  But,  as  may  be 
seen  from  this  extract  from  an  official  narrative  of  his 
proceedings  sent  to  the  committee  at  the  close  of 
1835,  his  heart  was  ever  in  India  : — 

"  As  nearly  a  twelvemonth  has  passed  by  since  I 
reached  my  native  land,  I  naturally  begin  to  look  with 
a  longing  eye  towards  the  East.  Summer  is  the  best 
season  for  leaving  this  country.  But  if  it  be  resolved 
that  I  set  off"  next  summer,  medical  opinion  conspires 
with  dire  experience  in  enforcing  on  me  the  conviction 
that  the  intervening  period  spent  in  almost  absolute 
repose  would  be  little  enough  so  to  recruit  my  frame 
as  to  entitle  me,  with  any  reasonable  prospect,  to  brave 


3l8  LIFE   OP  r>R.    DUFF.  1836. 

anew  tlie  influence  of  a  tropical  climate.  On  the  other 
hand  much,  very  much,  might  yet  be  done  in  this  our 
native  land  in  behalf  of  the  mission.  Unless  it  be 
vigorously  supported  at  home  little  can  be  done 
abroad.  But  there  is  a  disposition  to  support  it  at 
home  wherever  its  claims  are  freely  and  intelligibly 
made  known.  The  experience  of  the  last  few  months, 
I  think,  has  amply  confirmed  this  assertion.  Of  course 
the  grand  advantage  (and  the  only  one  to  which  I  lay 
claim)  that  I  possess  in  advocating  the  claims  of  the 
mission  at  home,  is  one  that  cannot  be  communicated 
to  others,  even  that  of  having  been  on  the  field  of 
labour,  and  having  been  an  eye  and  ear  witness  of  all 
that  I  happen  to  describe.  It  is  this  circumstance 
mainly,  I  must  presume  (for  nothing  else  of  an  advan- 
tageous nature  am  I  conscious  of  possessing  beyond 
my  fellows),  that  has  made  our  brethren  and  the  mem- 
bers of  our  Church  generally  muster  everywhere  in 
such  numbers  and  listen  with  such  marked  attention 
and  resolve  with  such  admirable  unanimity.  It  was 
my  own  impression,  months  ere  I  landed  on  these 
shores,  that  good  might  result  from  visiting  the  pres- 
byteries of  our  Church.  But  that  impression  has  been 
deepened  in  a  tenfold  degree  by  the  experience  of  the 
last  four  months,  i.e.  if  professions  without  number  do 
not  turn  out  (which  God  forbid)  like  Dr.  Chalmers's 
exuberant  shower  of  promises.  About  a  third  part 
of  the  presbyteries  have  now  been  visited,  and  clearly 
the  other  two-thirds  could  not  be  visited  before  next 
summer,  or  if  so  such  visitation  would  leave  me  in  a 
condition  the  most  unfit  for  resuming  my  labours  in 
the  East,  but  it  seems  most  desirable  that  all  the  pres- 
byteries should  be  visited.  What  then  is  to  be  done  ? 
As  for  myself  I  am  in  a  strait  between  two.  But  after 
having  thus  stated  the  case  I  leave  the  matter  entirely 
in  the  hands  of    the    committee."       Dr.  Macwhirter 


^t.  30.  BEGINS    HIS    SECOND    CAAfPAIGN.  319 

settled  tlie  matter  for  both  by  peremptorily  deciding, 
on  medical  grounds,  in  favour  of  a  less  active  and 
exciting  visitation  of  the  presbyteries. 

Very  vividly  are  the  impressions  of  the  first  visit  of 
Dr.  Duff  to  Perth  pictured  by  two  of  his  audience  at 
the  time,  Mrs.  Barbour,  then  a  child,  and  her  mother, 
Mrs.  Stewart  Sandeman,  of  Bonskeid,  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Moulin.  These  are  some  of  the  lines 
written  by  Mrs.  Sandeman  in  1836  upon  Dr.  Duff : — 

"  He  crossed  o'er  our  path  like  an  angel  of  light, 
The  sword  of  the  truth  in  his  gvasj)  gleaming  bright; 
O'er  mountain  and  valley  unweai-ied  he  flew 
Imploring  our  aid  for  the  poor  lost  Hindoo. 

"  The  rich  gorgeous  East  with  its  dark  Indian  grove 
Was  the  land  that  he  pled  fox' — all  pity  and  love ; 
But  we  caught  the  swift  glance  and  the  dear  mountain  tone^ 
And  claimed  him  with  reverence  and  pride  for  our  own. 

"  Yes  1  dark  Ben-i-vi'ackie,  all  rugged  and  wild, 
And  fair  vale  of  Athole,  ye  welcome  your  child, 
For  oft  have  his  thoughts  turned  in  fondness  to  you. 
While  he  toiled  for  the  soul  of  the  darkened  Hindoo. 

"  And  shall  we  not  aid  him  with  heart  and  with  hand 
To  ope  fountains  of  truth  in  that  desolate  land  ? 
Nor  break  the  witched  charm  that  he  over  us  threw 
While  in  anguish  he  pled  for  the  erring  Hindoo." 

"  The  arrival  of  Dr.  Duff  in  the  county  town  of  his 
native  Perthshire  was  a  memorable  event  to  most  of 
the  dwellers  in  it.  It  was  doubly  memorable  to  the 
children  who  got  a  holiday  to  go  and  hear  him  in  the 
East  Church  on  a  week-day.  Some  days  before,  the 
carriage  had  been  watched  as  it  conveyed  the  invalid 
missionary  to  the  crescent  facing  the  North  Inch, 
and  stopped  at  the  house  of  the  Rev.  William  Thom- 
son, for  whom  he  was  to  preach  in  the  Middle  Church. 
Reports  of  his  suffering  state  had  come  before  him. 


320  LIFE    OP    DE.    DUFF.  1 836. 

Mrs.  Stuart,  of  Annat,  then  residing  in  Edinburgh, 
had  been  at  the  communion  in  Lady  Grienorchy's 
church.  She  came  home  enraptured  with  the  table- 
service,  at  which  a  stranger  had  presided.  His  voice 
had  seemed  hke  one  from  heaven,  and  he  looked  so  ill, 
as  if  he  might  have  passed  away  while  he  broke  the 
bread.     It  was  Dr.  Duff  who  had  arrived  from  India. 

"  It  was  no  wonder  that  the  deep  galleries  of  the  old 
Middle  Church  of  St.  John's,  Perth,  always  full,  were 
on  that  morning  crowded.  Even  the  -seats  behind  the 
huge  pillars  were  eagerly  seized.  The  text  was,  '  Be 
not  conformed  to  this  world.'  "While  the  preacher 
cut  right  and  left,  root  and  branch  at  the  worldliness 
in  the  Church  of  Christ,  he  described  how  men  and 
women  carried  it  into  Grod's  house,  and  could  be  seen 
stepping  down  the  aisle  with  a  look  so  proud  as  might 
make  an  archangel  blush.  Next  came  the  week-day 
address  on  the  claims  of  India.  Mr.  Esdaile,  the 
scholarly  minister  of  the  East  Church,  followed  by  the 
presbytery  and  other  ministers,  accompanied  Dr.  Duff 
to  the  pulpit  steps.  Some  had  made  a  tedious  journey 
to  be  there.  Even  the  children  in  the  multitude  that 
day  assembled  were  breathless  listeners.  The  gaunt 
figure  in  the  pulpit,  soon  rid  of  the  gown,  was  seen 
beneath  the  coloured  window  which  was  wont  to  come 
between  little  people  and  weariness  when  Mr.  Es- 
daile's  erudite  and  polished  discourses  went  beyond 
them.  And  now  the  eloquent  descriptions  of  the  far- 
off  land  began.  Snow-peaks,  dense  forests,  aromatic 
gardens  and  Ganges  waters  were  the  background.  The 
hideous  image  of  idolatry  arose  before  the  mind's  eye 
like  the  monster  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  vision,  Brahmans, 
fakeers  and  soodras  in  thousands  swarming  at  the 
base.  Each  arrowlike  sentence  of  appeal  for  help  was 
barbed  with  reproach  to  the  selfish  Britons  who  had 
come  home  rich  without  doing  anything  to  enlighten 


JEt.  so.     AN    OPPONENT   TO    THE    LAW    OF    GRAVITATION.       32 1 

the  natives  of  *  poor,  pillaged,  ravaged,  unliappy 
India.'  When  all  was  over  the  missionary  sank  back 
exhausted,  and  had  to  rest  half-way  down  the  pulpit 
stairs.  One  at  least  of  the  young  who  had  heard  him 
had  to  seek  shelter  in  bed  on  returning  home,  to  hide 
the  marks  of  weeping,  ready  to  join  on  the  morrow  in 
the  project  of  a  school  companion  whose  emotions  had 
taken  the  practical  shape  of  a  penny  a  week  subscrip- 
tion." 

Dr.  Duff's  host,  on  this  occasion,  was  the  Rev.  Dr. 
William  Thomson,  whose  portly  figure  and  exalted 
character  used  to  strike  him  with  awe  when  he  was 
a  boy  at  Perth  Academy.  In  his  own  field  of  genial 
scholarship  and  active  philanthropy  he  was  worthy 
of  his  more  famous  brother,  Andrew  Thomson  of  St. 
George's.  The  tremendous  strides  of  the  missionary, 
as  he  walked  with  her  father  to  the  top  of  Kinnoul 
hill,  so  alarmed  the  youngest  daughter,  now  Mrs. 
Omond  of  Monzie,  that  she  was  glad  when  he  stopped 
at  the  Tay  bridge  to  take  a  long  fond  look  of  the 
hills  among  which  his  father's  cottage  lay.  When,  in 
1863,  the  old  man  passed  away  at  the  age  of  ninety. 
Dr.  Duff,  then  still  in  India,  recalled  in  a  public  letter 
the  long  career  of  Dr.  William  Thomson,  and  declared 
that  his  had  been  "  one  of  the  happiest,  most  genial, 
and  alike  to  head  and  heart  most  exhilarating  domes- 
tic circles  in  Christendom." 

It  was  during  this  Perthshire  tour  that  Dr.  Guthrie, 
following  hard  on  Dr.  Duffs  track  in  the  cause  of 
church  extension,  found  this  trace  of  him  at  Abernyte. 
Mr.  Wilson,  the  minister  of  the  parish,  had  as  his  as- 
sistant that  James  Hamilton  who  became  an  accom- 
plished naturalist  and  Edward  Irving's  successor  in 
London.  But  Wilson  himself  was  an  opponent  of  Sir 
Isaac  Newton  in  the  law  of  gravitation.  It  grieved 
him  that  his  Church's  first  missionary  should  dream  of 

y 


32  2  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1836 

subverfcing  Hindooism  by  a  science  quite  as  false  as 
the  cosmogony  of  the  Yeds.  Dr.  Guthrie  attempted  to 
reason  with  the  animated  fossil,  and  then  pretended  to 
be  so  far  convinced  as  to  ask  most  meekly  how  it  is 
that  the  people  of  the  antipodes  do  not  drop  off  into 
boundless  space.  "Well  sir,"  said  the  simple  oppo- 
nent of  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  "  they  keep  on  just  as  the 
flies  do  which  you  see  there  walking  along  the  ceil- 
ing." Some  of  the  a  'priori  objections  to  Dr.  Duff's 
evangelistic  system  of  education  were  quite  as  well 
founded. 

In  two  instances  only  did  the  Indian  missionary 
meet  with  rudeness.  One  occurred  under  circum- 
stances which  have  caused  the  event  to  be  traditional 
in  the  place.  Appealed  to  long  after  for  the  facts,  he 
thus  told  the  story.  The  presbytery  of  Dunbar  had 
been  summoned  to  meet  in  the  parish  kirk  of  the 
town.  Dr.  Duff  was  received  the  evening  before  the 
meeting  under  the  hospitable  roof  of  Mr,  Sawers.  On 
setting  out  to  visit  the  minister  of  the  kirk,  as  was  his 
first  duty,  he  was  gently  warned  that  his  reception 
might  not  be  very  cordial.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Jaffray,  he 
was  told,  was  notoriously  hostile  to  foreign  missions 
generally,  and  was  by  no  means  reconciled  to  those  of 
his  own  Church.  This  did  not  deter  Dr.  Duff,  whose 
duty  it  plainly  was  to  show  courtesy  to  the  man  in 
whose  kirk  he  was  to  address  the  presbytery  and  the 
people.  After  some  hesitation  the  servant  admitted 
him,  and  he  followed  her  to  the  study  so  closely 
that  further  denial  was  impossible.  Mr.  Jaffray  stood 
up,  and  glaring  at  the  intruder  with  fury,  shouted  out 
in  tones  heard  by  the  passers-by  in  the  street  out- 
side, "  Are  you  the  fanatic  Duff  who  has  been  going 
about  the  country  beguiling  and  deceiving  people 
by  what  they  choose  to  call  missions  to  the  heathen  ? 
I    don't  want  to   see  you,  or  any  of    your  descrip- 


JEl  30.  THE    BRAHMAN    OF    DUNDAR.  323 

tioii.  I  want  no  Indian  snake  brought  in  among 
my  people  to  poison  their  minds  on  such  subjects ; 
so  as  I  don't  want  to  see  you  the  sooner  you  make 
off  the  better."  Dr.  Duff  stood  calm  and  impertur- 
bable for  a  little,  and  then,  breaking  the  silence,  said 
that  he  had  come  merely  to  show  him  courtesy  as  the 
minister  of  the  parish  and  an  ordained  minister  of  the 
Established  Church,  as  both  of  them  were.  As  he 
must  be  aware  to-morrow  the  meeting  of  presbytery 
was  to  be  held  in  his  church,  he,  Dr.  Duff,  thought  it 
only  due  to  him  to  show  this  tribute  of  respect  and 
courtesy.  With  permission  therefore  Dr.  Duff  very 
briefly  would  tell  him  the  nature  and  object  of  his 
visit  to  Dunbar  under  the  sanction  and  recommen- 
dation of  the  Greneral  Assembly.  He  did  so  very 
briefly  because  he  saw  in  Mr.  Jaffray's  countenance 
that  the  churl  was  all  the  while  in  wrathful  agony. 

When  Dr.  Duff  ended,  he  said  he  had  nothing  more 
to  explain  and  would  now  retire.  "  By  all  means,"  the 
reply  was,  in  a  surly  tone,  "  the  sooner  the  better.  I 
never  want  to  see  your  face  again  on  earth.  I  was  no 
party  to  the  meeting  to-morrow.  The  presbytery  had  a 
perfect  right  to  fix  on  my  church;  but  as  for  me,  I  had 
nothing  to  do  with  it ;  I  shall  not  go  near  the  meeting, 
for  T  hate  the  subject,  and  might  almost  say  the  same 
thing  of  him  who  has  been  the  means  of  calling  such 
a  meeting  to  disturb  the  feelings  of  my  people  and  in- 
troduce what  may  be  new  strifes  and  divisions  among 
us."  Dr.  Duff,  in  a  single  sentence,  said  ho  hoped 
and  trusted  it  would  turn  out  otherwise,  since  the 
blessed  Saviour's  command  was,  "  Go  into  all  the  world, 
and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature,"  and  the 
present  was  but  a  humble  attempt  on  the  part  of  the 
Established  Church  of  Scotland  to  obey  this  parting 
and  imperative  commission.  All  this  time  both  were 
standing  in  the  middle  of  the  floor;  so  Dr.  Duff,  respect- 


324  LIFE    OF    Dli.    DUFF.  1836. 

fully  bowing,  bade  liim  good-night,  and  retired  to  his 
congenial  quarters.  That  evening  Dr.  Duff  said  no- 
thing, except,  in  answer  to  a  question,  stating  in 
general  terms  that  the  warning  Mr.  Sawers  had  given 
had  not  been  in  vain.  Next  day,  however,  he  was 
everywhere  met  by  parties  personally  unknown  to 
him,  who  condoled  with  him  on  the  strange  recep- 
tion given  to  him  by  their  minister.  "  The  truth 
is,"  they  said,  *'  we  expected  nothing  cordial,  but  we 
never  dreamed  that  he  would  stoop  to  such  rudeness." 
After  this  Mr.  Jaffray  very  generally  throughout  the 
bounds  of  the  Church,  when  this  remarkable  incident 
became  known,  went  under  the  name  of  the  Brahman  of 
Dunbar.  The  intention  was  to  indicate  his  barbarous 
rudeness,  but  the  greatest  injustice  was  thus  in  ignor- 
ance done  to  the  Brahmans  of  India,  more  particularly 
the  learned  and  studious  class,  who  are  among  the 
most  courteous  and  gentlemanly  persons  to  be  met 
with. 

By  this  time  the  effect  of  Dr.  Duff's  work  in  Scot- 
land had  spread  across  the  border,  influencing  churches 
and  societies  in  England.  When  in  the  midst  of 
his  organization  of  associations  in  Perthshire,  he 
was  pressed  by  many  and  repeated  invitations 
from  the  great  missionary  and  religious  societies  in 
London  to  address  them  in  the  coming  month  of 
May.  Even  those  who  had  most  ignorantly  objected 
to  his  Assembly  oration  of  1835,  that  it  did  not  re- 
present the  operations  of  other  Christians  in  India, 
had  by  this  time  discovered,  alike  from  his  provincial 
addresses  and  the  representations  of  their  agents  in 
Bengal,  the  catholicity  of  his  spirit  and  the  extent  of 
his  zealous  co-operation  with  all  the  Protestant  mis- 
sionaries in  Calcutta  and  the  neighbourhood.  Espe- 
cially was  this  the  case  with  the  Church  Missionary 
Society,   the   noble   evangelical    organization   of    the 


Ai.t  30.  HIS  rn;,sT  exeteu  hall  oration.  325 

Gluu'cli  of  England,  whose  representatives  in  Bengal, 
Dealtry,  Corrie  and  Sandys  had  been  his  most  inti- 
mate fellow-workers.  His  response  to  that  society's 
earnest  appeal  to  address  its  anunal  meeting  in  May 
was  the  beginning  of  a  relation  which,  as  we  shall  see, 
became  closer  and  more  loving  on  both  sides  till  the 
end.  Never  before  had  the  directors  deemed  it  expe- 
dient to  go  out  of  their  own  episcopal  circle  to  find, 
speakers,  till  Dr.  Duff  was  thus  enabled  to  return,  on 
a  wider  scale,  the  kindness  of  Dealtry  and  Corrie  to 
himself  when  he  first  landed  in  Bengal.  When  the 
meeting  was  held  in  London  he  found  himself  on  the 
platform  seated  between  the  Bishops  of  Chester  and. 
Winchester.  When  the  latter  had  spoken  the  young 
Presbyterian  apostle  rose,  and  so  addressed  them  that 
the  interest  and  emotion  of  the  vast  audience  continued 
to  increase  till  he  sat  down  amid  a  tempest  of  enthu- 
siastic applause.  We  have  no  report  of  this  effort 
beyond  its  effect,  which  the  Bishop  of  Chester  indicated 
when,  following  Dr.  Duff  after  a  long  pause,  he  declared 
with  characteristic  gravity  that  he  had  waited  until  the 
gush  of  emotion  excited  by  the  preceding  speaker  had 
been  somewhat  assuaged.  When  all  was  over,  among 
others  the  godly  Mr.  Caras,  one  of  the  deans  of  Trinity 
College,  Cambridge,  introdaced  himself  to  Dr.  Duff, 
and  at  once  exacted  the  promise  that  the  missionary 
would  accompany  himself  in  a  day  or  two  on  a  visit 
to  the  University. 

Other  circumstances  apart,  the  peculiar  interest 
of  this  visit  to  Cambrido^e  lies  in  the  meeting:  for  the 
first  and  last  time  of  the  aged  Simeon  and  the  young 
Duff.  Simeon  was  within  a  few  months  of  his  death, 
but  even  after  half  a  century's  labours  for  the  Master, 
in  England  and  Scotland  and  for  India,  he  was  appa- 
rently in  health  and  vigour.  He  and  Dr.  Duff  had  what 
the  latter  afterwards  described  as  "  a  very  prolonged 


326  LIFE   OF   DR.    DUFF.  1836. 

sederunt.'*  He  was  full  of  questions  regarding  India 
and  its  missions,  for  wliicli  lie  had  done  so  much 
all  that  time.  And  we  may  be  sure  that,  among  the 
other  topics  which  occupied  that  memorable  conversa- 
tion, the  Moulin  revival  was  not  forgotten.  We  have 
already  traced  the  spiritual  ancestry  of  Duff  to  Simeon, 
from  the  journal  of  the  latter,  written  in  1796,  when 
the  events  occurred.  The  record  of  them,  or  the  talk 
about  them  forty  years  after  by  the  venerable  saint  and 
his  own  son  in  the  faith,  the  evangelical  Anglican  and 
the  evangelical  Presbyterian,  it  is  now  possible  for  us 
to  recall  from  Duff's  talk  afterwards. 

What  during  the  conversation  gave  Simeon  such 
profound  interest  in  the  Moulin  revival  of  1796  was 
the  remembrance  of  his  own  share  in  the  quickening. 
His  host,  Mr.  Stewart,  the  parish  minister,  was  then 
a  comparatively  young  man,  an  excellent  and  accom- 
plished scholar,  but  without  any  evidence  of  true  piety. 
He  was  of  a  frank  and  cheerful  disposition,  and  was  a 
great  favourite  with  the  people,  for  whom  he  had  always 
a  kind  word.  His  life,  as  written  by  Dr.  Sieveright,  of 
Markinch,  shows  how  by  degrees  he  became  unhappy, 
from  the  conviction  that  there  was  something  real  in 
Christianity  which  he  did  not  possess  and  had  not 
discovered.  The  exceeding  honesty  of  his  intellectual 
nature  showed  itself  thus,  as  one  present  told  Dr.  Duff. 
Mr.  Stewart  had  read  the  preliminary  psalm  at  public 
worship  in  the  church  on  the  Lord's-day,  and  was 
about  to  give  out  his  text,  when  he  leaned  over  the  book 
board,  and  looking  round  with  a  saddened,  piercing 
eye  on  his  congregation,  he  said  to  them  in  substance : 
"  My  brethren,  I  am  bound  in  truth  and  faithfulness  to 
tell  you  that  I  feel  myself  to  be  in  great  ignorance  and 
much  blindness  on  the  subject  of  vital  religion.  I  feel 
like  one  groping  in  the  dark  for  light,  and  as  yet  I 
have  found  none.     But  I  think  it  right  to  tell  you, 


^.t.  30.     Ills    ACCOUNT   OP    SIMEON  S    VISIT   TO    MOULIN.       327 

that  if  God  in  mercy  will  give  me  any  measure  of  tlie 
true  liyht,  joyfully  shall  I  impart  the  same  to  you.  Do 
you  therefore,  all  of  you,  pray  God  fervently  that  He 
may  be  pleased  to  bestow  upon  me  the  true  light,  or 
such  portions  of  it  as  lie  may  deem  fit  for  me." 

An  announcement  of  so  novel  and  startling  a  kind, 
indicating  such  simplicity  and  godly  sincerity,  could 
not  but  produce  a  profound  sensation.  The  news 
rapidly  spread,  not  only  through  the  parish  but 
through  the  surrounding  country.  One  of  the  con- 
sequences was  that  many  even  of  the  most  careless 
and  ungodly  were  wont  to  go  every  Lord's-day  to 
church  in  the  expectation  of  hearing  that  the  minister 
had  found  what  he  called  the  true  liy^ht.  Still  weeks 
and  months  passed  without  any  discovery  being  made 
to  him.  At  last  it  so  happened  that  Mr.  Simeon, 
of  Cambridge,  and  the  Rev.  James  Haldane,  of  the 
Tabernacle,  Edinburgh,  had  arranged  to  make  an 
extensive  tour  through  tbe  north  of  Scotland,  preach- 
ing the  gospel  as  they  might  find  opportunity.  On 
a  Thursday  they  had  arranged  from  Dunkeld  to 
visit  Blair- Athole,  about  twenty  miles  distant.  They 
had  to  stop  at  Pitlochrie,  which  is  about  half-way. 
At  that  time  there  was  a  small  country  inn  there.  On 
arrival  they  told  the  innkeeper  that  as  early  as  he 
could  manage  it  they  wanted  a  couple  of  horses  to 
take  them  to  Blair- Athole.  "  Na,  na,"  said  the  inn- 
keeper, "  this  is  our  fast  day,  as  the  sacrament  is  to  be 
held  next  Sabbath,  and  we  regard  the  fast  day  like 
another  Sabbath,  and  we  do  not  hire  horses  or  vehicles 
on  the  Lord's-day."  "  Well,"  said  Simeon,  "  I  suppose 
there  is  worship  in  the  parish  church  to-day  ?  "  "  Oh, 
yes,"  said  the  innkeeper,  naming  the  hour.  "  Well," 
said  Simeon,  "thougli  this  in  one  respect  is  a  disap- 
pointment to  us,  it  may  be  that  in  some  other  respects, 
as  yet  unknown  to  us,  God  may  have  some  gracious 


328  LIFE    OP    DR.    DUFF.  1836. 

design  in  it,  so  let  us  go  at  once  to  the  English  wovsliip 
at  Moulin."  Towards  the  evening  of  the  daj,  after  all 
the  services,  English  and  Gaelic,  were  ended,  Simeon 
and  Haldane  resolved  to  call  at  the  manse  and  see  the 
minister,  who  received  them  with  great  heartiness. 
After  some  converse  Mr.  Simeon,  from  his  sage, 
spiritual  experience,  could  not  but  notice  there  were 
internal  workings  in  the  soul  of  Stewart  which  to  him 
looked  like  the  incipient  influence  of  divine  grace.  Mr. 
Stewart  was  greatly  refreshed  by  Mr.  Simeon's  con- 
verse, and  in  parting  with  both  in  the  evening  he  said 
to  them,  "You  can  see  everything  that  is  worth  seeing 
in  and  about  Blair- Athole  by  Saturday  afternoon; "  so  he 
implored  them  both  to  come  to  the  manse  on  Saturday 
evening,  attend  the  church  on  Sabbath,  and  partake  or 
not  partake,  as  they  thought  proper,  of  the  sacrament. 
Mr.  Stewart  said  that  as  minister  of  the  parish  he  would 
be  expected  to  preach  what  the  Scotch  were  in  the  habit 
of  calling  the  "action  sermon" — sermon  before  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  sacrament — but  that  on  sacrament 
Sunday  they  had  always  public  service  in  the  church 
in  the  evening,  as  the  people's  hearts  were  then 
surcharged  with  feelings  of  love  and  pious  emotion. 
That  sermon  Mr.  Stewart  asked  Mr.  Simeon  to  preach. 
Simeon  agreed,  and  it  is  very  remarkable  how  that 
sermon  was  blessed  of  God  as  the  signal  instrument 
of  opening  Mr.  Stewart's  eyes  to  discern  the  true  light 
of  the  everlasting  gospel. 

His  own  declaration  was,  that  about  the  middle  of  the 
sermon  Mr.  Simeon,  who  had  evidently  studied  his  case 
and  endeavoured  to  adapt  as  much  of  the  discourse  as 
was  practicable  to  it,  uttered  a  few  sentences  which  to 
Mr.  Stewart  looked  like  a  revelation  from  heaven.  His 
own  significant  expression  was,  that  it  seemed  as  if 
the  dense  cloud  canopy  which  had  hitherto  inter- 
posed between  his  soul  and  the  vision  of  God  in  Chrisfe 


^t.  30.         HIS    ACCOUNT    OF  THE    MOULIN    REVIVAL.  329 

reconciling  a  guilty  world  to  Himself,  had  suddenly 
burst  asunder,  and  through  the  chink  a  stream  of  light 
had  come  down  direct  from  heaven  into  his  soul,  dis- 
placing the  darkness  which  had  hitherto  brooded  over 
it,  filling  it  with  light,  and  enabling  him  to  rejoice  with 
exceeding  great  joy.  He  was  wont,  also,  to  add,  that 
in  spite  of  partial  obscurations  afterwards,  this  light 
never  wholly  left  him,  but  continued  to  animate, 
cheer  and  guide  him  through  all  his  ministerial  and 
other  labours.  On  the  following  Lord's-day  Mr. 
Stewart  was  enabled  joyfully  to  announce  publicly 
from  the  pulpit,,  that  the  light  which  he  sought 
for  and  waited  for  from  heaven  had  at  last  dawned 
upon  him  and  filled  his  soul  with  gladness  ;  he  would 
therefore  proceed  Sabbath  after  Sabbath  to  give  out 
as  much  of  it  as  he  could  to  his  own  people  and  others 
who  might  choose  to  be  present.  He  then  commenced 
a  series  of  discourses  on  the  ord  chapter  of  St.  John's 
Gospel,  which  awakened,  aroused  and  enlightened 
numbers  of  the  people.  Parties  were  wont  to  come 
every  Sabbath  from  all  the  surrounding  parishes,  so 
that  the  work  became  very  extensive,  and  proved  a 
mighty  revival,  in  which  scores  of  the  previously  care- 
less, indifferent  and  godless  became  genuine  converts 
to  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  and  continued  so  all  their 
days.  Yea,  instead  of  diminishing,  their  light  went 
on  increasing  and  abounding.  However  humble  in 
their  circumstances,  however  illiterate,  their  souls  be- 
came replenished  with  the  truths  of  the  Bible,  so  as  to 
become  burning  and  shining  lights  to  all  around  them. 
All  this  will  account  for  the  deep  interest  felt  by 
Mr.  Simeon  when  Dr.  Duff  called  upon  him,  as  the 
father  and  mother  of  the  missionary  when  young 
and  unmarried  came  more  or  less  under  the  arous- 
ing influences  of  the  great  revival.  About  three  or 
four  months  after  this  Mr.  Simeon  was  called  to  his 


330  LIFE    OP    DR.    DUFF.  1836. 

eternal  reward,  but  though  he  rests  from  his  labours, 
his  works,  in  many  of  their  blessed  and  fruitful 
spiritual  consequences,  do  still  follow  him.  Such 
is  substantial! J?"  Dr.  Duff's  account  of  what  he  had 
heard  of  the  Moulin  revival,  and  of  what  Simeon  and 
he  had  talked  over  in  Cambridge.  The  Baptist  Carey, 
the  Anglican  Simeon,  the  Moderate  Inglis,  and  the 
Evangelical  Chalmers,  united  with  such  Congrega- 
tionalist  contemporaries  as  Urquhart  and  Lacroix  to 
link  Duff  into  a  truly  apostolical  succession,  divided 
by  no  party  and  confined  to  no  sect. 

As  the  guest  of  Carus  at  Cambridge,  Dr.  Duff  occu- 
pied the  rooms  in  which  Sir  Isaac  Newton  made  many 
of  his  most  remarkable  discoveries  in  optics.  The  old 
St.  Andrews  student  revelled  in  associations  in  which 
no  college  in  the  world  is  more  rich.  For  Trinity, 
which  Henry  VIII.  founded  and  his  daughters  en- 
riched, had  been  the  nursery  not  only  of  the  Church's 
most  learned  prelates  and  theologians,  but  of  Bacon 
as  well  as  Newton,  of  Cowley  and  Dryden  and  Andrew 
Marvell.  When  dining  daily  in  the  common  hall  with 
the  professors  and  students,  he  had  much  converse 
with  Whewell,  who  was  master  from  1841,  when  he  suc- 
ceeded Christopher  Wordsworth,  to  1866  when  he  was 
followed  by  "  Jupiter  "  Thompson,  the  present  master. 
But  what  interested  him  most  of  all,  after  the  living 
Simeon,  was  the  collection  of  the  Milton  MSS.  in  the 
museum  of  the  college.  There  he  saw  the  list,  in  Mil- 
ton's own  hand,  of  the  hundred  titles,  or  more,  which 
the  poet  had  jotted  down  on  returning  from  Italy,  in 
his  thirty-first  year,  as  possible  subjects  of  a  great 
English  poem.  There  "  Paradise  Lost  "  appears  at  the 
head  of  them  all,  and  also  four  drafts  of  it  for  dramatic 
treatment,*  the  drama  to  open,  as  the  poet's  nephew 

*  Sec  Professor  Masson's  perfect  Globe  Edition  of  The  Poetical 
WorJcs  of  John  Milton  0877),  page  11. 


iEt.  3°-  CAMBRIDGE    ASSOCIATIONS   OF    MILTON.  33 1 

Phillips  tells  us,  with  Satan's  speech  on  j5rst  beholding 
the  glories  of  the  new  world  and  the  sun,  as  now 
given  near  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  book  of  the 
epic. 

Ever  in  the  midst  of  his  absorbing  talks  with  Simeon 
and  Carus  about  missions.  Dr.  Duff  was  constrained  by 
the  genius  loci  to  think  of  Milton.  When  walking  by  tho 
Cam,  on  one  occasion,  he  expressed  surprise  that  no  re- 
gular Cambridge  student  had  then  offered  his  services 
as  a  missionary.  Carus,  in  reply,  drew  his  attention  to 
the  exceeding  beauty  of  the  spot;  to  the  loveliness 
of  the  grounds  and  their  adornments  ;  to  the  banks  of 
the  Cam  with  their  grotesque  variety  of  flowers,  the 
willow  trees  overhanging  the  stream,  the  umbrageous 
shade  cast  by  other  trees  on  the  footpaths  along  the 
lawns,  seats  to  invite  the  student  to  enjoy  his  favourite 
books ;  to  the  exquisite  order  in  which  all  things  were 
kept.  All  this,  said  Carus,  tended  insensibly  to 
act  on  human  nature,  and  produce  an  intensely'-  re- 
fined and  luxurious  state  of  mind,  with  corresponding 
tastes  and  predilections  from  which  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  wean  the  student  so  as  to  induce  him  to 
become  a  voluntary  exile  to  distant  shores  teeming 
with  the  abominations  of  heathenism.  The  remark, 
Dr.  Duff  replied,  had  some  force  in  it,  in  the  case 
of  the  old  nature.  But  this  ought  not  to  present 
difficulties  to  the  child  of  God,  who  professed  to  act 
by  faith  and  not  by  sight.  Whoever  was  resolute  of 
purpose  as  a  son  of  God,  would  find  divine  grace 
more  than  sufficient  to  wean  him  not  only  from  the 
academic  illusions  of  Cambridge,  but  from  all  the 
world  besides.  But  then,  turning  to  the  river  at  their 
side,  he  exclaimed  in  the  lines  of  the  exquisite  Lycidas, 
the  memorial  poem  which  Milton  wrote  on  the  death 
of  Edward  King,  his  fellow-student  at  Christ's  Col- 
lege ;— 


332  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1836. 

"Next,  Camus,  reverend  sire,  went  footing  slow. 
His  mantle  hairy  and  Lis  bonnet  sedge, 
Inwrought  with  figui-es  dim,  and  on  the  edge 
Like  to  that  sanguine  flower  inscribed  with  woe. 
*  Ah  !  who  hath  reft,'  quoth  he,  *  my  dearest  pledge  ?  * " 

At  that  time  Mr.  Carus  could  not  venture  to  call 
a  public  missionary  meeting  in  the  college,  but  the 
Mayor  presided  over  a  great  gathering  of  students 
and  citizens  in  the  town-hall,  whom  Dr.  Duff  addressed 
at  length  on  India  and  its  missions.  From  Cambridge 
he  went  to  Leamington,  where  he  gained  some  advan- 
tasre  from  the  treatment  of  the  then  celebrated  Dr. 
Jephson.  Having  avoided  the  excitement  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  1836,  he  thus  spent  the  summer 
in  England.  But  on  his  return  to  Scotland  in  autumn, 
to  complete  his  organization  of  the  presbyteries  and 
congregations,  he  was  sternly  ordered  by  the  physicians 
to  rest  at  Edradour.  Rest  for  him  was  impossible. 
Pie  induced  them  to  wink  at  occasional  raids,  made 
for  three  or  four  weeks  at  a  time,  in  different  directions 
from  that  centre.  Thus  the  months  passed  till  the 
General  Assembly  of  1837. 

During  all  his  wanderings  north  and  south.  Dr.  Duff 
kept  up  a  close  correspondence  with  his  colleagues, 
Messrs.  Mackay  and  Ewart,  in  Calcutta,  and  with 
other  friends  of  the  mission  there.  He  was  a  keen 
observer  of  public  affairs  in  the  closing  days  of  Lord 
William  Bentinck's  administration,  and  the  opening 
promise  of  that  of  Lord  Metcalfe,  whom  the  jealous 
Court  of  Directors  refused  to  appoint  permanent 
Governor- General.  Of  how  much  that  was  most  bril- 
liant and  abiding  in  these  times  could  we  not  say  that 
he  had  been  a  part?  How  he  explained  to  the  English 
public  the  exact  meaning  of  Lord  William's  educational 
minutes  of  1835,  in  his  "  New  Era  of  the  English 
Language,"    we    have   told.      The   following   extract 


^t.  30.  NATIVE    CHRISTIANS    AS    PHYSICIANS.  333 

from  an  ofiicial  letter  to  the  committee,  gives  us  his 
impressions  of  the  other  great  triumph  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Bengal  Medical  College  : — 

"  Edradour,  ISth  July,  1835. 
"I   have  just   received  a  letter    from  an   intimate 
friend    in    Calcutta,   Mr.   J.   Nelson,    attorney   of    the 
Supreme  Court,  and  now  a  member  of  our  correspond- 
ing board.     He  writes  : — 

"'You  will  fi-equently  have  heard  that  the  school  is  doing 
welh  Within  the  last  few  days  a  prospect  has  been  opened  up 
likely  to  be  very  beneficial  to  it.  I  allude  to  an  entirely  new 
construction  of  the  medical  school  with  which  Dr.  Tytler  was 
connected,  which  has  been  placed  under  Dr.  Bramley,  who  is 
to  receive  boys  from  the  various  seminaries,  qualified  by  their 
knowledge  of  English  to  become  pupils  for  education  in 
medicine.  He  states  that  in  the  formation  of  his  plan,  he 
particularly  looked  forward  to  our  seminary  for  a  supply,  and 
at  a  visit  he  made  to  it  the  other  day  he  found  a  number  of 
boys  most  willing  to  go  to  him.  I  think  there  can  be  no 
differences  of  opinion  as  to  the  advantages  likely  to  accrue  by 
this  opening  for  the  young  men.  It  is  true  that  the  primary 
object  we  have  in  view  is  the  endowing  them  with  a  know- 
ledge of  Christianity,  and  sending  them  forth  as  teachers  and 
preachers  amongst  their  benighted  countrymen ;  but  it  is  easy 
to  perceive  that  for  many  years  persons  so  sent  forth  would 
requii'e  to  be  supported  by  our  funds,  and  wq  have  not  the 
means  of  doing  so  except  to  a  limited  few.  Besides,  it  appears 
to  me  to  be  highly  valuable  to  have  a  portion  of  native  Chris- 
tians as  laymen,  interspersed  among  the  brethren,  particularly 
iu  such  a  respectable  character  as  that  of  a  doctor;  for  it  is  not 
intended  that  they  shall,  when  qualified,  be  drafted  out  to  the 
army.  On  the  contrary,  they  are  to  receive  the  education 
and  thereafter  to  have  a  free  control  in  the  exercise  of  their 
knowledge  and  talents,  in  such  way  and  manner  as  they  may 
respectively  think  proper.  The  jail  of  the  Court  having  been 
vacated,  Dr.  Bramley  has  applied  for  it,  and  I  believe  I  may 
say  that  Government  have  agreed  to  give  it  for  a  small  rent, 
one  portion  to  be  occupied  by  our  school,  and  the  other  by  his 


334  LIFE   OF   DR.    DUFF.  1836. 

medical  semiaaiy,  wliereby  such  of  our  pupils  as  fancy  medi- 
cine will  be  completing  themselves  in  the  higher  branches 
of  education,  at  the  same  time  that  they  are  receiving  medical 
instruction/ 

"  Of  the  intention  of  G-overnment  to  remodel  the 
old  native  medical  institution  in  Calcutta  I  was  fully 
•aware  upwards  of  two  years  ago.  Dr.  Tytler,  at  the 
head  of  it,  and  his  coadjutors  were  of  the  old  school 
of  orientalists,  who  strenuously  upheld  the  necessity 
of  communicating  all  European  science  to  the  natives 
through  the  medium  of  the  learned  languages  of  the 
East.  The  decisive  experiments  of  the  last  few  years 
in  Calcutta  have  tended  entirely  to  explode  this  opinion, 
and  leave  it  a  refuge  only  in  the  minds  of  a  few  of  the 
old  orientalists.  In  remodelling  the  medical  school, 
the  grand  controverted  question  was,  whether,  as 
heretofore,  the  knowledge  should  be  conveyed  to 
Mussulmans  in  Arabic  and  Hindoos  in  Sanscrit,  or 
whether  it  should  not  be  conveyed  to  both  through 
the  medium  of  English.  A  Government  committee 
was  appointed  to  receive  and  examine  evidence  from 
all  quarters,  and  then  submit  a  formal  report  to  the 
supreme  Government.  The  three  most  active  men 
in  this  committee  were  Mr.  Trevelyan,  the  deputy 
political  secretary;  Dr.  J.  Grant,  the  writer  of  the 
account  of  the  last  examination  of  our  Institution,  and 
Dr.  Bramley.  Being  all  intimate  friends  of  my  own, 
I  was  from  time  to  time  apprised  of  the  progress  and 
results  of  their  inquiries ;  to  about  fifty  questions 
relative  to  the  state  and  prospects  of  English  educa- 
tion in  Bengal,  I  gave  a  lengthened  reply  in  writing. 
Before  I  left  India  this  report  was  finally  completed, 
and  being  favoured  with  a  perusal  of  that  part  which 
related  to  the  question  of  general  education,  I  had  the 
satisfaction  to  perceive  that  the  new  views  on  this 
subject  were  recommended  in  such  a  way  as  to  insure 


iEt.  30.  LETTER   TO   DR.    EWART.  335 

tbeir  adoption  on  the  part  of  Government.  And  glad 
I  am,  for  the  sake  of  our  Institution  and  for  the  real 
welfare  of  India,  that  this  has  been  the  consummation. 
The  superintendence  of  the  medical  school  being  taken 
from  Dr.  Tytler,  the  champion  of  antiquated  opinions, 
and  given  to  Dr.  Bramley,  the  enlightened  supporter 
of  sounder  views,  furnishes  a  guarantee  of  indefinite 
future  good  to  India,  as  it  is  the  test  of  the  triumph 
of  enlightened  principles  and  measures  among  the 
powers  that  be  .  .  Two  Calcutta  letters  have  just 
reached  me  by  the  morning  post,  the  one  from  Mr. 
Trevelyan  detailing  the  steps  relative  to  the  medical 
institution,  the  other,  consisting  of  not  less  than  four 
sheets,  from  Dr.  Bryce.  The  doctor  seems  really  to 
be  most  enthusiastic  in  our  cause." 

"  London,  22nd  June,  1836. 
"My  Dear  Ewart, — I  cannot  possibly  describe  to 
you  the  intenseness  of  interest  which  our  mission 
now  excites  in  our  native  land.  The  eyes  of  all  Scot- 
land are  now  upon  you.  Oh,  that  God  in  His  mercy 
would  pour  out  His  Spirit  and  seal  home  the  truth  to 
the  hearts  of  numbers,  yea,  thousands  of  the  perishing 
heathen  !  I  had  once  cherished  fondly  the  hope  that 
this  summer  I  would  be  retracing  my  steps  to  India. 
This,  however,  I  find  to  be  an  impossibility ;  the  truth 
is,  that  the  labours  at  home,  into  which  I  was  im- 
pelled for  the  sake  of  arousing  the  Christian  public, 
have  retarded  the  progress  of  my  recovery,  and 
reduced  me  to  the  lowest  state  of  exhaustion.  From 
this  it  will  require  some  time  to  recover,  and  yet  my 
work  at  home  is  not  ended.  The  only  thing  that 
reconciles  me  to  the  detention  in  my  native  land,  is  the 
assured  fact  that  God  has  been  pleased  to  employ  me 
as  an  humble  instrument  in  stirring  up  the  slumbering 
zeal  of  our  Church,  and  that  the  instrumentality  has 


S2,^  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1836. 

been  crowned  with  a  success  which  I  never,  never, 
never  anticipated  !  Thanks  be  to  God  for  all  His  un- 
deserved mercies. 

"  I  now  understand  the  mystery  of  Providence  in 
sending  me  from  India.  What  between  vile  politics 
and  fierce  voluntaryism  our  cause  was  well  nigh  being 
entirely  engulfed  in  oblivion.  At  first  I  could  scarcely 
get  from  any  one  or  in  any  place  a  patient  hearing. 
N'ow,  if  I  had  a  thousand  tongues,  they  might  simul- 
taneously be  raised  in  a  thousand  pulpits.  '  The  spirit 
is  willing,'  but,  alas,  '  the  flesh  is  weak.'  Pray  for 
me — that  after  having  left  a  flame  burning  behind  me, 
I  may  be  speedily  restored  to  you.      Yours  aff'ection- 

^^^^^*  "Alexander  Duff." 

Dr.  Duff  did  not  leave  London,  on  this  occasion, 
without  spending  a  forenoon  with  Lord  William  Ben- 
tinck.  After  breakfast  the  two  philanthropists  enjoyed 
the  fullest  and  freest  converse  regarding  the  conduct 
and  policy  of  the  Government  in  India,  past  ^nd 
present.  Relieved  of  the  responsibilities  of  Governor- 
G-eneral  Lord  William  was  able  to  criticise  most 
frankly  the  anomalous  constitution  of  the  East  India 
Company,  of  the  Board  of  Control  created  to  enable  the 
Crown  to  check  and  overrule  the  Court  of  Directors, 
and  of  the  administration  in  India  itself  in  all  its 
branches.  The  critic  commended  some  institutions 
and  persons,  but  exposed  the  faults  and  weaknesses  of 
many  more.  Of  that  priceless  experience,  as  of  the 
still  riper  knowledge  which  Dalhousie  and  Lord  Can- 
ning took  with  them  to  a  premature  grave,  there  is  no 
detailed  record.  Rulers  stumble  on  to-day  repeating 
the  mistakes  of  their  greater  predecessors  and  dream- 
ing that  their  statesmanship  is  new  because  they  are 
blind  to  the  past. 

Whilst  the  conversation  was  still  fresh  in  his  mind, 


^t.  30.      LORD    W.    BENTINCK   ON    GOVERNING    INDIA.  2>Z7 

Dr.  Duff  wrote  down  a  very  full  and  minute  state- 
ment of  the  whole,  which,  as  a  curiosity,  he  sent  to 
the  Foreign  Missions  Committee.*  One  tiling,  how- 
ever, was  never  effaced  from  his  memory :  Lord  W. 
Bentinck  with  great  emphasis  said  that  some  believed 
the  Government  in  India  was  an  absolute  irresponsible 
despotism.  Others  were  equally  strong  in  the  belief 
that  the  Court  of  Directors  was  the  orig^inatino:  and 
directing  power.  Others  again  were  as  strongly  con- 
vinced that  the  real  power  lay  with  the  President  of 
the  Board  of  Control,  with  the  British  Parliament  at 
his  back.  But,  he  added,  one  thing  that  struck  him, 
and  of  the  truth  of  which  he  had  the  amplest  ex- 
perience, was  this,  that  in  the  office  of  the  President 
of  the  Board  of  Control  the  chief  secretary,  through 
whose  hands  all  official  documents  were  sent  out  and 
sent  home,  for  a  long  period — between  forty  and  fifty 
years— exercised  a  power  to  which  no  President  of 
the  Board  of  Control,  no  Director,  no  Governor- 
General  or  any  other  responsible  official  could  pretend. 
Lord  William  Bentinck  soon  after  addressed  this 
letter  to  Dr.  Duff  :— 

"  Feankfort,  August  27th,  1835. 
"  Dear  Sir, — I  am  confident  you  will  excuse  my 
seeming  uncourteous  return  for  your  very  kind  letter, 
when  I  assure  you  that  the  weakness  that  I  brought 
with  me  from  India,  and  greatly  increased  by  all  the 
excitement,  fatigue  and  bustle  consequent  upon  my 
return,  completely  incapacitated  me  for  all  business 
and  exertion,  and  it  is  only  here  and  at  Bruxelles  that 
a  day  of  leisure  and  quiet  has  given  me  an  opportunity 
of   offering  this   explanation    to    many  friends  whose 


*  This  letter  is   not  among  those  most  kindly  copied  for  us  from 
the  records  of  the  Esf-aMislierl  Church  of  Scotland. 

Z 


338  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1S36. 

letters  I  Lave  been  equally  compelled  to  neglect.  Lady 
William  begs  that  I  will  express  also  her  acknowledg- 
ments for  your  obliging  inquiries.  She  is,  I  am  sorry 
to  say,  a  greater  invalid  than  myself.  We  have  been 
both  advised  to  take  the  mineral  waters  of  Germany — 
she,  those  of  Schwalbach  in  Nassau,  and  I,  those  of 
Carlsbad  in  Bohemia.  My  health  has  much  improved 
since  I  left  London. 

"  I  am  much  gratified  to  hear  of  your  successful 
operations  in  Scotland.  It  must  be  the  result  of  great 
personal  exertion  alone,  for  though  I  have  had  ample 
reason  to  know  the  indifference  and  apathy  that 
generally  prevail  respecting  all  matters  connected  with 
India,  yet  even  with  all  this  experience  I  was  not  pre- 
pared for  the  feeling  of  dislike  almost  with  which  any 
mention  of  India  is  received.  But  this  conviction  of 
a  sad  truth,  this  disgraceful  proof  of  British  selfishness 
ought  only  to  have  the  effect  of  exciting  those  deeply 
interested  in  the  moral  and  religious  welfare  of  the 
people  of  India  to  renewed  efforts  in  their  behalf. 

"  I  have  always  considered  the  Hindoo  College  as 
one  of  the  greatest  engines  of  useful  purpose  that  had 
been  erected  since  our  establishment  in  India;  but  that 
institution,  in  point  of  usefulness,  can  bear  no  com- 
parison with  yours,  in  which  improved  education  of 
every  kind  is  combined  with  religious  instruction.  I 
will  not  prolong  this  letter  further  than  to  say  that  I 
cannot  be  more  gratified  with  any  man's  good  opinion 
than  by  yours,  and  wishing  you  health  and  happi- 
ness, I  remain,  dear  sir,  your  friend  and  well-wisher, 

"  W.  Bentinck." 

This,  the  greatest  of  the  Bentincks,  who  thus  ex- 
presses something  like  shame  at  a  degree  of  English 
apathy  to  India  still  prevailing  in  spite  of  warnings 
like  the  first  Afghan  war  and  the  Mutiny  for  which 


Ait.  30.  MACAULAY   ON    LORD    W.    BENTINCK.  339 

that  iniquity  was  the  preparation,  died  four  years 
after,  having  represented  Glasgow  in  the  House  of 
Commons.  Born  in  1774,  lie  was  sixty-five  years  of 
ago  when  his  ripe  experience  was  lost  to  a  country  and 
a  ministry  which  preferred  to  the  wise  Metcalfe  a 
place-hunter  like  Lord  Auckland.  But  Heaven  takes 
vengeance  on  a  land  for  preferring  the  political  par- 
tisans of  the  hour  to  its  truly  good  and  great  states- 
men. The  equally  noble  Lady  William,  renowned  in 
the  East  for  her  Christian  charities,  was  the  second 
daughter  of  the  first  Earl  of  Gosford,  and  survived  her 
husband  till  May,  1843.  This  great  Governor  General's 
epitaph  was  written  by  Macaulay,  in  the  inscription 
which  covers  the  pedestal  of  the  statue  erected  oppo- 
site the  town-hall  of  Calcutta  by  grateful  natives  and 
Europeans  alike  : — "  To  William  Cavendish  Bentinck, 
who  during  seven  years  ruled  India  with  eminent 
prudence,  integrity  and  benevolence ;  who,  placed  at 
the  head  of  a  great  empire,  never  laid  aside  the  sim- 
plicity and  moderation  of  a  private  citizen ;  who  in- 
fused into  Oriental  despotism  the  spirit  of  British 
freedom;  who  never  forgot  that  the  end  of  government 
is  the  welfare  of  the  governed ;  who  abolished  cruel 
rites,  who  effaced  humiliating  distinctions,  who  allowed 
liberty  to  the  expression  of  public  opinion,  whose  con- 
stant study  it  was  to  elevate  the  moral  and  intellectual 
character  of  the  Government  committed  to  his  charge, 
this  Monument  was  erected  by  men  who,  differing 
from  each  other  in  race,  in  manners,  in  language  and 
in  religion,  cherish  with  equal  veneration  and  grati- 
tude the  memory  of  his  wise,  upright  and  paternal 
administration.** 


CHAPTER    Xn. 

1837-1839. 
FISEIJR8     OF    MEN. 

Effect  of  First  Assembly  Speech  in  Drawing  Men. — Rev.  Jolin  Mac- 
donald  gives  Himself. — M'Cheyne  almost  Drawn. — Glasgow 
supplies  James  Halley. — The  Letters  of  Principal  Macfarlan  and 
Dr.  Duff. — Dr.  Coldstream  and  Medical  Missions. — John  Ander- 
son gives  himself  to  Madras. — Followed  by  Johnston  and  Braid- 
wood. — Drs.  Murray  Mitchell  and  T.  Smith. — Stephen  Hislop. — 
Duff's  Great  Speech  in  Exeter  Hall. —  Spiritual  Destitution  of 
India. — Indignant  Satire  on  the  Church's  Apathy. — The  Calculus 
of  Eternity,  and  the  Arithmetic  of  Time. — Missionary  sacrifice  in 
the  Light  of  Christ  Himself. — General  Assembly  of  1837. — Duff's 
Vindication  of  the  Mission. — The  two  bigotries,  of  Infidelity  and 
an  unwise  Pietism. — Native  Apostles. — Duff  appeals  to  Posterity. 
— Mistake  of  the  Indian  Pre.sbyteries  in  the  Training  of  Native 
Missionaries. — Dr.  Macwhirter's  Command. — Prize  Essays  on 
Foreign  Missions. — Dr.  Chalmers  and  the  position  of  the  Kirk  in 
1839.— Letter  to  Dr.  Ewarfc.— Ordination  of  Dr.  T.  Smith.— 
Epistle  to  all  Young  Theologians. — Speech  on  Female  Education. 
• — Lectures  and  Book  on  India  and  India  Missions. — Farewell  to 
the  General  Assembly  of  1839. — The  Press. — Personal  References. 
—  Gifts  for  the  College  Building,  Librai-y  and  Scholarships. — 
Duff  pleads  with  Thomas  Guthrie  to  go  to  India.  — Dr.  Chal- 
mers endorses  Duff's  System,  and  acknowledges  his  Christian 
Economics. — The  Farewell  to  Moulin  and  to  the  Children. 

In  tlie  two  and  a  half  years  after  his  return  home 
at  the  beginning  of  1835,  convalescent  from  the  dj- 
'  sentery  of  Bengal  but  subject  to  the  recurrence  of 
its  jungle  fever,  Dr.  Duff  had  nearly  completed  his 
work  of  organization.  Only  the  fervour  of  his  zeal, 
and  the  power  of  recovery  from  exhaustion  due  to 
a  splendid  physique  which  marked  his  whole  life,  had 
enabled  him  to  visit  and  address  seventy-one  presby- 
teries and  synods  and  hundreds  of  congregations  all 
over  Scotland.     This  he  had  done  duriuo-  the  rie^ours 


^t.  31.  DRAWING    MEN    TO    INDIA.  34 1 

of  winter  and  tlie  heats  of  summer,  when  as  yet  the 
canal  boat,  the  stage-coach,  and  the  post-carriage  were 
the  most  rapid  means  of  conveyance.  Twice  he  had 
visited  Loudon  and  some  of  the  principal  cities  in 
England  on  the  same  mission.  But  that  mission  was 
not  merely  or  ultimately  the  establishment  of  associa- 
tions to  collect  money,  nor  even  the  diffusion  through 
the  Churches  of  a  missionary  spirit.  These  were  but 
means  to  the  great  end  of  discovering  and  sending 
out  men  of  the  highest  faith  and  scholarship  to  carry 
on  the  work  he  had  begun  in  Bengal,  to  extend  it  to 
Madras,  and  to  strengthen  Bombay.  For,  with  his 
delighted  concurrence,  the  General  Assembly  of  1835 
had  received  under  its  superintendence  the  Scottish 
Missionary  Society's  stations  in  Bombay  and  Poona, 
then  under  the  care  of  Dr.  Wilson,  Mr.  Nesbit  and 
Mr.  J.  Mitchell.  The  Kirk's  Bengal  Mission,  with  its 
one  missionary  of  1829-31,  must,  according  to  Dr. 
Duff,  grow  into  the  India  Mission,  to  christianize  the 
progress  which  was  radiating  out  from  all  the  great 
English  centres  in  the  East. 

Hence  the  most  real  and  fruitful  result  of  his  first 
Assembly  speech  and  of  those  which  followed  it,  in 
Scotland  and  in  England,  was  in  drawing  men  to  give 
themselves  to  India.  The  whole  religious  biography 
of  the  former  country  relating  to  that  period  is 
coloured  by  his  influence  or  bears  traces  of  his  per- 
suasive power.  We  have  already  told  how  his  early 
visit  to  the  London  presbytery  had  converted  the  Rev. 
John  Macdonald  from  an  opponent  of  his  system  into 
such  an  advocate  of  it  that  the  minister  of  Chadwell 
Street,  Pentonville,  threw  up  his  home  charge  and  took 
his  place  beside  ^lackay  and  Ewart  in  Calcutta.  Son 
of  that  Dr.  Macdonald  of  Ferintosh,  who  was  worthy 
of  the  name  he  bore,  of  *'  apostle  of  the  Highlands," 
John  Macdonald  published  a  "  Statement  of  Reasons 


342  LIFE    OF    DK.    DUFF.  1S37. 

for  AcceptiDg  a  Call  to  go  to  India  as  a  Missionary," 
wliicli,  as  followed  by  bis  self-sacrificing  life  thereafter, 
was  the  most  powerful  testimony  to  the  cause  Dr. 
Dujff  had  yet  called  forth.  No  one  can  give  more 
than  himself;  no  gift  to  any  cause  can  be  more 
precious  than  that  of  the  whole  spiritualised  nature 
of  a  man  who  is  in  earnest  to  the  death,  as  John 
Macdonald  proved  to  be.  In  Macdouald  Dr.  Duff 
early  saw,  and  found  for  the  ten  years  of  the  new 
missionary's  Indian  experience,  an  intense  spiritual 
force  to  give  increased  evangelistic  efiiciency  to 
the  Calcutta  college.  "  Your  special  and  peculiar 
vocation,"  he  wrote  to  his  new  colleague  before 
sending  him  forth,  "  would  bo  to  impart,  through  the 
blessing  of  God's  Spirit,  a  spiritual  impression  to  the 
minds  of  scores  that  have  already  become  dispossessed 
of  Hindooism,  as  well  as  to  preach  whenever  an  open- 
ing presented  itself,  to  adult  idolaters.  Our  plan  is 
now  so  extended  as  to  admit  of  a  division  of  labour." 
"We  have  seen  how  young  M'Cheyne  and  Somer- 
ville  were  moved  by  the  interview  which  they  sought 
with  the  returned  missionary.  Duff  never  lost  his 
hold  on  M'Cheyne,  who  soon  after  formed  one  of  the 
Church's  mission  of  inquiry  into  the  condition  of  the 
Jews  in  Palestine  and  Eastern  Europe.  In  April, 
1836,  the  saintly  young  preacher  wrote  in  his  jour- 
nal : — "  Went  to  Stirling  to  hear  Dr.  Duff  once  more 
upon  his  system.  AVith  greater  warmth  and  energy 
than  ever.  He  kindles  as  he  goes.  Felt  almost  con- 
strained to  go  the  whole  length  of  his  system  with 
him.  If  it  were  only  to  raise  up  an  audience  it  would 
be  defensible,  but  when  it  is  to  raise  up  teachers  it  is 
more  than  defensible.  I  am  now  made  willing,  if  God 
shall  open  the  way,  to  go  to  India.  '  Here  am  I ;  send 
me  r  "  His  biographer.  Dr.  A.  Bonar,  remarks  that 
"  the  missionary  feeling  in  M'Cheyne's  soul  continued 


^t.  31.  THE    MAN    WHO  BEAT  TAIT.  343 

all  his  life.  Must  there  not  be  somewhat  of  this 
missionary  tendency  in  all  true  ministers  ?  "  Yet  the 
only  one  of  the  M'Cheyne  band  who  practically 
answered  this  question,  besides  William  Burns,  of 
China,  was  John  Milne,  of  Perth,  who  was  afterwards 
for  a  few  years  Free  Church  minister  in  Calcutta. 
Macdonald's  resio^nation  of  a  home  charg:e  for  a  mis- 

o  o 

sionary's  apostolate  caused  so  much  excitement  as  to 
irritate  him  into  putting  the  question  to  the  degenerate 
Church — "  Why  is  not  such  an  event  commonplace  ?  " 
Edinburgh  and  St.  Andrews  had  sent  their  best 
students  to  the  field;  it  was  now  the  turn  of  Glasgow, 
which  had  been  doing  much  for  Kaffraria,  to  inquire. 
The  ripest  scholar  in  its  university  proved  to  be  the 
most  devoted  student  of  theology.  James  Halley,  A.B., 
was  the  favourite  disciple  of  Sir  Daniel  K.  Sandford, 
who,  having  imbued  him  with  the  very  spirit  of  a 
reverent  Hellenism,  introduced  him  to  the  Edinburgh 
Professor  of  Greek  as  "  the  man  who  beat  Tait,"  the 
present  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  He  promised  to 
be  the  ornament  of  his  university  and  of  the  Church, 
when  death  prematurely  closed  his  bright  career. 
What  he  was,  the  Rev.  William  Arnot's  little  memoir 
tells  us.  He  hurried  through  from  Glasgow,  with 
James  Hamilton,  afterwards  of  Regent  Square,  to 
hear  Duffs  speech  in  the  Assembly  of  1835,  and  ar- 
rived only  in  time  to  witness  its  effect.  He  describes 
it  as  "a  noble  burst  of  enthusiastic  appeal  which 
made  grey-headed  pastors  weep  like  children,  and 
dissolved  half  the  Assembly  in  tears."  The  im- 
mediate effect  on  him  was  seen  in  the  College  Mis- 
sionary Society,  of  which  he  was  president.  Address- 
ing Dr.  Macfarlan,  the  principal  of  the  University, 
and  Dr.  Duff  afterwards,  Mr.  Halley  sought  their 
encouragement  of  the  students'  missionary  aims.  The 
former  replied,  dechning  to  contribute  even  the  usual 


344  ^IF^    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1837. 

guinea,  warning  them  that  "  such  exertions  on  the 
part  of  the  students  are  premature  and  injudicious," 
and  thus  concluding :  "  I  trust  you  will  receive  this 
explanation  as  a  proof  at  once  of  my  deep  interest 
in  the  real  welfare  and  improvement  of  the  students 
attending  this  university,  and  of  the  personal  regard 
for  yourself."  We  are  not  parodying  the  words,  nor 
misrepresenting  the  acts  of  the  head  of  the  University 
of  Glasgow  in  the  year  1835.  Early  in  1837  Mr. 
Halley  received  from  Dr.  Duff  this  reply  : — 

"  PiTLOCHRiE,  7^/t  March,  1837. 

"  I  had  once  expected  to  have  been  able  to  meet 
your  association  in  person,  in  which  case  much  could 
be  advanced  that  cannot  well  be  committed  to  writing. 
But  it  was  a  constitution  shattered  beyond  hope  of 
recovery  in  a  tropical  clime  that  drove  me  from  the 
field  of  labour  ;  and  ever  since  my  arrival  in  my  native 
land  I  have  been  buffeting  with  the  dregs  of  tropical 
disease.  In  this  way,  rocked  by  discipline  and  cradled 
by  disappointment,  I  have  been  unable  to  overtake  a 
tithe  of  what  I  had  originally  proposed  to  myself. 
But  as  it  is  the  ordination  of  Heaven,  I  trust  I  have 
learned  to  submit  in  patient  resignation,  ever  ready  to 
adopt  the  language  of  my  Saviour  and  Redeemer — 
'  Even  so.  Father,  for  so  it  seemed  good  in  Thy  sight.' 

"  In  the  midst  of  the  thunder  of  clashing  interests 
and  the  lightning  of  angry  controversy  in  this  dis- 
tracted land,  how  sweet,  how  refreshing  to  the  soul 
to  enter  the  quiet  haven  of  devotion,  and  there  hold 
communion  with  the  great  I  Am,  and  the  Lamb  slain 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world,  and  the  Holy  Spirit 
that  enkindles  with  the  fervour  of  divine  love.  It  is 
tliis  feature  in  the  organization  of  your  society — 
effective  as  it  is  in  other  respects  also — that  inspires 
me  with   the   purest   joy.     An   alternate   meeting   is 


^t.  31.       GLASGOW  UNIVERSITY  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY.  345 

devoted,  you  saj,  to  Christian  fellowship,  j^rayer  and 
the  reading  of  missionary  intelligence.  God  be 
praised  who  has  put  it  into  your  hearts  to  unite  in 
such  hallowing  exercises.  If  such  meetings  were 
more  general  they  would  be  the  rallying  centres  of 
hope  to  a  divided  Church  and  a  bleeding  world. 

"  You  advert  to  tlie  chilling  influence  of  academic 
pursuits  on  the  growth  of  piety  in  the  soul.  Most 
keenly  have  I  felt  it  myself.  How  is  it  to  be  obvi- 
ated ?  By  constantly  falling  back  on  the  touching 
and  searching  simplicity  of  God's  own  word,  and 
constantly  besieging  a  throne  of  grace  with  the 
honest  effusions  of  a  heart  panting  and  thirsting  after 
the  love  of  God.  Without  the  unceasing  recurrence 
of  such  soul-reviving  exercises  I  have  learned,  from 
sad  experience  too,  that  even  religious  pursuits — 
whether  these  consist  in  replenishing  the  intellect 
with  divine  knowledge  or  in  the  multiplied  duties  of 
the  ministerial  office— that  even  such  pursuits  may 
drain  up  the  fountain-head  of  spiritual  vitality  and 
cause  the  plant  of  renown  in  the  soul,  for  a  season 
at  least,  to  droop  and  wither  and  decay. 

"  You  complain  of  indifference  to  religion  in  general 
and  missions  in  particular.  Oh,  it  is  this  indifference 
which  I  fear  may  eventually  prove  the  ruin  of  our 
land,  if  God  in  mercy  do  not  send  some  trumpet-peal 
to  rouse  us  from  our  lethargy  I  The  work  of  missions 
is  so  peculiarly  a  Christian  work  that  neither  its 
principles  nor  its  objects  can  be  rendered  perfectly 
intelligible  to  any  but  God's  own  children.  Indiffer- 
ence to  religion  in  general  must,  therefore,  produce 
indifference  to  the  missionary  cause.  These  are  re- 
lated as  an  antecedent  and  consequent,  as  cause  and 
effect.  If  the  souls  of  men  have  not  yet  been 
awakened  to  a  sense  of  sin  and  danger — if  they  have 
not  yet  been  sanctified,  they  cannot  be  su.-:ceptible  of 


346  LIFE   OF  DR.    DUFF.  1837. 

any  spiritual  impression  from  any  quarter  whatever. 
To  arrest  the  attention  of  such  persons  in  a 
vital  manner,  and  secure  their  sympathies  and  their 
exertions  in  behalf  of  the  perishing  heathen,  we  must 
first  arouse  them  to  a  lively  personal  concern  for  the 
salvation  of  their  own  souls." 

Another  who  was  then  a  youth  of  promise,  and  be- 
came the  founder  of  the  Edinburgh  Medical  Missionary 
Society,  if  not  of  Medical  Missions,  was  profoundly 
impressed.  We  find  Dr.  Coldstream,  who  had  just 
settled  in  Leith  as  a  physician,  thus  writing  in  1837 : 
"  The  missionary  sermon  and  lesson  of  yesterday,  by 
Dr.  Duff,  were  most  impressive.  I  have  no  words  to 
express  their  thrilling  effect.  .  .  I  think  I  never 
felt  so  strongly  the  delightful  influence  of  the  bond 
of  Christian  love.  The  very  spirit  of  love  seemed  to 
move  with  electric  fire  through  the  great  assembly, 
knitting  heart  to  heart,  and  kindling  sparks  of  holy 
zeal.  It  is  a  day  much  to  be  remembered."  When, 
thirteen  years  afterwards,  Dr.  Duff  publicly  referred 
to  a  series  of  lectures  on  Medical  Missions  published 
by  that  most  successful  society,  and  asked  "  when  will 
some  of  these  lecturers  set  the  example  of  devoting 
themselves  to  the  missionary  service  and  come  out  to 
India?"  as  has  since  been  done,  Dr.  Coldstream  re- 
plied, "  I  feel  as  if  you  had  put  the  question  to  me 
individually." 

The  report  of  the  speech  of  1835  found  its  way  to 
the  retreat,  near  Dumfries,  of  a  young  licentiate  of  the 
Kirk  whom  sickness  had  laid  aside.  John  Anderson 
had  passed  through  the  eight  years'  studies  of  the 
University  of  Edinburgh  the  first  man  of  his  set.  Like 
John  Wilson  at  an  earlier  time,  he  had  come  under  the 
influence  of  Dr.  Gordon,  who  to  his  labours  in  pulpit 
and  parish  added  the  duties  of  secretary  of  the  Foreign 
Missions  Committee.      Having   refused  the   office   of 


JEt.  31.  JOHN  ANDERSON   OF   MADRAS.  347 

assistant  to  a  minister,  John  Anderson  was  altogether 
despairing  of  health,  and  was  already  thirty-two,  when 
that  happened  which  he  himself  shall  describe — "  We 
well  remember  the  time  when,  on  his  return  from  India, 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Duff,  emaciated  by  disease  and  worn  out 
with  the  strenuous  exertions  of  the  first  five  years  of 
his  missionary  life,  delivered  his  first  speech  on  India 
Missions.  .  .  Its  statements  flew  like  lio^htnino: 
through  the  length  and  breadth  of  Scotland,  vibrated 
through  and  warmed  many  hearts  hitherto  cold  to 
missions,  and  tended  to  produce  unity  among  brethren 
standing  aloof  from  each  other.  Never  will  we  forget 
the  day  when  a  few  of  its  living  fragments  caught  our 
eye  in  a  newspaper  in  our  quiet  retreat  on  the  banks 
of  the  Nith,  near  Dumfries,  when  suffering  from  great 
bodily  weakness.  It  kindled  a  spirit  within  us  that 
raised  us  up  from  our  bed,  and  pointed  as  if  with  the 
finger  to  India  as  the  fold  of  our  future  labours." 
Already  had  Anderson,  as  a  tutor,  been  able  to  train 
men  like  John  Cowan,  Esq.,  of  Beeslack,  But  his 
indomitable  will  and  untiring  energy  were  now  called 
to  found  and  build  up  in  Madras  the  General  Assem- 
bly's Institution,  which  has  since  expanded  into  the 
great  catholic  Christian  College  of  Southern  India — • 
the  first  to  realize  Dr.  Duff's  ideal  of  a  united  coUeo^e 
representing  all  the  evangelical  churches.  Ordained  in 
St.  George's,  Edinburgh,  by  Dr.  Gordon,  Mr.  Ander- 
son visited  the  Calcutta  Mission  before  setting  up  his 
own  on  its  model,  and  was  soon  after  joined  by  such 
colleagues,  also  the  fruit  of  Duff's  appeals,  as  Messrs. 
Johnston  and  Braidwood  from  the  same  university. 
Aberdeen  at  the  same  time  joined  her  sister  colleges  in 
the  high  enterprise,  by  sending  Dr.  Murray  Mitchell  to 
Bombay.  The  harvest,  for  that  season,  was  finished 
by  another  missionary  from  Edinburgh,  the  Rev. 
Tbomas   Smith,  to  whose  ordination  we  shall  again 


348  LIFE    OP    DR.    DUFF.  1 83 7. 

refer.  The  opening  of  tlie  Central  India  Mission  in 
Nagpore,  a  few  years  after,  by  Stephen  Hislop,  com- 
pleted the  Indian  organization  of  the  missions  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland,  established  and  free.  All,  directly 
or  indirectly,  are  to  be  traced  to  the  living  seed  sown 
amid  so  much  weakness  but  yet  with  such  power  in 
1835-36. 

After  a  rest  at  Edradour,  all  too  short.  Dr.  Dufl' 
■went  up  to  London  at  the  beginning  of  May,  1837,  to 
take  part  in  the  anniversary  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land's Foreign  Missions,  held  by  the  London  Pres- 
bytery in  Exeter  Hall.  After  much  searching  we  have 
been  able  to  discover  in  an  old  volume  of  pamphlets 
of  the  period  a  copy  of  what  his  English  critics  have 
always  pronounced  by  far  the  most  eloquent  of  Dr. 
Duff's  speeches.  Though  weak,  he  was  no  longer  the* 
fever-wasted  man  who  had  excited  the  alarm  of  the 
Assembly  of  1835.  By  unrivalled  experience  in  both 
England  and  Scotland  he  had  learned  the  defects  of 
the  home  Churches  and  of  the  best  stay-at-home  Chris- 
tians in  relation  to  the  missionary  command  of  Christ. 
And  so,  as  he  mused  on  the  contrast  between  the  pro- 
fession and  the  reality,  as  he  listened  to  the  rhetorical 
periods  of  bishops  and  clergymen,  of  ministers  and 
professors  who  talked  but  did  nothing  more,  the  fire 
of  indignation  burned  forth  into  glowing  sarcasm. 
Nothing  short  of  a  reprint  of  the  twenty-five  pages  of 
that  rare  address  could  do  justice  to  this  vein  of  the 
impassioned  orator.  Severed  from  the  context,  without 
the  flashing  eye,  the  quivering  voice,  the  rapid  gesticu- 
lation, the  overwhelming  climax,  the  few  passages  we 
may  now  reproduce  seem  cold  and  formal  indeed. 
But  we  must  premise  the  orator's  own  explanation  of 
the  satire — "  These  expressions  are  in  allusion  to 
certain  tropes  and  figures  that  have  actually  flourished 
amid  the  exuberant  rhetoric  of  Exeter  Hall." 


^t.  31.  THE    RHETORIC    OP   EXETER    IfALL.  349 

Beginning,  in  tlie  highest  style  of  his  art,  as  Demos- 
thenes and  Cicero  and  Paul  before  Agrippa  had  done, 
this  modern  prophet,  sent  from  the  millions  of  Hin- 
dooism  to  the  very  centre  of  Christian  profession, 
congratulated  London,  and  especially  its  Scottish  resi- 
dents, on  the  reception  of  the  appeal  lately  sounded  in 
their  ears  "in  behalf  of  our  suffering  countrymen  in 
the  Highlands  and  islands  of  Scotland.  Nobly  and 
righteously,  and  in  a  way  worthy  of  the  wealthiest 
metropolis  in  the  world,  has  the  appeal  been  responded 
to.  But  why  is  it  that  we  should  be  affected  even 
unto  horror  at  the  melancholy  recital  of  mere  temporal 
destitution,  while  we  are  apt  to  remain  so  cold,  callous 
and  indifferent  to  the  call  of  spiritual  necessities  that 
is  rung  in  our  ears,  loud  as  the  ciy  of  perishing  multi- 
tudes which  no  man  can  number?"  Then  after  skil- 
fully picturing  the  horrors  of  famine  and  pestilence 
among  our  own  countrymen  and  within  the  narrow 
limits  of  our  island,  and  asking  if  imagination  could 
conceive  aught  more  harrowing,  he  replied  :  "  No  !  not 
to  the  natural  feeling,  even  although  such  a  death  is 
by  the  hands  of  a  mysterious  Providence.  To  the 
higher  order  of  spiritual  sensibility,  however,  some- 
thing may  be  presented  more  harrowing  still.  I 
know  a  land  where  earth,  sea  and  air  conspire  in 
favour  of  its  inhabitants — a  land  so  gorgeously  clad 
that  it  has  been  emphatically  styled  '  the  climes  of  the 
sun.'  And  truly  they  are  '  the  climes  of  the  sun  ; '  for 
there  he  seems  to  smile  with  exuberant  bounty,  and 
causes  all  nature  to  luxuriate  in  her  rich  magnificence. 
There  the  glowing  imagery  of  the  prophet  seems 
almost  literally  to  be  realized.  The  trees  of  the  forest 
seem  to  clap  their  hands,  and  the  valleys  seem  to 
rejoice  on  every  side.  All  bespeak  the  glories  of  a 
presiding  Deity  and  recall  to  remembrance  the  bowers 
of  Paradise.     But  oh  !  in  this  highly  favoured  land — 


S50  LIFE   OP    DR.    DUFF.  1 83  7. 

need  I  say  I  refer  to  India  ? — which  for  beauty  might 
be  the  garden  of  the  whole  earth,  and  for  plenteousness 
the  granary  of  the  nations, — in  this  highly  favoured 
land  children  are  doomed  to  see  their  parents  and 
parents  their  children  perish — perish,  not  because 
there  is  no  meat  in  the  field,  no  flocks  in  the  fold,  no 
cattle  in  the  stall,  but  because  they  are  goaded  on  by 
the  stimulants  of  a  diabolical  superstition  to  perish 
miserably  by  each  other's  hands." 

Then  followed  word-pictures  of  that  which  may 
still  be  seen  along  the  Hooghly — "  sons  and  daughters 
piously  consigning  a  sickly  parent,  for  the  benefit  of 
his  soul,  to  the  depths  of  a  watery  grave ; "  of  "  the 
putrid  corpse  of  the  father  and  the  living  body  of  the 
mother"  burning  together,  in  every  feudatory  state 
at  that  time,  and  only  in  1828  prohibited  in  the  Bast 
India  Company's  territory ;  of  the  sacrifice  of  children 
by  their  mothers  to  the  waters  of  Gunga  and  the  jaws 
of  the  alligator ;  and  of  the  systematic  murder  of 
female  infants  by  the  Rajpoot  castes  from  Benares  to 
Baroda.  Rising  from  one  scene  of  pitiful  horror  to 
another,  every  one  of  which  an  audience  even  of  1837 
knew  to  be  living  fact  and  not  old  history  as  we  now 
happily  do,  thanks  to  Missions  and  Christian  appeals, 
the  rapt  speaker  reached  the  highest  of  all  in  the 
spiritual  destitution  and  debasement  which  had  made 
such  crimes  inevitable;  and  in  the  means  which  he 
had  taken,  through  sacred  and  secular  truth  harmo- 
niously united,  to  give  India  a  new  future.  A  far- 
seeing  demand  for  pure  English  and  vernacular  liter- 
ature, beginning  with  "  the  Bible,  the  whole  Bible,  the 
unmutilated  Bible,  and  nothing  but  the  Bible,"  for 
those  whom  both  state  and  church  were  educating, 
brought  Dr.  Duff  to  the  practical  object  of  his  address 
— the  duty  of  every  Christian  man,  woman  and  child 
in  Great  Britain. 


^t.  31.      INDIGNANT  SATIRE  ON  THE  CHURCH  S  APATHY.       35  I 

"  Look  at  men's  acts  and  not  at  tlicir  words,  for  I  am  wearied 
and  disgusted  with  very  loathing  at  '  great  swelling  words  ' 
that  boil  and  bubble  into  foam  and  froth  on  tho  bosom  of  an 
impetuous  torrent  of  oratory  and  then  burst  into  airy  nothing- 
ness. Look  at  men^s  acts,  and  tell  me  what  language  do  they 
speak  ?  Is  it  in  very  deed  a  thing  so  mighty  for  one  of  your 
nobles  or  merchant  princes  to  rise  up  on  this  platform  and  pro- 
claim his  intense  anxiety  that  contributions  should  be  liberal, 
and  then  stimulate  those  around  him  by  the  noble,  or  rather 
ignoble,  example  of  embodying  his  irrepressible  anxiety  in  the 
magnificent  donation  of  £10,  £20,  or  £50  !  when,  at  the  very 
moment,  without  curtailing  any  of  the  real  necessaries  of  life, 
without  even  abridging  any  one  of  its  fictitious  comforts  or 
luxuries,  he  might  readily  consecrate  his  hundreds  or  thou- 
sands to  be  restored  more  than  a  hundred-fold  on  the  great 
day  of  final  recompense  ?  And  call  you  this  an  act  of  such 
prodigious  munificence  that  it  must  elicit  the  shouts  and  the 
paeans  of  an  entranced  multitude  ?  Call  you  this  an  act  of  such 
thrilling  disinterestedness  that  it  must  pierce  into  hearts  other- 
wise hermetically  sealed  against  the  imploring  cries  of  suffering 
humanity  ?  Call  you  this  an  act  of  such  self-sacrificing  gene- 
rosity that  it  must  be  registered  for  a  memorial  in  the  book  of 
God's  remembrance,  with  the  same  stamp  of  Divine  appi'obation 
as  that  bestowed  on  the  poor  widow  in  the  gospel,  who,  though 
she  gave  but  little,  gave  her  all  ? 

"And  is  it  in  very  deed  a  thing  so  mighty  for  a  Christian 
pastor,  whether  bishop,  priest  or  deacon,  or  any  member  of  a 
Church,  to  abandon  for  a  season  his  routine  of  duty,  and  once 
in  the  year  to  come  iip,  either  to  regale,  or  be  regaled,  with  the 
incense  of  human  applause  in  this  great  metropolis,  the  em- 
porium of  the  world's  commerce,  the  seat  of  the  world's 
mightiest  empire,  and  the  general  rendezvous  of  men  and 
things  unparalleled  in  all  the  world  besides  ?  Is  it  a  thing  so 
mighty  for  any  one  of  these  to  stand  up  on  this  platform,  and 
call  on  assembled  thousands  to  rise  to  their  true  elevation,  and 
acquit  themselves  like  men  in  the  cause  of  Him  who  rides  on 
the  whirlwind  and  directs  the  storm  ?  And,  dismissing  all 
ordinary  forms  and  figures  of  speech  as  tame  and  inadequate, 
is  it  an  act  so  heroic  to  stand  on  this  platform,  and  break  forth 
into  apostrophes,  that  ring  with  the  din  of  arms  and  the  shout 
of  battle  f     Is  it  an  act  so  heroic,  at  the  safe  distance   of  ten 


352  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1837. 

tliousand  miles,  courageously  to  summon  the  gates  of  Peking  to 
lift  up  their  heads,  and  its  barricades  and  ramparts  to  rencl 
asunder  at  the  presence  of  the  heralds  of  salvation  ?  and, 
impersonifying  the  celestial  empire  herself,  boldly  invoke  her 
to  send  up  without  delay  her  hundreds  of  millions  to  the  house 
of  the  Lord,  exalted  above  the  hills,  and  place  her  imperial 
crown  on  the  head  of  Him  on  Whose  head  shall  be  all  the 
crowns  of  the  earth,  and  the  diadem  of  the  universe  ? 

"  Or,  is  it  an  act  of  spiritual  prowess  so  mighty,  for  one  who 
never  joined  in  the  conflict,  to  stand  up  on  this  platform,  and 
I'ehearse  the  battles  that  have  been  fought  in  the  missionary 
field,  the  victories  that  have  been  obtained,  and  the  trophies 
that  have  been  won  ?  Is  it  an  achievement  of  never-dying 
fame  to  burst  into  rapture  at  the  unrivalled  honour  of  those 
brave  veterans  that  have  already  laid  down  their  lives  in  storm- 
ing the  citadels  of  heathenism  ?  Hark  !  here  are  a  few  blasts 
from  a  trumpet  that  has  often  pealed,  and  pealed  with  effect, 
at  our  great  anniversaries.  The  missionary's  life  ?  Ah  !  '  an 
archangel  would  come  down  from  the  throne,  if  he  might,  and 
feel  himself  honoured  to  give  up  the  felicities  of  heaven  for  a 
season  for  the  toils  of  a  missionary's  life.'  The  missionary's 
work  ?  Ah  !  ^  the  work  of  a  minister  at  home,  as  compared 
with  that  of  a  missionary,  is  but  the  lighting  of  a  parish  lamp, 
to  the  causing  the  sun  to  rise  upon  an  empire  that  is  yet  in 
darkness.'  The  missionary's  grave  ?  Ah  !  '  the  missionary's 
grave  is  far  more  honourable  than  the  minister's  pulpit.' 

''After  such  outpourings  of  fervent  zeal  and  burning  admir- 
ation of  valour,  would  ye  not  expect  that  the  limits  of  a  kingdom 
were  too  circumscribed  for  the  range  of  spirits  so  chivalrous  ? 
Would  ye  not  expect  that  intervening  oceans  and  continents 
could  oppose  no  barrier  to  their  resistless  career  ?  Would  ye 
not  expect  that,  as  chieftains  at  the  head  of  a  noble  army, 
numerous  as  the  phalanxes  that  erewhile  flew  from  tilt  and 
tournament  to  glitter  in  the  sunshine  of  the  Holy  Land,  they 
should  no  more  be  heard  of  till  they  make  known  their 
presence,  by  the  terror  of  their  power,  in  shattering  to  atoms 
the  towering  walls  of  China,  and  hoisting  in  triumph  the 
banners  of  the  Cross  over  the  captured  mosques  of  Araby  and 
prostrate  pagodas  of  India  ?  Alas,  alas !  what  shall  we  say, 
when  the  thunder  of  heroism  that  reverberates  so  sublimely 
over  our  heads  from  year  to  year  in  Exeter  Hall,  is  found,  in 


JEt  SI.  AN   APPEAL.  353 

changeless  succession,  to  die  away  in  fainter  and  yet  fainter 
echoes  among  the  hixurions  mansions,  the  snug  dwellings,  and 
goodly  parsonages  of  Old  England  ! 

''Listen  to  the  high-sounding  words  of  the  mightiest  of  our 
anniversary  than derers  on  this  platform,  and  would  ye  not  vow 
that  they  were  heroes,  with  whom  the  post  of  honour  was  the 
post  of  danger  ?  Look  at  the  astounding  contrast  of  their 
practice,  and  will  not  your  cheeks  redden  with  the  crimson 
Hush  of  shame,  to  find  that  they  are  cowards,  with  whom  the 
post  of  honour  is,  after  all,  the  post  of  safety  ?  Ye  venerated 
Withers  and  brethren  ill  the  ministry,  whom  I  now  see  around 
me,  of  every  denomination — to  you  I  appeal.  I  appeal  in  the 
spirit  of  faithfulness,  and  yet  in  the  spirit  of  love,  and  ask  : — 
Is  this  the  way  to  awake  the  long-slumbering  spirit  of  devoted- 
ness  throughout  the  land  ?  Is  this  the  kind  of  call  that  will 
arouse  the  dormant  energies  of  a  sluggish  Church  ?  Is  this 
the  kind  of  summons  that  will  cause  a  rush  of  champions  into 
the  field  of  danger  and  of  death  ?  Is  this  the  kind  of  example 
that  will  stimulate  a  thousand  Gutzlaffs  to  brave  the  horrors 
of  a  barbarous  shore  ? — that  will  incite  thousands  of  Martyns, 
and  of  Careys,  and  of  Morrisons,  to  arm  themselves  on  the 
consecrated  spots  where  these  foremost  warriors  fell  ?  I  know 
not  what  the  sentiments  of  this  great  audience  may  be  on  a 
subject  so  momentous  ;  but  as  for  myself,  I  cannot,  at  whatever 
risk  of  offence  to  friends,  and  of  ribaldry  from  enemies, — I  can- 
not, without  treason  to  my  God  and  Saviour, — I  cannot  but 
give  vent  to  the  overpowering  emotions  of  my  own  heart,  when, 
in  the  face  of  England,  Scotland  and  Ireland  I  exclaim,  '  Oh 
that  my  head  were  waters,  that  mine  eyes  were  a  fountain  of 
tears,  that  I  could  weep  over  the  fatal,  the  disastrous  incon- 
sistencies of  many  of  the  most  renowned  of  the  leaders  of  our 
people ! ' 

"  What,  then,  is  to  be  done  ?  How  are  the  gigantic  evils 
complained  of  to  be  efficiently  remedied  ?  Never,  never,  till 
the  leading  members  of  our  Churches  be  shamed  out  of  their 
lavish  extravagance  in  conforming  to  the  fashion  of  a  world 
that  is  so  soon  to  pass  away,  and  out  of  their  close-fisted  penu- 
riousness  as  regards  all  claims  that  concern  the  eternal  destinies 
of  their  fellows.  Never,  never,  till  the  angels  of  our  Churches, 
whether  ordinary  pastors  or  superintending  bishops,  be  shamed 
out  of  their  sloth,  their  treachery  and  their  cowardice    For, 

A    A 


354  ^^^^    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1837. 

rest  assured,  tliat  people  would  get  weary  of  the  sound  of  the 
demand  '  Give,  give/  that  is  eternally  reiterated  in  their  ears, 
when  those  who  make  it  so  seldom  give,  or,  what  is  the  same 
thincy,  give  in  such  scanty  driblets  that  it  seems  a  mockery  of 
their  own  expostulations, — and  of  the  sound  of  the  command 
'  Go,  go,'  when  those  who  make  it,  are  themselves  so  seldom 
found  willing  to  go  ! 

"  How,  theuj  is  the  remedy  to  be  effected  ?  Not,  believe  me, 
by  periodical  showers  of  words,  however  copious,  which  fall 
'like  snow-flakes  in  the  river, — a  moment  white,  then  gone 
for  ever.'  No  ;  but  by  thousands  of  deeds  that  shall  cause 
the  very  scoffer  to  wonder,  even  if  he  should  wonder  and 
perish — deeds  that  shall  enkindle  into  a  blaze  the  smouldering 
embers  of  Christian  love — deeds  that  shall  revive  the  days  of 
primitive  devotedness,  when  men,  valiant  for  the  truth,  de- 
spised earthly  riches,  and  conquered  through  sufferings,  not 
counting  their  lives  dear  unto  the  death." 

"  Archangels,"  he  said,  "  cannot  leave  their  thrones ; 
but  where  are  the  learned  and  the  eloquent,  the 
statesmen  and  the  nobles, — where  is  one  of  our  loud- 
talking  professors  ready  to  do  more  than  shrivel 
their  little  services  into  the  wretched  inanity  of  an 
occasional  sermon,  or  a  speech,  easily  pronounced  and 
calling  for  no  sacrifice  ?  .  .  What !  expect  one  and 
all  of  these  to  descend  from  their  eminences  of  honour 
and  go  forth  themselves  content  with  the  humble 
fare  and  arrayed  in  the  humble  attire  of  self-denying 
missionaries  ?  Is  not  this  the  very  climax  of  religious 
raving  ?  Gracious  God !  and  is  it  really  so  ?  .  . 
Are  we  in  sober  seriousness  determined  to  contract 
the  calculus  of  eternity  within  the  narrow  dimensions 
of  the  arithmetic  of  time  ?  Do  I  now  stand  in  an 
assembly  of  professing  Christians  ?"  Then  the  sacred 
orator,  turning  from  sarcasm  and  irony,  from  reproach 
and  prophetic  ridicule,  thus  closed  with  his  entranced 
audience  in  the  presence  of  Him  who  gave  Himself: — 

"  With  deep  solemnity  of  feeling   let  me  ask : — '  Who  is 


^t.  31.  MISSIONS    IN    THE    LIGHT   OF    CIIlilST.  355 

this  that  Cometh,  fi'om  Edom,  with  dyed  garments  from 
Bozrah  ? '  It  is  the  Man  who  is  Jehovah's  fellow.  It  is 
Immanuel,  God  with  us.  But  who  can  portray  the  underived, 
the  incomparable  excellencies  of  Him,  in  whom  dwelt  all  the 
fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily  ?  In  this  contemplation  we  are 
at  once  lost  in  an  immeasurable  ocean  of  overpowering  glory. 
Imagination  is  bewildered ;  language  fails.  Go  take  a  survey 
of  the  earth  wo  dwell  upon.  Collect  every  object  and  every 
quality  that  has  been  pronounced  fair,  sweet,  or  lovely.  Com- 
bine these  into  one  resplendent  orb  of  beauty.  Then  leave 
the  bounds  of  earth.  Wing  your  flight  through  the  fields  of 
immensity.  In  your  progress  collect  what  is  fair  and  lovely 
in  every  world,  what  is  bright  and  dazzling  in  every  sun. 
Combine  these  into  other  orbs  of  surpassing  brightness,  and 
thus  continue  to  swell  the  number  of  magnificent  aggregates, 
till  the  whole  immense  extent  of  creation  is  exhausted.  And 
after  having  united  these  myriads  of  bright  orbs  into  one 
glorious  constellation,  combining  in  itself  the  concentrated 
beauty  and  loveliness  of  the  whole  created  universe,  go  and 
compare  an  atom  to  a  world,  a  drop  to  the  ocean,  the  twink- 
ling of  a  taper  to  the  full  blaze  of  the  noon-tide  sun  ; — then 
may  you  compare  even  this  all-comprehending  constellation  of 
beauty  and  loveliness  with  the  boundless,  the  ineffable  beauty 
and  excellence  of  Ilim  who  is  '  the  brightness  of  the  Father's 
glory,'  who  is  '  God  over  all,  blessed  for  ever  ! ' 

"  And  yet  wondei*,  0  heavens,  and  rejoice,  O  earth ;  this 
great,  and  mighty,  and  glorious  Being  did  for  our  sakes  con- 
descend to  veil  His  glory,  and  appear  on  earth  as  a  Man  of 
sorrows,  whose  visage  was  so  marred  more  than  any  man's, 
and  His  form  more  than  the  sons  of  men.  Oh,  is  not  this 
love  ! — self-sacrificing  love  ! — ^love  that  is  '  higher  than  the 
heights  above,  deeper  than  the  depths  beneath'  ?  Oh,  is  not 
this  condescension  ! — self-sacrificing  condescension  ! — conde- 
scension without  a  parallel  and  without  a  name  ?  God  manifest 
in  the  flesh  !  God  manifest  in  the  flesh  for  the  redemption  of 
a  rebel  race !  Oh,  is  not  this  the  wonder  of  a  world  ?  Is 
not  this  the  astonishment  of  a  universe  ? 

"  And,  in  the  view  of  love  so  ineffable  and  condescension 
so  unfathomable,  tell  me,  oh  tell  me,  if  it  would  seem  aught 
BO  strange — I  will  not  say  in  the  eye  of  poor,  dim,  beclouded 
humanity — but   in    the   eye   of    that    celestial   hierarchy  that 


35^  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1837. 

caused  heaven's  arclies  to  ring  with  anthems  of  adoring 
wonder  when  they  beheld  the  brightness  of  the  Father's  glory 
go  forth  eclipsed,  mysteriously  to  sojourn  on  earth  and  tread 
the  winepress  alone,  red  in  His  apparel  and  His  garments  dyed 
in  blood  ?  Tell  me,  ob,  tell  me,  if  in  their  cloudless  vision 
it  would  seem  aught  so  marvellous,  so  passing  strange,  did 
they  behold  the  greatest  and  the  mightiest  of  a  guilty  race, 
redeemed  themselves  at  so  vast  a  price,  cheerfully  prepared  to 
relinquish  their  highest  honours  and  fairest  possessions^  their 
loveliest  academic  bowers  and  stateliest  palaces  ;  yea,  did  they 
behold  Royalty  itself  retire  and  cast  aside  its  robes  of  purple, 
its  sceptre  and  its  diadem,  and  issue  forth  in  the  footsteps  of 
the  Divine  Redeemer  into  the  waste  howling  wilderness  of  sin, 
to  seek  and  to  save  them  that  are  lost  ? 

"  Ye  grovelling  sons  of  earth,  call  this  fanaticism  if  you 
will;  brand  it  as  wild  enthusiasm ; — I  care  not  for  the  verdict. 
From  you  I  appeal  to  the  glorious  sons  of  light,  and  ask, 
Was  not  this,  in  principle,  the  very  enthusiasm  of  patriarchs, 
who  rejoiced  to  see  the  day  of  Christ  afar  off,  and  were  glad  ? 
Was  not  this  the  enthusiasm  of  prophets,  whose  harps,  in- 
spired by  the  mighty  theme,  were  raised  into  strains  of  more 
than  earthly  grandeur?  Was  not  this  the  enthusiasm  of 
angels  that  made  the  plains  of  Bethlehem  ring  with  the 
jubilee  of  peace  on  earth  and  goodwill  to  the  children  of  men  ? 
Was  not  this  the  enthusiasm  (with  reverence  be  it  spoken)  of 
the  eternal  Son  of  God  Himself,  when  He  came  forth  travailing 
in  the  greatness  of  His  strength,  to  endure  the  agony  and 
bloody  sweat  ?  And  if  this  be  enthusiasm  that  is  kindled  by 
no  earthly  fire,  and  which,  when  once  kindled,  burns  without 
being  consumed,  how  must  the  hopes  of  the  Church  lie  sleep- 
ing in  the  tomb,  where  it  does  not  exist  ?  Oh  !  until  a  larger 
measure  of  this  divine  enthusiasm  be  diffused  through  the 
Churches  of  Christendom,  never,  never  need  we  expect  to 
realize  the  reign  of  millennial  glory — when  all  nature  shall 
once  more  be  seen  glowiug  in  the  first  bloom  of  Eden ;  when 
one  bond  shall  unite  and  one  feeling  animate  all  nations ;  when 
all  kindreds  and  tribes  and  tongues  and  people  shall  combine 
in  one  song,  one  universal  shout  of  grateful  '  Hallelujah  unto 
Him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  to  the  Lamb  for  ever 
and  ever ! ' " 


^t  31.  VINDICATION   OF   HIS   SYSTEM.  357 

We  have  not  met  with  a  record  of  the  effect  of  tliis 
denunciation  and  appeal,  any  more  than  with  a  report 
of  that  which  Dr.  Duff  had  uttered  in  the  same  hall 
in  the  previous  year  at  the  anniversary  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society.  But  we  know  that  the  Rev.  John 
Macdonald  had  ejiven  himself  to  the  mission  as  the 
result  of  Dr.  Duff's  earliest  visit  of  all,  in  1835 ;  and 
money  at  least  was  not  stinted,  for  it  was  announced 
to  the  Assembly  hold  a  few  weeks  after  that  £700 
had  been  sent  as  the  result  of  that  meeting. 

The  General  Assembly  of  1837  is  memorable  in 
ecclesiastical  annals  for  the  happily  rare  event  of  a 
contest  regarding  the  moderatorship.  It  is  of  interest 
here  because  of  Dr.  Duff's  "  Vindication  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland's  India  Missions,"  in  reply  to  the  mis- 
understandings and  misrepresentations  which  had 
arisen  out  of  his  speech  of  1835,  to  which,  as  an 
oratorical  effort,  it  coraes  only  second.  The  local 
reporters  wrote :  "  This  eloquent  address  produced, 
amidst  the  profound  silence  with  which  it  was  listened 
to,  occasional  bursts  of  enthusiasm  which  were  irre- 
pressible ;  and  the  peroration  at  its  close  called  forth 
an  expression  of  emotion  in  the  Assembly  such  as  we 
have  rarely  witnessed."  The  Assembly  ordered  its 
publication.  Led  by  Dr.  Muir,  of  Glasgow,  in  united 
prayer  the  members  returned  thanks  to  God  for  pre- 
serving the  health  and  life  of  their  dear  brother,  Dr. 
Duff.  The  "  Vindication  "  has  a  value  which  is  more 
than  historical,  from  the  demand  that  the  Church 
should  send  out  its  most  highly  educated  ministers 
and  ablest  preachers  as  missionaries  to  races  like  the 
Hindoos,  and  from  this  still  necessary  answer  to  the 
ignorant  and  the  malevolent : — 

*'  Let  it  never  be  forgotten  that,  as  the  Government  schemes 
of  education  uniformly  exclude  religious  instruction^  this  may 
onlj  be  a  chauge  from  a  stagnant  superstition  to  a  rampant 


358  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1837. 

infidelity.  Wliat  then  is  to  be  done  ?  Are  tlie  Cliristians  of 
Great  Britain  to  stand  idly  aloof  and  view  tte  onward 
march  of  the  spirit  of  innovation  in  the  East  as  unconcerned 
and  indifferent  spectators  ?  Forbid  it,  gracious  Heaven ! 
What  then  is  to  be  done  ?  Why,  if  we  are  faithful  to  our 
trust,  and  wise  in  time,  we  may,  through  the  blessing  of  God, 
be  honoured  iu  converting  the  education  plans  of  the  Indian 
Goverument  into  auxiliaries,  that  may  lend  their  aid  in  pre- 
paring the  way  for  the  spread  of  the  everlasting  gospel ! 
Wherever  a  Government  seminary  is  founded,  which  shall 
have  the  effect  of  demolishing  idolatry  and  superstition,  and 
thereby  clearing  away  a  huge  mass  of  rubbish;  there  let  U3 
be  prepared  to  plant  a  Christian  institution,  that  shall,  through 
the  blessing  of  Heaven,  be  the  instrument  of  rearing  the 
beauteous  superstructure  of  Christianity  on  the  ruins  of  all 
false  philosophy  and  false  religion.  Wherever  a  Government 
library  is  established,  that  shall  have  the  effect  of  creating  an 
insatiable  thirst  for  knowledge;  tliere  let  us  be  forward  in 
establishing  our  depositories  of  Bibles  and  other  religious 
publications,  that  may  saturate  the  expanding  minds  of  Indian 
youth  with  the  life-giving  principles  of  eternal  truth.  And 
who  can  tell  whether,  in  this  way,  by  *  redeeming  the  time ' — 
by  seizing  the  present  golden  opportunity — we  may  not  be 
privileged  to  behold  all  the  Government  schemes  of  educa- 
tional improvement  in  India  overruled  by  a  gracious  superin- 
tending Providence  for  the  ultimate  introduction  of  Messiah's 
reign  ? 

"  From  having  formerly  said  so  much  on  the  power  of  useful 
knowledge  in  destroying  the  systems  of  Hindooism,  it  has  been 
strangely  concluded  by  some  that  our  object  has  been  to 
reform  the  natives  of  India  by  means  of  '  knowledge  without 
religion.''  Need  I  say  that  no  conclusion  could  possibly  bo 
more  unfounded  ?  It  is,  indeed,  most  true  that,  for  reasons 
which  have  more  than  satisfied  many  of  the  wisest  and  most 
devoted  Christians  in  this  land,  I  have,  with  uniform  and 
persevering  earnestness,  advocated  the  universal  diffusion  of 
sound  knowledge  in  India.  Not  contented  with  seeing  such 
knowledge  ooze  out  in  scanty  drippings,  I  have  toiled  and 
laboured,  in  conjunction  with  others,  to  pour  it  out  in  copious 
streams  that  may,  one  day,  cover  the  whole  land  with  the 
swelling   tide   of    reason    aud    intelligence.     This,   however, 


^t.  31.   ins  ALI.IAXCE  OF  RELIGION  WITH  KNOWLEDGE.        359 

happens  to  be  only  one-half  oi  any  statement  that  I  have  ever, 
anywhere,  made  on  the  subject.  And  what  right  has  any  one, 
in  reason  or  in  justice,  to  fasten  on  one-half  of  a  statement, 
and  deal  with  that  half  as  if  it  were  the  whole  ?  Strongly  and 
sincerely  as  I  have  pled  for  the  diffusion  of  sound  general 
knowledge  in  India,  have  I  not,  on  every  occasion,  insisted 
as  strongly  on  the  contemporaneous  dilFusion  of  religious 
truth  ?  Have  I  not  even  laboured  to  demonstrate  that,  for  the 
best  interests  of  man  in  time  and  eternity,  the  former  should 
ever  be  based  on  the  latter — pervaded  with  the  spirit  of  it 
throughout  and  made  to  terminate  in  its  exaltation  and 
supremacy  ?  Have  I  not  ever  contended  for  the  holy  and 
inseparable  alliance  of  both  ? — for  the  reciprocal  inter-blending 
of  their  different,  though  not  uncongenial,  iufluences  ?  And 
if  one  or  other  must  have  the  precedency,  either  as  respects 
priority  of  time  or  dignity  of  position,  in  the  mighty  work  of 
regenerating  a  corrupt  world ;  in  the  name  of  all  that  is 
reverend  and  just,  let  that  be  selected  for  the  honour  which, 
by  inherent  superiority  and  excellence  of  nature,  is  pre- 
eminently entitled  to  it. 

"  Without  '  useful  knowledge  '  man  might  not  live  so  com- 
fortably in  time  :  without  '  divine  knowledge  '  eternity  must 
be  lost.  How  then  could  the  missionaries  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland — the  missionaries  of  a  Church  first  loosened  from 
Popery  by  the  Wisharts  and  Hamiltons,  subsequently  estab- 
lished by  the  Knoxes  and  INIelvilles,  and  onwards  perpetuated 
by  the  Rutherfords  and  Halyburtons — how  could  we  dare  to 
sacrifice,  at  the  shrine  of  a  spurious  liberality,  that  highest  and 
sublimest  knowledge,  whose  ennobling  truths  many  of  these 
worthies  so  heroically  died  to  testify  ?  Or,  if  we  dared  thus  to 
act  the  part  of  degenerate  children,  how  could  we  abide  the 
piercing  glance  of  rebuke  which  they  would  cast  upon  us,  if 
recalled  from  the  realms  of  day  to  witness  our  treacherous 
cowardice  ?  And  how  might  we  not  feel,  even  now,  as  if  their 
very  ashes  would  speak  out  of  the  tomb,  and  their  blood  from 
under  the  altar  cry  out  against  us  !  Such,  indeed,  and  so 
strong,  are  my  own  convictions  of  the  vast  importance  of 
useful  knowledge  in  the  great  work  of  reforming  India,  thab 
wei'B  this  venerable  house  to  forbid  the  diffusion  of  it  in 
connection  with  its  own  mission,  I,  for  one,  would  feel  myself, 
however   reluctantly,    constrained   at   once   to    relinquish  the 


o 


60  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1837. 


honourable  position  whicb  it  has  been  pleased  to  assign  to  me. 
But  such,  and  so  overwhelming,  are  my  convictions  of  the 
immeasurably  superior  importance  of  that  higher  knowledge, 
which  unseals  the  fountain  of  Iramanuel's  love,  that — sooner 
than  consent  wilfully  to  withhold  it  for  an  hour  from  the 
famishing  millions  of  India,  or  of  any  other  land,  in  deference 
to  the  noxious  theories  of  certain  propagandists  of  the  present 
day — I  would  lay  down  my  head  upon  the  block,  or  commit 
this  body  to  the  flames  ! 

"  I  feel  assured,  however,  that,  so  far  as  this  house  is  con- 
cerned, it  will  never  fall  into  either  of  these  extremes.  Not- 
withstanding the  charges  of  religious  bigotry  that  have  been 
so  profusely  heaped  upon  it,  this  house,  like  its  noble  reform- 
ing ancestry,  has  been,  is  now,  and,  I  trust,  ever  will  be,  the 
consistent,  the  enlightened  advocate  of  all  really  useful  know- 
ledge throughout  the  wide  domain  of  families,  schools  and 
colleges,  whether  in  this  or  in  other  lands.  And,  notwith- 
standing the  charges  of  secular  convergency  that  have  been  as 
abundantly  levelled  at  it,  this  house,  like  its  noble  reforming 
ancestry,  has  been,  is  now,  and,  I  trust,  ever  will  be,  the 
intrepid,  the  unbending  advocate  of  a  thorough  Bible  instruc- 
tion, as  an  essential  ingredient  in  all  sound  education,  whether 
on  the  banks  of  the  Forth  or  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges. 
Yea,  may  I  not  be  permitted  with  emphasis  to  add,  that,  sooner 
than  consent  to  surrender  this  vital  principle,  which  is  one 
of  the  main  pillars  in  the  palladium  of  the  Protestantism  of 
these  realms,  this  house  is  pi'epared,  as  in  times  of  old,  to 
submit  to  dissolution  by  the  strong  arm  of  violence  ? — and  its 
members,  like  their  fathers  of  the  Covenant,  prepared  once 
more  to  betake  theinselves  to  the  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth 
— to  wander  by  the  lonely  shore  or  over  the  desert  heath, 
to  climb  the  mountain-steep  for  refuge,  or  secretly  assemble  to 
worship  in  '  some  deep  dell  by  rocks  o'ercanopied '  ? 

"Let  it,  then,  ever  be  our  distinguishing  glory  to  arbitrate 
between  the  advocates  of  untenable  extremes.  Let  us,  on  the 
one  hand,  disown  the  bigotry  of  an  unwise  pietism,  by  re- 
solving to  patronise  to  the  utmost,  as  in  times  past,  the  cause 
of  sound  literature  and  science — lest,  by  our  negligence,  in 
this  respect  we  help  to  revive  the  fatal  dogma  of  J;he  dark 
ages,  that  what  is  philosophically  true  may  yet  be  allowed  to 
be   theologically  false.     And  let  us^  on    the  other  hand,  de- 


^t.  31.   EXTREMES  OF  INFIDELITY  AND  UNWISE  PIETISM.      36  1 

nounce  the  bigotry  of  infidelity,  or  religious  indifference,  by 
resolving  to  uphold  the  paramount  importance  of  the  sacred 
oracles,  in  the  great  work  of  christianizing  and  civilizing  a 
guilty  world.  Let  us  thus  hail  true  literature  and  true  science 
as  our  very  best  auxiliaries — whether  in  Scotland,  or  in  India, 
or  in  any  other  quarter  of  the  habitable  globe.  But,  in 
receiving  these  as  friendly  allies  into  our  sacred  territory,  let 
us  resolutely  determine  that  they  shall  never,  never,  be  allowed 
to  usurp  the  thi-one,  and  wield  a  tyrant's  sceptre  over  it.'* 

The  foresight  and  the  faith,  the  culture  and  the 
self-sacrifice  of  that  passage,  reveal  the  height  and 
the  breadth  of  the  speaker's  Christian  statesmanship. 
Every  year  since  he  spoke  it  has  only  given  new  force 
to  its  truth,  new  reason  for  regret  that  the  Church 
and  the  Government  alike  were  not  wise  in  time  to 
seize  the  golden  opportunity.  Even  Lord  William 
Bentinck's  Government  had  refused  the  Mission  College 
a  grant-in-aid  in  recognition  of  the  secular  instruction 
it  gave,  lest  the  Company,  which  was  a  partner  with 
the  priests  of  Jugganath  in  their  gains  from  the 
deluded  pilgrims,  and  which  ordered  its  Christian 
officers  and  Muhammadan  sepoys  to  salute  the  ele- 
phant-headed, pot-bellied  idol  Gunputty,  should  hurt 
the  religious  feelings  of  the  natives.  The  Mutiny 
came,  and  brought  the  catholic  universities  with  it. 
The  Mutiny  passed — but  at  what  a  price  ?  In  vain, 
to  this  hour,  by  gagging  the  press  and  imprisoning 
libellous  or  treasonable  editors,  does  the  Government 
try  to  undo  the  evil  effects  of  the  undiluted  and  rigid 
secularism  of  its  schools  and  colleges.  It  goes  on 
sowing  the  wind  as  no  other  Government  on  earth 
does  or  in  history  has  ever  done.  Woe  to  India 
and  to  the  Church — to  the  three  Churches  of  Scotland 
especially  which,  in  Duff  and  Wilson,  and  now  in  Dr. 
Shoolbred,  have  been  honoured  to  lead  the  way — if 
this  warning  is  forgotten  ! 


362  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUir.  1837. 

Dr.  Daff  went  further.  The  spiritual  reformation 
of  the  varied  peoples  of  India  he  saw  must  be  effected 
by  themselves  when  foreigners  had  thus  handed  on 
the  divine  torch  to  "  the  Luthers  and  the  Calvins  and 
the  Knoxes  of  Hindostan  " : — 

^'Our  objectj  therefore,  is  not  local  or  partial^  individual  op 
temporary.  It  is  vast  and  all-comprehensive.  It  is  nothing 
less  than  intellectually  and  spiritually  to  reform  the  universal 
mind  of  India ;  and  not  merely  so,  but  to  embody  the 
essential  spirit  of  the  reformation  in  improved  institutions, 
that  shall  perpetuate  its  blessings  to  latest  ages.  But,  has  it 
ever  been  heard  of,  that  a  great  and  permanent  reformation, 
in  any  land,  has  been  the  work  of  a  day,  or  a  year,  or  even  a 
single  age  ?  Never,  never.  A  great  reformation  is  not  merely 
the  pregnant  cause  of  innumerable  happy  effects : — It  is  Itself 
but  the  aggregate  effect  of  innumerable  predisposing  causes, 
that  may  have  been  accumulating  for  centui'Ies,  ere  they 
became  ripe  for  explosion.  Viewed  in  this  respect,  the  Re- 
formation of  Luther  has  been  well  compared  to  the  rapids  of 
a  river,  in  its  precipitous  passage  from  some  mountain  range 
to  the  level  plains  below.  Now,  for  India  we  not  only  con- 
template a  religious  reformation,  as  effective  as  that  of  Luther 
in  Europe,  but  a  reformation  still  more  pervasive,  and  more 
thoroughly  national. 

''As  yet,  however,  we  are  only  defiling  among  the  wild, 
upland,  and  mountain  ranges  of  Hindooism,  with  its  bleak 
wastes  of  fable,  its  arid  knolls  of  prejudice,  its  frowning 
crags  of  superstition,  its  towering  eminences  of  idolatry. 
But  already,  blessed  be  God,  after  the  long  dark  night  of 
forty  centuries,  has  the  Sun  of  righteousness  begun  to  gild 
the  Eastern  horizon.  Already  are  His  earliest  beams  seen 
reflected  from  the  frozen  summits.  Already  are  there  drop- 
pings of  truth  on  many  a  rocky  heart.  Already  are  there 
under- currents  of  inquiry,  that  shall  one  day  emerge  from  the 
hidden  recesses  of  individual  minds.  Already  are  there  evan- 
gelical founts  that  send  forth  their  little  rills  of  saving  know- 
ledge. Already  are  the  clouds  fast  gathering,  surcharged 
with  the  waters  of  salvation,  and  ready  to  pour  down  their 
copious  showers.     And  soon   may  the   swollen  bi'ooks  unite 


^t.  31.         HE  CONFIDE^NTLY  APPEALS  TO  POSTERITY.  363 

into  rivers,  and  rivers  into  a  mighty  stream  of  quickeniug 
influences.  For  some  years  more,  the  mrghty  stream  itself 
may  continue  to  flow  on  through  comparatively  barren  and 
unanimated  solitudes.  At  length,  impatient  of  restraint,  it 
must  burst  its  accustomed  boundaries,  and,  dashing  headlong, 
in  the  foam  and  thunder  of  a  cataract  of  reformation,  it 
will  gently  glide  into  the  peaceful  under-vale  of  time.  There 
it  shall  roll  on  in  its  majestic  course,  overspreading  its  banks 
with  the  verdure  of  righteousness,  and  pouring  the  fertility 
of  paradise  into  its  pastures  of  gospel  grace,  till  it  finally 
disa])pear  and  is  lost  in  the  shoreless  ocean  of  eternity  ! 

"  Persuaded,  as  I  feel,  that  such  is  our  present  position 
among  the  incipient  processes  that  shall,  in  due  time,  unite 
and  issue  in  so  glorious  a  consummation,  I,  for  one,  am  cheer- 
fully willing  to  toil  on,  for  years,  in  feeding,  if  it  be  but  one 
of  the  little  rills  of  awakening  influence, — though  I  should 
never  live  to  behold  their  confluence  into  the  mighty  stream 
of  sequences,  with  its  rushing  cataract,  and  waving  harvest 
gladdening  its  after-course.  And,  as  regards  the  ultimate 
realization  of  the  magnificent  prospect,  I  would,  even  on  a 
dying  pillow,  from  a  whole  generation  of  doubters  confidently 
appeal  to  posterity." 

We  have  seen  liow  of  bis  first  four  converts  three 
Lad  become  teachers,  and  were  soon  to  become 
preachers  of  the  gospel,  but  under  the  Church  of 
England,  the  London  and  the  American  Missionary- 
Societies,  because  the  Church  of  Scotland  was  not 
prepared  to  send  forth  the  young  evangelists  in  her 
own  name.  Dr.  Bryce,  who  had  retired  from  the 
ecclesiastical  service  in  Bengal,  rose  in  the  General 
Assembly  "  after  the  heart-stirring  and  transcendently 
eloquent  speech  "  o£  Dr.  Duff,  to  tell  its  members  how 
something  at  least  was  to  be  done  to  remedy  this  for 
the  future.  The  Assembly  of  1834  had  created  three 
presbyterial  bodies  at  Calcutta,  Bombay  and  Madras, 
which  united  in  sending  representatives  to  the  central 
and  highest  court.  These  bodies  drew  up  a  course  of 
study  to  be  followed  by  converts  who  sought  to  be 


364  LIFE   OF   DR.    DUFF.  1838. 

licensed  preachers  and  ultimately  ordained  missionaries 
to  their  countrymen.  In  attempting  to  fix  this  course, 
said  Dr.  Bryce,  "  the  presbytery  felt  that  a  very 
great  latitude  must  be  held  as  allowed  to  them,  alone 
acquainted  as  they  could  be  with  local  circumstances. 
But  of  this  latitude  they  felt  disinclined  to  avail 
themselves  beyond  the  necessity  of  the  case,  and 
after  the  most  mature  deliberation  given  to  the  sub- 
ject, they  determined  to  follow  generally  as  a  model, 
and  as  far  as  practicable,  the  course  pursued  at  our 
Divinity  halls  at  home."  We  do  not  know  how  far 
this  decision  would  have  been  modified  had  Dr.  Duff 
been  in  Calcutta,  although  his  letter  at  page  281  seems 
to  imply  that  he  would  have  followed  the  Scottish 
model  less  slavishly.  While  we  admire  the  determi- 
nation to  secure  a  learned  as  well  as  godly  native 
ministry,  shown  in  the  rule  which  compels  Bengalee, 
Marathee,  Goojaratee,  Tamul,  and  even  simple  Son- 
thalee  converts  to  pass  a  satisfactory  examination  in 
Hebrew,  Greek  and  Latin,  and  to  sign  the  historical 
documents  of  the  Scottish  Churches  before  being 
licensed  to  preach,  we  are  compelled  by  hard  facts 
as  well  as  common  sense  to  ask  if  it  is  thus  we  shall 
raise  or  equip  native  Luthers.  Is  it  a  Christian 
Nanuk  or  a  Hindoo  Calvin  that  India  needs  ?  As  the 
story  of  the  mission  goes  on  we  shall  meet  with  able 
Bengalee  converts,  made  preachers  and  missionaries 
because  they  have  satisfied  the  presbytery  according 
to  Dr.  Bryce's  still  enforced  "  course  of  study."  But 
financially  as  well  as  ecclesiastically  and  even  spirit- 
ually, this  parody  of  Western  theological  training  has 
worked  so  badly  that  the  three  Scottish  Churches 
have  been  asked  by  their  missionaries  to  sanction 
an  evangelical  course  and  creed  more  like  those  of 
the  Apostles  and  the  Church  at  Antioch,  and  not 
less   thorough  and  pure  than  those   of   covenanting, 


^i:t.  32.  BEST   AT   EDRADODE.  365 

rauch-sufferiug,  often  testifying  and  still  sorely  divided 
Scotland.  The  Churcli  of  India  has  grown  so  far  out 
of  infancy  that  it  asks  to  be  freed  from  the  controver- 
sial swaddling-bands  of  the  West. 

After  again  visiting  some  of  the  presbyteries  in  the 
south  of  Scotland,  Dr.  Duff  began  his  preparations 
for  returning  to  India.  But  he  was  premature.  His 
general  health  was  suffering  so  greatly  that  he  was 
detained,  and  was  even  forbidden  to  attend  the  Assem- 
bly of  1838,  by  his  medical  adviser,  Dr.  Macwhirter, 
who  had  been  for  years  physician  to  the  Countess  of  \ 
Loudoun,  wife  of  the  Marquis  of  Hastings,  Governor-  1 
General  of  India.  Dr.  Macwhirter  when  in  Calcutta 
had  the  reputation  of  being  an  exceedingly  skilful 
physician,  while  he  was  one  of  the  most  gentle  and 
amiable  of  men.  After  full  personal  inspection  and 
all  manner  of  inquiries,  the  physician  lifted  up  his 
hands  in  astonishment,  expressing  the  utmost  surprise 
that,  wath  a  body  so  weakened  by  general  as  well  as 
special  disease,  and  so  exhausted  by  the  prodigious 
labours  undergone.  Dr.  Duff  had  been  able  to  perse- 
vere, though  at  the  same  time  he  had  done  so,  un- 
consciously to  himself,  not  only  at  the  risk  of  perma- 
nent injury  but  of  premature  death.  "  You  are  not 
at  all  in  a  fit  state  to  return  to  India,"  said  Dr.  Mac- 
whirter. "  You  must  have  months  of  perfect  quiet 
under  proper  medical  treatment  with  a  view  to  re- 
cruiting. If  you  can  really  submit  to  this,  since 
you  are  still  but  young  in  years  and  evidently  have 
a  singularly  wiry  and  iron  constitution,  my  medical 
judgment  is  that,  after  a  reasonable  time  you  will  be 
so  far  recruited  as  to  warrant  you  to  return.  My 
earnest  advice  to  you,  therefore,  is  at  once  to  return  to 
your  quiet  Highland  home,  where  by  correspondence 
T~can  perfectly  regulate,  from  day  to  day  if  need 
be,  your  regimen  and  medical  treatment;   there  you 


366  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1838. 

will  have  the  tender,  nursing  care  of  the  members 
of  your  own  family  about  you."  Thus  most  of  the 
autumn,  and  a  considerable  part  of  the  winter  of 
1838-39,  was  spent  at  Edradour. 

In  that  quiet  and  beautiful  retreat  Dr.  Duff  only 
exchanged  the  voice  for  the  pen.  From  all  parts  of 
the  kingdom  and  from  other  lands  he  was  applied  to 
for  counsel  or  information  or  help  on  the  most  catholic 
grounds.  Among  others  whom  his  earliest  addresses 
had  roused  were  "  a  few  friends  of  the  missionary 
enterprise  in  Scotland,"*  as  they  described  themselves, 
who  offered  two  prizes,  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 
guineas  in  all,  for  the  best  essays  on  "  The  Duty, 
Privilege,  ajid  Encouragement  of  Christians  to  send 
the  Gospel  of  Salvation  to  the  Unenlightened  Nations 
of  the  Earth."  Dr.  Duff,  with  whom  Dr.  Chalmers 
and  Professor  M'Gill,  of  Glasgow,  were  associated  as 
promoters  of  the  philanthropic  enterprise,  conducted 
a  remarkable  correspondence  on  the  subject,  declaring 
that  if  he  had  the  means  he  would  himself  supply 
the  money.  This  is  the  first  illustration  in  Scotland 
of  what  we-  have  seen  in  Bengal — his  conviction  that 
for  foreign  missions,  as  for  all  good  objects,  the  press 
is  an  agency,  not  so  powerful  as  the  pulpit  in  the 
spiritual  region,  but  more  extensive  and  effective  in 
its  influence  on  the  mass  of  mankind.  To  the  last 
he  complained  that  it  was  far  too  much  neglected  by 
the  Church  as  a  weapon  of  good.  The  adjudicators, 
who  were  Professor  Welsh,  Dr.  Wardlaw,  the  Kev. 
Henry  Melvill,  Dr.  Jabez  Bunting,  and  the  Rev.  T.  S. 
Crisp,     representing    all    the    evangelical    Churches, 

*  Mr.  R.  A.  Macfie,  of  Dregliorn,  who  subsequently  organized 
the  Liverpool  Conference  of  Missionaries,  informs  us  that  these 
friends  were  his  father;  Mr.  John  Wright,  Jan.,  father-in-law  of 
the  Rev.  Charles  Brown,  D.D. ;  and  the  late  Thomas  Fairnie,  of 
Greenock,  etc. 


^t.  32.  DR.    CHALMERS.  367 

awarded  the  prizes  to  Dr.  Harris,  the  president  of 
Cheshunt  College,  and  to  Dr.  R.  Winter  Hamilton,  of 
Leeds.  The  essays  were  published,  but  not  in  a 
cheap  form  which  would  have  sent  them  into  every 
house ;  several  thousands  of  both  were  sold.  A 
catholic  narrative  and  exposition  of  the  foreign  mis- 
sionary movement  from  the  beginning  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century  to  the  present  day,  popular,  accurate, 
condensed,  and  including  Romish  missions,  is  still  a 
desideratum. 

When  fairly  restored  to  health,  towards  the  summer 
of  1839,  Dr.  Duff  prepared  himself  for  the  consolida- 
tion of  all  the  work  he  had  been  doing  during  the 
previous  four  years  towards  making  the  Kirk  of  Scot- 
land permanently  for  the  future  a  Missionary  Church. 
He  sent  out  a  third  missionary  in  addition  to  Mr.  John 
Macdonald  and  Dr.  Murray  Mitchell ;  he  broadened 
the  movement  for  female  education  in  the  East;  he 
spoke  his  ftirewell  counsels  to  the  country  through  the 
General  Assembly  ;  he  left  his  lectures  on  "  India  and 
India  Missions,"  to  quicken  the  missionary  spirit  in 
his  absence ;  and  he  made^the  final  arrangements  for 
giving  Bengal  a  central  college  worthy  of  the  higher 
Christian  education.  In  all  he  had  the  constant  sup- 
port of  Dr.  Chalmers,  and  the  friendly  hospitality  of 
Dr.  Brunton  alike  in  the  university  and  at  Bilstane 
Brae.  Of  the  former  we  find  him  thus  writing  to  Sir 
Andrew  Agnew,  on  the  17th  September,  1838  :  "  What 
triumph  attends  Dr.  Chalmers's  career  !  How  ought  we 
to  bless  and  praise  our  Heavenly  Father  for  having 
raised  up  so  mighty  a  champion  of  truth  in  troublous 
times  !  Truly  it  is  the  duty  of  every  one  that  fears 
the  Lord  to  lift  up  his  arms  as  for  battle,  when  the 
enemy  is  coming  in  on  every  side  like  a  flood.  What 
iueflable  consolation  in  the  assurance,  '  the  Lord 
God  Omnipotent  reigneth  ! '  "     By  this   time  it  had 


o 


68  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1839. 


become  evident  that  the  spiritual  rights  of  the  Kirk, 
guaranteed  by  Scottish  Parliament,  Union  Treaty  and 
Revolution  Settlement,  were  in  danger.  In  May, 
1839,  Lords  Brougham  and  Cottenham  gave  the 
sanction  of  the  highest  appellate  court  to  the  aggres- 
sion of  a  majority  of  the  Scottish  judges  on  these 
rights.  Dr.  Duff  began  to  see  the  purely  spiritual 
work  for  which  a  Church  exists,  which  he  had  done 
side  by  side  with  Chalmers  and  Guthrie  in  kirk  ex- 
tension, threatened.  In  1839  the  revenue  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland  for  missionary  purposes  of  all 
kinds  was  fourteen  times  greater  than  it  had  been  in 
1834,  so  tliat  Chalmers  exclaimed  :  "  We  are  planting 
schools,  we  are  multiplying  chapels,  we  are  sending 
forth  missionaries  to  distant  parts  of  the  world,  we 
have  purified  the  discipline,  we  are  extending  the 
Church  and  rallying  our  population  around  its  vener- 
able standard."*  All  this  foreign  colonial,  and  home 
missionary  work  was  to  be  extended  far  more  largely 
than  fourteen  times,  by  the  very  ecclesiastical  cata- 
clysm which  in  1843  seemed  certain  to  extinguish  it. 

So  greatly  had  the  Bengal  Mission  been  extended 
under  Mackay  and  Ewart,  working  out  Dr.  DuflTs 
system  with  his  careful  and  constant  support  from 
home,  that  they  were  not  satisfied  with  the  addition  of 
a  third  colleague  in  the  person  of  Mr.  Macdonald. 
The  three  clamoured  for  a  fourth  to  help  them  to  over- 
take the  special  field  in  which  no  other  mission  had 
then  followed  them.  To  their  demands  Dr.  Duff  sent 
this  among  other  replies  : — 

"  Edinburgh  College,  January  Ibth,  1839. 
"My  Dear  Ewart, — To  your  last  letter  I  purposely 
delayed  replying  till  I  might  have  it  in  my  power  to 

•  Memoirs  of  Thomas  Chalmers,  D,D.,  LL.D.     By  Dr.  Haima, 
Vol.  ii.  chap.  27. 


^t.  33.     NO  EXCLUSIVELY  SECULAR  WOUK  IN  COLLEGE.         369 

communicate  something:  of  a  definite  nature  on  the 
main  practical  point  therein  referred  to.  The  instant 
it  was  received  I  wrote  most  urgently  to  Dr.  Brunton, 
pressing  the  necessity  of  immediately  appointing  a 
new  labourer  to  support  you.  Something  was  spoken 
on  tlie  subject.  But  lets  and  hindrances  seemed  to 
threaten  to  retard  indefinitely.  In  December,  my  own 
health  having  much  improved,  I  resolved  to  visit  Edin- 
burgh— fu'st,  to  consult  in  person  with  my  medical 
advisers  as  to  my  fitness  for  immediately  returning  to 
Calcutta ;  and  second,  in  the  event  of  that  not  being 
allowed,  to  enforce  the  appointment  of  another.  As 
to  the  first  point, — though  satisfied  with  the  progress 
made  on  the  whole,  it  was  deemed  utterly  inadvisable 
to  attempt  to  return  till  next  summer.  But,  if  the 
Lord  will,  I  have  now  the  certain  prospect  of  turning 
my  face  eastward  in  June  or  July  next.  Meanwhile, 
I  have  laboured  incessantly  in  pressing  the  second 
point,  the  immediate  appointment  of  another.  And 
I  am  sure  you  will  rejoice  to  learn  that  yesterday,  at  a 
meeting  of  the  general  committee,  not  only  was  it  re- 
solved to  appoint  one,  but  the  individual  was  actually 
nominated — and  he  will  lose  no  time  in  setting  sail  to 
join  you.  The  new  colleague  is  Mr.  Thomas  Smith, 
lately  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel — one  who  has  long 
pondered  the  subject  of  personal  engagement  in  the 
missionary  cause,  though  young  in  years.  He  has  a 
fine  missionary  spirit,  and  in  mathematics  and  natural 
philosophy  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  students 
of  the  session  in  Edinburgh.  Ho  will  at  once,  there- 
fore, be  able  to  lend  you  efi'ective  aid,  by  taking  up 
any  of  your  own  or  Mr.  Mackay's  departments  in  the 
scientific  part  of  the  course.  He  will  thus  relieve 
you  of  some  of  those  most  onerous  duties  that  have 
devolved  on  you  iu  consequence  of  Mr.  Mackay's 
lamented  illness.      We  have  given  Mr.  Smith  to  under- 

B    B 


370  LIFE   OF   DE.    DUFF.  1839. 

stand  tliat  lie  may  be  called  on  by  you  to  take  up  the 
very  subjects  whicli  constituted  Mr.  Mackay's  share 
of  instruction  in  the  Institution.  And  I  am  happy  to 
say  that  he  will  be  prepared,  if  deemed  proper  by  you, 
to  do  so  cheerfully. 

"  It  will  not  do  for  a  single  moment  to  abate  one 
iota  of  the  educational  course.  The  committee,  the 
General  Assembly,  the  entire  Church  of  Scotland  is 
publicly  committed  to  it.  If  the  Institution  at  Cal- 
cutta be  allowed  to  drop,  the  sinews  of  war  at  home 
will  be  cut  off,  and  all  the  missionaries  must  either 
return,  or  support  themselves  the  best  way  they  can  on 
the  voluntary  system.  At  this  moment  nothing  would 
reconcile  the  people  of  Scotland  to  any  measure  that 
would  weaken  the  strength  of  the  Institution.  And 
henceforward,  such  is  the  public  feeling  of  intelligent 
thoughtful  people  on  the  subject,  that  the  committee 
dare  not  send  a  missionary  who  will  not  pledge  him- 
self to  join  in  conducting  any  department  of  the  edu- 
cational course  which  may  devolve  upon  him,  either  by 
the  judgment  of  his  brethren  or  the  exigency  of  un- 
forseen  contingencies.  This  does  not  infringe  on  the 
grand  design  of  effecting  a  thorough  division  of  labour 
when  the  number  of  labourers  is  complete — each 
having  that  department  allotted  to  him  in  which  he 
is  known  and  acknowledged  most  to  excel — or  that 
which  may  be  his  forte.  But  this  is  not  to  be  under- 
stood as  limiting  one  so  exclusively  to  one  particular 
department  as  to  exonerate  him  from  taking  some 
share  in  conducting  any  other  when  a  vacancy  may 
temporarily  occur. 

"  I  do  not  altogether  relish  the  idea  of  a  total  se- 
paration or  chasm  being  effected  between  the  strictly 
spiritual  and  what  is  called  the  secular  department. 
Hather,  I  should  say,  there  ought  to  be  no  exclusively 
secular  department.     In  other  words,  in  teaching  any 


^t.  33.  EPISTLE    TO   THEOLOGICAL   STUDENTS.  37 1 

branch  of  literature  and  science,  a  spiritually-minded 
man  must  see  it  so  taught  as  not  only  to  prove  sub- 
servient to  a  general  design,  but  be  more  or  less 
saturated  with  religious  sentiment,  or  reflection,  or 
deduction,  or  application.  In  this  way,  incidentally 
and  indirectly  it  may  be,  yet  most  effectually,  may 
religious  impression  be  conveyed  even  when  engaged 
in  teaching  literature  and  science.  But  besides  this 
incorporation  of  what  is  religious  with  what  is  secular 
or  scientific,  there  ought  no  doubt  always  to  be  regular 
systematic  instruction  in  what  is  biblical  and  religious. 
And  if  in  this  department  any  one  should  be  allowed 
to  excel,  it  would,  on  the  principle  of  division  of  labour, 
be  well  to  allot  it  to  him,  but  not  in  such  sense  as 
that  any  other  was  precluded  from  teaching  religion, 
or  that  he  was  exempted  from  taking  a  share  in  the 
literary  and  scientific  departments,  in  case  of  necessity 
arising  from  temporary  illness  or  absence. 

"Now,  my  dear  Ewart,  there  is  at  my  disposal 
something  above  £1,000  in  all.  Do  then  send  me  by 
the  first  steamer  a  complete  list  of  all  your  desiderata 
as  to  books,  philosophical  apparatus,  etc.,  and  I  shall 
endeavour  to  have  all  supplied.  Do  not  miss  a 
steamer  in  sending  me  as  complete  a  list  as  you  can 
furnish,  that  it  may  reach  in  time  to  enable  me  to 
avail  myself  of  it  before  returning  to  join  you.  My 
affectionate  regards  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Macdonald,  Mr. 
Charles,  Mr.  Meiklejohn,  etc.  I  hope  to  reply  to  the 
old  pundit  ere  long.     In  haste,  affectionately  yours, 

*'  Alexander  Dufe." 

In  St.  Andrew's  Church,  Edinburgh,  on  the  7th 
March,  1839,  Dr.  Duff  himself  presided  at  the  ordin- 
ation of  his  young  colleague,  now  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Smith,  D.D.,  and  the  only  survivor  of  the  praa-Mutiny 
band.     Dedicated  to  all  students  of  divinity  in  Scot- 


372  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1839. 

land,  "  with  many  of  whom  the  author  has  enjoyed 
much  general  converse,"  the  discourse  and  the  charge 
to  the  youthful  missionary  still  form  not  only  the 
most  remarkable  as  it  has  been  the  most  popular  of 
Dr.  Duff's  writings,  but  a  model  to  be  studied  by  all 
candidates  of  theology  of  whatever  Church.  The  mis- 
sionary apostle  himself  described  it  as  "  a  plain  letter 
of  instructions  which  might  prove  really  useful  to  a 
young  and  inexperienced  but  beloved  brother."  The 
epistle  has  just  enough  of  an  autobiographic  element 
to  give  it  a  fascination  which  every  year  will  increase 
as  the  events  of  the  decade  ending  1839  are  thrown 
farther  back  in  the  history  of  India  and  of  its  Church. 
*'  Missions  the  Chief  End  of  the  Christian  Church ; 
also  the  Qualifications,  Duties  and  Trials  of  an  Indian 
Missionary,"  as  the  publication  of  1839  was  entitled, 
should  be  edited  for  republication  in  its  completeness. 
The  latest  reprint  is  sorely  mutilated.  Many  a  mis- 
sionary has  that  little  epistle  and  charge  sent  to  India, 
China  and  Africa  from  other  Churches. 

The  education  of  the  women  of  India  was  begun 
by  young  ladies  of  Eurasian  extraction,  in  Calcutta, 
under  the  Baptist  missionaries  so  early  as  April,  1819. 
Mrs.  Wilson  followed,  in  the  same  city,  in  1822.  But 
Bombay,  if  later,  soon  distanced  the  rest  of  India,  be- 
cause of  the  absence  of  caste  among  the  Parsees,  the 
greater  freedom  of  the  social  life  of  the  Marathas  than 
that  of  the  Bengalees,  and  the  readiness  of  Mrs.  Mar- 
garet Wilson  to  take  advantage  of  both.  Hence,  in 
1837,  a  Bombay  oflBcer,  Major  Jameson,  began  in  Scot- 
land the  formation  of  the  Ladies'  Society  for  Female 
Education  in  the  East.  Still  it  was  long  till,  in  any 
part  of  India,  it  was  possible  to  bring  girls  of  respect- 
able and  caste-bound  families  under  Christian  or  even 
secular  instruction,  with  the  exception  of  Parsee  ladies. 
On  his  first  visit  to  England  Dr.  Duff  was  asked  to 


^t.  33.  FEMALE    EDUCATION    IN    INDIA.  373 

supply  the  Hon.  and  Rev.  Baptist  Noel  with  infor- 
mation, which  the  preacher  published  as  an  appendix 
to  his  sermon  preached  for  the  Society  in  London  for 
promoting  female  education  in  China,  India  and  the 
East.  He  heartily  supported  Major  Jameson's  move- 
ment in  Scotland.  On  a  recent  visit  to  Penicuik  we 
found  in  a  state  of  active  prosperity  the  first  Ladies' 
Society  seen  in  Scotland  for  combined  prayer  and 
work  for  female  education  in  India.  That  society  is 
the  result  of  an  address  by  Dr.  Duff,  of  which  there 
is  no  other  trace.  In  the  forty  years  since,  it  has 
kept  up  an  intelligent  interest  in,  and  has  called  forth 
annually  increasing  work  and  subscriptions  for  the 
evangelization  of  the  women  of  India,  from  some  of 
the  best  families  of  Midlothian  and  not  a  few  of  the 
cottages  and  farms  of  Penicuik. 

Dr.  Duff's  address  at  the  first  annual  meeting  of 
the  Scottish  Ladies'  Society,  now  more  vigorous  than 
ever  in  two  bands,  not  only  sketched  the  position  of 
women  in  the  East  under  Hindoo  and  Muhammadan 
law  and  practice,  but  outlined  a  policy,  applicable  to 
Calcutta  and  Bengal,  which  he  lived  long  enough  to 
see  in  full  fruition.  That  has  before  been  sketched  in 
the  account  of  the  discussion  in  Bengalee  debating 
societies,  and  as  an  integral  part  of  his  missionary 
educational  system.  It  is  most  tersely  put  in  these 
sentences  of  his  appendix  to  Baptist  Noel's  sermon. 

"  From  the  unnatural  constitution  of  Hindoo  so- 
ciety, the  education  of  females,  in  a  national  point  of 
view,  cannot  possibly  precede,  cannot  even  be  con- 
temporaneous with  the  education  of  males.  The 
education  of  the  former,  on  any  great  national  scale, 
must,  from  the  very  nature  of  their  position  which 
those  only  who  have  been  in  India  can  at  all  ade- 
quately comprehend,  follow  in  the  wake  of  the  en- 
lightened   education   of    the    latter.     In    a   word,   a 


374  ^^^^    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1839, 

generation  of  educated  males,  i.e.  educated  after  the 
European  model,  must  be  the  precursor  of  a  genera- 
tion of  educated  females." 

Should  nothing,  then,  be  done  ?  On  the  contrary, 
elementary  education  among  the  few  who  may  be 
induced  to  attend  a  public  school,  and  during  the 
brief  time  before  marriage  and  re-absorption  into 
their  own  idolatrous  system,  should  be  zealously  prose- 
cuted. Christian  philanthropy  will  care  especially  for 
the  outcast  and  the  orphan,  and  the  growing  class  of 
native  Christians  must  be  provided  for.  "  But  there 
is  another  and  far  more  rapidly  increasing  one,  that 
must  annually  swell  the  aggregate  of  those  friendly  to 
female  improvement;  the  multiform  class  that  aims 
at  the  acquisition  of  European  literature  and  science, 
throuofh  the  medium  of  the  En  owlish  lano^uao^e.  From 
various  concurrent  causes  thousands  of  native  youth 
have  now  begun  to  flock  to  Government  and  Mis- 
sionary Institutions,  there  to  enter  on  the  career  of 
English  education ;  and,  if  the  future  keep  pace  pro- 
portionately with  the  past,  these  thousands  will  ere 
long  be  multiplied  tenfold,  and  ultimately  a  hundred- 
fold. Now,  it  may  safely  be  laid  down  as  an  un- 
doubted axiom,  that  every  individual  who  receives  a 
thorough  English  education,  whether  he  become  a 
convert  to  Christianity  or  not,  will,  with  it,  imbibe 
much  of  the  English  spirit,  i.e.  become  intellectually 
Anglicised;  and  hence,  will  inevitably  enrol  himself 
in  the  catalogue  of  those  who  assert  the  right  of 
females  to  be  emancipated  from  the  bondage  of 
ignorance.  This  is  not  a  legitimate  inference  only, 
it  is  a  statement  of  the  results  of  past  experience." 

The  elementary  or  direct  method  has  not  only 
rescued  thousands  of  girls  from  destruction,  aiding 
Government  in  famines  and  providing  wives  for 
Christian  homes ;    but  it  has,  on  the  normal  school 


yEt.  3Z-         HfS    boot:,    "  INDIA   AND   INDIA    MISSIONS.  375 

method,  trained  devoted  vernacular  teachers  who 
were  ready  to  enter  the  zananas,  and  to  teach  the 
select  caste  schools,  the  moment  that  tlio  indirect 
influence  had  prepared  the  next  generation  of  women 
to  be  taught.  AVhat  Dr.  Duff  predicted  in  1829-1839 
came  to  pass  twenty  years  afterwards.  We  shall  see 
how  this  policy  has  led  to  the  caste  school  and  the 
zanana  instruction  till  at  least  one  Bengalee  lady 
has  passed  the  matriculation  examination  of  the 
University  of  Calcutta. 

When  residing  with  Dr.  Gordon,  on  the  occasion  of 
Mr.  T.  Smith's  ordination,  that  zealous  secretary  of 
the  committee  suo:g:ested  to  him  the  deliverinsr  of  a 
series  of  popular  lectures  in  so  central  a  place  as 
St.  Andrew's  church.  Having  devoted  two  or  three 
weeks  to  the  arrangement  of  his  materials,  Dr.  Duff 
attracted  overflowing  crowds  in  the  four  weeks  of 
April  to  hear  those  gorgeous  descriptions,  novel  ex- 
positions, and  thrilling  narratives  which  he  published 
for  the  benefit  of  the  funds  of  the  committee,  to 
whom  the  book  was  dedicated,  under  the  title  of 
"  India  and  India  Missions :  including  Sketches  of  the 
Gigantic  System  of  Hindooism  both  in  Theory  and 
Practice."  The  work  soon  reached  a  second  edition, 
and  has  still  a  historical  value,  although  it  may  be 
said  that  oriental  scholarship  has  come  to  exist  only 
since  the  translations  of  Sir  William  Jones  and  the 
essays  of  Colebrooke  were  followed,  chiefly  after  1839, 
by  the  publication  of  the  researches  of  Burnouf  and 
Lassen,  Prinsep  and  John  Wilson,  H.  H.  Wilson  and 
Weber,  Max  Muller  and  the  brothers  Muir.  Nor  were 
Duff's  lectures  confined  to  Edinburgh.  We  have 
traces  of  him  in  Liverpool,  both  in  the  Philanthropic 
Hall  and  in  the  Collegiate  Institution,  where  Dean, 
then  Principal,  Howson  induced  him  to  deliver  one 
described  by  a  critic  as  "  of  remai'kable  brilliance  and 
power." 


37^  I'IFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1839. 

The  General  Assembly  of  1839  brouglit  with  it,  for 
Dr.  Duff,  the  solemn  but  not  sad  duty  of  saying  fare- 
well to  the  country  and  the  Church.  As  a  member 
for  his  native  presbytery  of  Dunkeld  he  spoke  again, 
but  with  fresh  power  and  new  facts,  "  on  the  subject 
of  your  great  missionary  enterprise."  The  contrast 
between  the  past  and  the  present  in  the  highest  court 
of  the  Kirk  was  so  striking  that  he  recalled  the  time 
when  the  venerable  Erskine  cried  out,  "  Eax  me  the 
Bible,"  that  he  might  prove  to  his  brethren  in  the 
ministry  the  duty  of  preaching  the  gospel  to  the 
heathen.  Against  that  memorable  incident,  only  a 
generation  past,  he  set  the  record  of  converts  and 
Hindoos  about  to  become  themselves  missionaries,  as 
given  in  the  latest  report  of  the  India  mission.  Sad- 
dened for  the  moment  that  he  was  leaving  no  eye- 
witness behind  him  to  feed  with  facts  and  appeals  the 
home  machinery  he  had  organized,  he  said,  "  Public 
meetings  alone  will  never  answer  our  end.  We  must 
descend  to  the  mass  and  permeate  with  vitality  its 
humblest  and  most  distant  atoms.  Without  this  all 
our  missionary,  educational,  and  church  extension 
schemes  must  flag  and  fail.  You  must  get  the  young 
on  your  side,"  he  said ;  "  give  me  the  school  books  and 
the  schoolmasters  of  a  country,  and  I  will  let  any  one 
else  make  not  only  its  songs  and  its  laws,  but  its 
literature,  sciences  and  philosophy  too !  What  has 
made  Brahmanism  the  hoary  power  it  is  but  its 
Shasters  ?  What  has  sustained  the  force  and  passion 
of  Islam  for  centuries  but  the  Koran"  read  in  every 
school  and  college  from  Gibraltar  to  the  Straits  of 
Malacca  ?  So  must  Christians  use  the  Press,  after  his 
outburst  on  which  he  referred  to  his  own  departure  : — • 

"  Already  is  it  the  boast  of  our  country,  tliat  it  has  replen- 
ished the  service  of  our  sovereign  with  warriors  and  states- 
men ;  supplied  every  civilized  nation  with  men  accomplished 


JEt  33.        FAEEWELL  ADDRESS  TO  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.        377 

in  learned  professions;  filled  the  exchanges  of  every  metro- 
polis in  the  globe  with  enterprising  capitalists;  sent  intrepid 
adventurers  to  explore  the  most  barbarous  and  inhospitable 
climes.  But  let  us,  through  the  medium  of  works  for  the 
young,  and  especially  of  school  books  universally  adopted,  only 
saturate  the  juvenile  mind  of  the  nation  with  evangelistic 
principles,  duties,  and  motives,  and  our  country  may  be 
destined  to  earn  yet  greater  and  more  lasting  fame.  Our 
parochial  schools  may  become  the  rudimental  nurseries,  and 
our  colleges,  and  especially  our  divinity  halls,  the  finishing 
gymnasia  of  a  race  of  men  who  shall  aim  at  earning  higher 
trophies  than  flags  and  standards  rolled  in  blood — nobler 
badges  than  mimic  stars  of  glittering  dust; — a  race  of  men, 
on  whom  shall  fall  the  mantle  of  the  Eliots  and  the  Brainerds 
of  the  West,  and  the  Martyns  and  Careys  of  the  East. 

" .  .  .  Often,  when  wearied  and  exhausted  under  the 
debilitating  influences  of  a  vertical  sun  and  a  burning 
atmosphere  :  often,  when  depressed  and  drooping  in  spirit,  amid 
the  never-ending  ebullitions  of  a  rampant  heathenism  :  often, 
when  thus  made,  in  some  measure,  to  realize  the  feelings  of 
the  exiles  of  old,  who  by  the  streams  of  Babel  did  hang  their 
harps  upon  the  willows,  and  wept'  when  they  remembered 
Zion — often,  often  I  have  retired  to  the  chamber  of  medita- 
tion, on  a  table  of  which  constantly  lay  a  copy  of  '  the  Cloud 
of  Witnesses ; '  and  after  perusing  some  of  the  seraphic 
utterances  of  our  Renwicks  and  Guthries,  from  the  dungeons 
and  the  scafi*olds  of  martyrdom,  often  have  I  fallen  down 
before  the  divine  footstool,  ashamed  and  confounded  on  ac- 
count of  my  faint-heartedness  and  cowardice ;  and  rising  up, 
new -braced  and  invigorated  in  the  faith,  as  often  have  I  been 
made  to  resolve,  through  grace,  to  be  so  faint-hearted  and 
cowardly  no  more.  But  little  did  I  then  think  of  the  fresh 
impulse  and  enjoyment  that  awaited  me,  when  subsequently 
privileged  to  visit  those  regions  of  our  native  land,  that  may 
well  be  termed  the  Judsea  and  Jerusalem  of  persecuting  times. 
T  have  been  in  temples  of  the  most  gorgeous  magnificence ;  I 
have  been  in  palaces  decorated  with  the  glittei'ing  splendours 
of  art;  I  have  been  in  bowers  gladdened  with  perpetual 
summer,  and  clothed  with  never-dying  verdui'e ; — but  never, 
never  among'St  them  all  have  I  experienced  the  same  pure  and 
elevated    and  ecstatic  emotion  as  within  the  last  two  years. 


378  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1839; 

when  traversing  those  bleak  and  dreary  upland  moors,  and 
barren  mountain  solitudes^  that  often  constituted  the  only 
home  of  those  devoted  men  of  vs^hom  the  world  was  not 
worthy — that  have  been  consecrated  in  the  eyes  of  posterity 
as  their  birthplace  and  their  graves  ;  and  over  every  moss, 
and  rock,  and  dell  of  wliich  once  waved  the  banner  em- 
blazoned, as  if  in  rebuke  of  the  treason  and  blasphemy  of 
latter  days,  with  the  glorious  inscription, — 

"  •  For  Eef oi-mation 
In  Church  and  State, 
Accoi-ding  to  the  Woi'd  of  God, 
And  our  sworn  Covenants.' 

"  Now,  these  are  the  men  whose  example  we  are  ever  and 
anon  called  upon  to  imitate.  But  surely,  if  there  be  any  one 
point  more  than  another  in  which  they  have  set  us  the  most 
emphatic  example,  it  is  in  their  cheerful  determination  to  deny 
themselves  and  submit  to  all  manner  of  sacrifices.  Can  we, 
except  in  derision,  be  said  to  emulate  their  conduct,  if  not 
prepared  and  resolved  to  submit  to  like  sacrifices  with  them  ? 
If  all  were  here  pi'esent  this  day,  whether  clergy  or  laity,  who 
glory  in  being  the  members  of  a  Church  that  has  been  watered 
and  cemented  by  the  blood  of  martyrs,  might  we  not  demand, 
*  What  substantial  proof  or  pledge  have  ye  ever  yet  given  that 
ye  are  really  prepared  and  resolved  to  tread  in  their  footsteps  ? 
You  profess  to  imitate  their  example  !  Well,  in  order  to  this, 
you  are  called  upon,  like  them,  to  deny  yourselves,  in  order 
the  more  effectually  to  advance  the  cause  of  the  Redeemer/ 

"  In  the  spirit  of  this  resolution  I  originally  went  forth  to 
heathen  lands.  And  though  suddenly  removed  by  an  aflflictive 
visitation  of  Providence,  over  which  I  had  no  control,  the 
spirit  of  that  resolution  still  abideth  the  same.  If  the  Lord 
will,  therefore,  my  unaltered  and  unalterable  purpose  is,  to 
return  to  the  scene  of  my  former  labours.  In  adhering  so 
determinedly  to  this  purpose,  I  am  not  unaware  of  the  mis- 
construction and  uncharitable  insinuations  to  which,  in  certain 
quarters,  my  conduct  has  been  subjected.  Now,  though  in 
myself  I  feel  and  confess  that  I  am  nothing,  yea,  'less  than 
nothing,  and  vanity ,■*  I  must,  for  the  sake  of  '  magnifying  my 
office,'  be  permitted  to  assert  and  vindicate  the  integrity  of  my 
actuating  motives.    I  would  return  to  the  land  of  my  adoption. 


^t.  33.       FAREWELL  ADDRESS  TO  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  379 

not  because,  in  the  gross  and  carnalising  judgment  of  some 
worldlings,  I  could  not  do  better  at  home.  No ;  if  the  earnest 
and  reiterated  entreaties  of  friends ;  if  the  most  alluring  offers, 
on  the  part  of  some  of  *  the  mighty  and  the  noble  /  if  the 
most  tempting  invitations  to  spheres  of  honour  and  responsi- 
bility, from  not  a  few  of  the  Christian  people  of  this  laud, — 
could  have  availed  aught,  I  might,  in  the  low,  vulgar  and 
drivelling  sense  of  the  expression,  have  done  better  at  home. 
I  would  go,  not  from  the  restless  spirit  of  wild,  roving  ad- 
venture. If  the  animating  principle  had  flowed  from  that 
source,  sure  enough  it  ought  by  this  time  to  have  been  cured, 
in  the  case  of  one  who  twice  suffered  shipwreck,  barely 
escaping  with  life;  who,  more  than  once,  was  well-nigh 
foundered  amid  the  gales  and  hurricanes  of  the  deep ;  and  who 
was  thrice  brought  to  the  very  brink  of  the  grave  by  the 
noxious  influences  of  an  unfriendly  clime.  I  would  go,  not 
from  any  exaggerated  estimate  or  ambitious  longings  after  the 
pomp  and  luxuries  of  the  East.  No.  Dire  experience  con- 
strains me  to  say,  that,  for  the  enjoyment  of  real  personal 
comfort,  I  would  rather,  infinitely  rather,  be  the  occupant  of 
the  poorest  hut,  with  its  homeliest  fare,  in  the  coldest  and 
bleakest  cleft  tLat  flanks  the  sides  of  the  Schehallion  or  Ben 
Nevis,  than  be  the  possessor  of  the  stateliest  palace,  with  its 
royal  appurtenances,  in  the  plains  of  Bengal.  I  would  go, 
not  from  any  freaks  of  fancy  respecting  the  strangeness  of 
foreign  lands,  and  the  exciting  novelty  of  labour  among  the 
dwellers  there.  There  I  have  been  already;  and  can  only 
testify  that  the  state  of  the  heathen  is  far  too  sad  and  awful  a 
reality  to  be  a  fitting  theme  for  story  or  for  song, — unless  it 
be  one  over  which  hell  would  rejoice,  and  heaven  weep.  I 
would  go,  not  from  any  unpatriotic  dislike  of  my  native  land, 
or  misanthropic  aversion  from  its  people,  or  its  institutions. 
No  :  for  its  very  ruggedness,  as  the  land  of  '  the  mountain  and 
the  flood,'  I  cherish  more  than  ordinary  fondness.  How  could 
it  be  otherwise  ?  Nestled  and  nursed,  as  it  were,  from  earliest 
infancy,  among  its  wildest  and  sublimest  scenes  : — no  pastime 
half  so  exhilarating  as  the  attempt  to  outrival  the  wild  goat 
in  clambering  from  crag  to  crag,  or  to  outstrip  the  eagle  in 
soaring  to  their  loftiest  summits ;  no  music  half  so  sweet  as 
the  roar  of  the  cataract  among  the  beetling  px'ecipices  of  some 
dark  frowning  ravine  or  solitary  dell ;  no  chariot  and  equipage 


380  LIFE    OP   DK.    DUFF.  1839. 

half  so  much  coveted  as  the  buoyant  wreaths  of  mist  that 
scoured  athwart  the  scalped  brows,  or  curled  their  strange  and 
fantastic  shapes  around  the  ragged  peaks  of  the  neighbouring 
hills.  Hence  a  fondness  for  the  characteristic  scenery  of  my 
native  land,  amounting  almost  to  a  passion — a  passion  which, 
like  every  other,  it  requires  divine  grace  to  modify  and  subdue. 
For  oft  as  I  have  strayed  among  gardens  and  groves,  be- 
studded  with  the  richest  products  of  tropical  climes,  the  in- 
voluntary ejaculation  has  ever  been,  '  Give  me  thy  woods,  thy 
barren  woods,  poor  Scotland  ! '  Towards  its  people  I  have 
always  cherished  the  fondest  attachment — an  attachment 
vastly  augmented  by  the  circumstance,  that  from  Pomona,  the 
mainland  of  Orkney,  to  the  Solway  Firth,  there  is  scarcely  a 
city  or  district  in  which  I  could  not  point  out  one  or  more 
personal  friends,  in  whose  Christian  society  I  have  found  re- 
freshment and  delight.  Of  all  its  institutions,  sacred  and  civil, 
I  have  ever  entertained  an  unbounded  admiration — an  admira- 
tion that  has  been  immeasurably  enhanced  by  the  contrast 
which  the  want  of  them  exhibits  in  other  lands.  I  would 
therefore  go,  not  because  I  love  Scotland  less,  but  because 
I  humbly  and  devoutly  trast  that,  through  the  aid  of  divine 
grace,  I  have  been  led  to  love  my  God  and  Saviour,  and  the 
universal  extension  of  His  blessed  cause  on  earth,  still  more. 
I  would  go  because,  with  the  Bible  in  my  hands,  I  cannot  see 
what  special  claim  Scotland  has  upon  me,  as  a  minister  of 
Christ,  any  more  than  any  other  land  embraced  within  the 
folds  of  the  evei'lasting  covenant ;  because,  with  the  Bible  in 
my  hands,  I  cannot  see  how  a  soul  in  Scotland  can  be  intrin- 
sically more  precious  than  a  soul  in  Greenland,  or  Kaffirland,  or 
Hindostan,  or  any  other  region  on  earth ;  because,  with  the 
Bible  in  my  hands,  I  cannot  see  that  the  bounds  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland  are  identical  with  the  bounds  of  the  Eedeemer^a 
kingdom ;  or  that  the  Lord  Jesus,  who  is  no  respecter  of 
persons,  is  the  Redeemer  of  Scotland  rather  than  of  any  other 
realm  included  in  the  emphatic  and  catholic  designations  of 
'  all  the  world,^  and  '  all  nations.' " 

While  thus  entitled  to  be  exacting,  in  his  Master's 
interest  and  their  own,  towards  others  because  he 
was  not  sparing  of  himself,  the  missionary  was  no  less 


^t.  S3.  FAREWELL  HONOURS  DECLINED,  38 1 

generoas  in  his  acknowledgment  of  those  who  did 
their  duty.  Mr.  Baptist  Noel  had  shown  that  in  the 
year  1834,  when  the  whole  income  of  the  United  King- 
dom was  estimated  at  about  514  millions  sterling,  the 
proportion  assigned  to  missions  and  Bible  societies  of 
all  kinds  was  only  one  seventeen-hundredth  part,  or 
£300,000.  Dr.  Duff  told  of  individuals,  and  especially 
Christian  ladies,  who  had  become  his  fellow-helpers 
in  the  gospel.  One  lady  in  London  raised  £500 ;  her 
example  led  two  at  Inverness*  to  collect  £1,000  in 
pennies,  every  one  of  which  meant  so  much  intelligence, 
prayer  and  faith ;  and  another  aided  the  new  colonial 
scheme  by  supplying  with  four  ministers  the  thirty 
thousand  Scotsmen  then  in  the  island  of  Cape  Breton. 
Still  another  sent  him  £500  in  an  anonymous  note, 
as  "  from  one  who,  having  felt  the  consolations  of  the 
gospel,  is  most  anxious  these  should  be  imparted  to  the 
perishing  heathen."  Thus  was  the  Government  price 
of  the  site  (£1,600)  for  the  new  college  in  Cornwallis 
Square  contributed ;  thus  was  the  building  raised ;  and 
thus,  as  we  have  seen  from  the  letter  to  Dr.  Ewart, 
were  a  library  and  philosophical  apparatus  supplied  for 
the  use  of  its  students.  Into  this  college  building 
and  equipment  fund,  destined  to  an  unexpected  fate — 
the  disruption  of  1843 — Dr.  Duff  poured  a  sum  which 
many  to  whom  he  had  been  blessed  offered  him  in  vain 
as  a  personal  gift  for  his  family.     All  that  he  would 


•  Thus  described  by  Dr.  Daff :  "  One  of  the  most  peculiar  at- 
tempts was  that  which  originated  with  the  Misses  Macintosh,  of 
Raigmore  House,  Inverness.  Their  father  had  been  the  founder  of 
one  of  the  six  great  commercial  and  banking-houses  in  Calcutta. 
The  scheme  was  to  interest  parties  in  every  parish  in  Scotland  so 
as  to  realize  by  pennies  the  sum  of  £1,000.  Through  indefatigable 
exertions,  at  length  the  object  was  really  accomplished,  and  in 
carrying  it  out  no  doubt  a  vast  deal  of  fresh  interest  in  the 
mission  was  diffused  throughout  the  membership  of  the  Church." 


382  LIFE    OP   DE.    DUFF.  1839. 

consent  to,  of  a  personal  nature,  was  the  publication 
of  liis  portrait,  painted  by  William  Cowen,  and  en- 
graved, in  mezzotint,  by  S.  W.  Reynolds.  The  original 
is  now  in  Calcutta. 

He  who  had  stood  alone  in  Calcutta  in  1830  now 
saw  eight  other  missionaries  from  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land in  India  all  working  on  his  system  with  an  enthu- 
siasm fired  by  his  own.  And  he  did  not  stop  there. 
Dr.  Guthrie  had  been  called  to  the  church  of  Old 
Greyfriars  in  Edinburgh  which  he  himself  had  refused, 
and  had  been  there  only  two  years  when  he  wrote :  "  I 
had  Duff  and  some  others  dining  with  me  the  other  day. 
Duff  was  keen  for  me  to  go  out  to  India.  Dunlop  de- 
clared that  Lord  Medwyn  would  take  out  a  prize  war- 
rant, seeing  that  he  is  risking  some  five  or  six  hundred 
pounds  in  the  new  church  (St.  John's),  on  the  under- 
standing that  I  was  to  be  minister  thereof."  Ten  years 
after,  when  Guthrie  broke  down  from  overwork.  Duff 
thus  wrote  to  him  from  Calcutta :  "  The  whole  of 
your  remarkable  career  during  the  last  few  years  I 
have  been  following  with  intense  delight ;  your  Manse 
scheme  and  Ragged  School  have  been  bulking  before  my 
mind's  eye  in  a  way  to  fill  me  with  wonder,  aye  and 
devout  gratitude  to  the  God  of  heaven  for  having  so 
extraordinarily  blessed  your  efforts.  From  my  own 
experience  I  find  that  a  season  of  affliction  and  inward 
humiliation  usually  precedes  some  development  of 
spiritual  energy  in  advancing  the  cause  of  the  Lord." 
Puzzled  by  his  refusal  of  any  personal  recognition  of 
his  services  at  home,  friends  on  both  sides  of  church 
politics  begged  that  Dr.  Duff  would  at  least  meet  them 
at  a  public  dinner  or  banquet.  "With  his  answer  many 
who  have  been  victims  on  such  occasions,  alike  in 
giving  and  receiving  honour,  will  sympathise  :  "  Fare- 
well dinners,"  he  said,  "  were  never  to  my  taste.  I 
have  always  shunned  them  in  the  case  of  others,  and 


JEt  S3-        THK    SECOND    CHARGE   OF    BR.    CUALMERS.  383 

I  will  not  myself  be  the  object  of  honour.  They  are 
generally  attended  by  a  mass  of  stereotyped  phrases 
intended  to  be  flatteries  but  without  honest  meaning. 
But  hold  a  religious  service,  and  ask  Dr.  Chalmers  to 
give  me  his  fatherly  counsel  and  admonition."  And 
so  it  came  about  that,  though  the  great  preacher's 
ordination  charge  to  Duff  has  not  seen  the  light,  we 
have  his  matured  opinion  on  the  Scottish  missionary 
system,  from  the  economics  of  which  he  received  many 
a  hint  for  his  own  Free  Church  creation  three  years 
after.  Dr.  Hanna  has  reprinted  the  farewell  charge  of 
1839  in  the  "  Sermons  illustrative  of  different  stashes 
in  his  ministry,"  by  the  man  whom  Mr.  Gladstone  has 
pronounced  the  grandest  of  all  preachers  he  has  heard, 
in  spite  of  a  distasteful  accent,  although  John  Henry 
Newman  was  one  of  those  preachers. 

"  Ten  years  ago,"  said  the  divinity  professor  of 
sixty  to  the  already  experienced  missionary  of  thirty- 
three  who  stood  before  him  above  a  vast  crowd  in 
St.  Greorge's,  Edinburgh,  "  in  the  work  of  setting  you 
apart  to  your  office  I  expatiated  on  the  nature  and 
evidence  of  conversion  to  God.  *  As  we  have  heard, 
so  have  we  seen  in  the  city  of  the  Lord  of  hosts,  in 
the  city  of  our  God  :  God  will  establish  it  for  ever.* 
Christianity  is  the  manifestation  of  truth  by  the  Spirit 
to  the  conscience.  It  is  on  some  such  moral  evidence 
that  the  philosophy  of  missions  is  based.  As  we  have 
heard,  so  have  we  seen  :  then  may  it  be  understood 
how,  without  a  sensible  miracle,  there  may  arise  in 
the  mind  a  well-founded  belief  in  the  truth  of  Chris- 
tianity." Thus  had  the  first  missionary  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland  devised  his  plan  and  carried  out  the  divine 
policy — "  faith  cometh  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the 
word  of  God." 

"  By  a  device  of  admirable  skilfulness  and  correspondent 
success,  you  have  brought  many  of  the  most  influential  families 


384  LIFE    OP   DR.    DUFF-  1 839. 

of  Hindostan  within  reach  of  the  hearing  of  the  word  of  God. 
You  have  instituted  a  school  mainly  of  scriptural  lessons  and 
scriptural  exercises.  You  have  practised  no  deceit  upon  the 
natives,  for  all  is  above  board,  and  it  is  universally  known 
that  the  volume  which  forms  the  great  text  and  substratum  of 
your  scholarship  is  the  book  of  the  religion  of  Christians. 
But  you,  at  the  same  time,  have  studied  to  multiply  the  at- 
tractions of  this  school ;  you  have  not  only  instituted  a  lecture- 
ship on  the  evidences  of  Clu'istianity,  but,  for  the  purpose  of 
engaging  the  attendance  chiefly  of  the  higher  classes,  you 
have  pressed  into  the  service  both  the  physical  and  the 
mathematical  sciences,  and,  what  might  startle  some,  have 
superadded  the  doctrines  of  political  economy,  and  all  that  the 
votaries  of  science  might  be  lured  within  the  precincts  of 
sacredness.  It  is  thus  that  many  of  India  of  all  ranks,  and 
especially  of  the  upper  orders  of  society,  have  passed  through 
your  seminary  in  successive  hundreds,  familiarized  with  the 
language  and  seasoned  with  the  subject  matter  of  inspiration. 
It  is  thus  that  many  have  heard  with  the  hearing  of  the  ear, 
and  at  least  been  disarmed  of  all  hostility  to  the  gospel,  and 
some  of  these,  many,  have  been  made  to  see,  and  been  con- 
verted, and  become  the  declared  friends  and  champions  of  our 
faith.  It  delights  me,  sir,  to  know,  as  the  fruit  of  my  in- 
timate converse  and  of  my  acquaintance  with  your  principles 
and  your  thoughts,  that  while  you  have  done  so  much  to 
obtain  an  extensive  hearing  for  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ 
in  the  most  likely  and  promising  quarters  of  human  society, 
you  are  at  the  same  time  fully  and  feelingly  aware  what  that 
high  and  external  quarter  is  whence  alone  the  seeing  comes, 
and  that  unless  a  blessing,  to  be  evoked  only  by  prayer,  shall 
descend  from  the  sanctuary  above  upon  your  enterprise,  all 
the  labour  you  have  bestowed  upon  it  will  prove  but  a  vain 
and  empty  parade.  Let  me  earnestly  recommend  the  con- 
tinuance of  this  sacred  and  fruitful  union,  a  union  between 
the  diligence  of  ever-working  hands  and  the  devotion  of  ever- 
praying  hearts.  Men  of  various  moods  and  temperaments,  and 
different  tastes  of  spirituality  and  intellect,  will  be  variously 
affected  by  the  spectacle.  Those  of  shrewd,  but  withal  of 
secular  intelligence,  will  think  lightly  of  your  supplications, 
perhaps  even  speak  contemptuously  of  those  outpourings  of 
the  Spirit  on  which,  I  trust,  you  will  ever  wait  and  ever  watch 


^t.  33.         DR.  CHALMRRS    ECLOGISES   HIS    SYSTEM.  385 

■with  humble  expectancy.  Those  of  serious,  but  withal  of 
weak  and  drivelling  piety,  will  think  lightly  of  your  science, 
and  perhaps  even  speak  with  rebuke  of  your  geometry,  and 
your  economics,  and  your  other  themes  of  strange  and  philo- 
sophic nomenclature,  as  things  that  have  in  them  a  certain 
cast  of  heathenish  innovation,  prejudicial  to  the  success,  be- 
cause incongruous  with  the  simplicity  of  the  gospel.  But 
amid  these  reproaches  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left, 
persevere  as  you  have  begun  ;  and  whether,  on  the  one  hand, 
they  be  the  cold  rationalists  who  assail  you  with  their  con- 
tempt, or,  on  the  other  hand,  they  be  the  fanatical  religionists 
Avho  look  on  you  with  intolerance,  continue  to  do  what  all  men 
of  sense  and  of  sacredness  have  done  before,  and  jou  will 
at  length  reap  the  fulfilment  of  the  saying,  that  wisdom  is 
justified  of  her  children." 

Having  thus  put  liis  imprimatur  on  the  system  in 
language  as  strong  as  even  Dr.  Duff's  when  the  mis- 
sionary vindicated  his  evangelism  alike  against  "  the 
bigotry  of  an  unwise  pietism  "  and  "  the  bigotry  of 
infidelity,"  Dr.  Chalmers  spoke  with  an  almost  pre- 
dictive reference  to  his  own  coming  scheme  of  Free 
Church  economics,  when  he  said,  "  You  were  the  first, 
I  believe,  to  set  the  example  of  passing  from  parish  to 
parish,  and  from  presbytery  to  presbytery  in  behalf  of 
your  own  cause,  and  it  only  needs  to  be  so  carried 
forward  in  behalf  of  other  causes  as  to  fill  the  whole 
length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  in  order  to  reap  a 
tenfold  more  abundant  harvest  from  the  liberalities 
of  the  people  than  has  ever  yet  been  realized."  Re- 
ferring to  his  special  work  of  home  missions  as  not 
a  competing  but  a  co-operating  cause,  he  uttered  a 
truth  which  his  successors  have  generally  though  not 
always  remembered  :  "  Our  two  causes,  our  two  com- 
mittees, might  work  into  each  other's  hands.  Should 
the  first  take  the  precedency  and  traverse  for  collec- 
tions the  whole  of  Scotland,  the  second  would  only 
find  the  ground  more  softened  and  prepared  for  an 

c  c 


386  LIFE   OF    DE.    DUFF.  1839. 

abundant  produce  to  itself.  It  acts  not  by  exhaustion 
— ^it  acts  by  fermentation."  And  with  this  glimmer- 
ing of  the  certain  glory,  he  a  second  time  sent  forth 
his  favourite  disciple  and  now  beloved  brother ;  refer- 
ring to  "  the  singularly  prophetic  aspect,  not  merely 
of  the  days  in  which  we  live,  but  both  of  Christendom, 
tliat  region  you  are  about  to  leave,  and  of  Eastern 
Asia,  that  region  of  ancient  idolatry  whither  you  are 
going ;  for  we  can  notice  on  that  distant  horizon  the 
faint  breakings  of  evangelical  light  which,  like  the 
dawn  of  early  morn,  may  perhaps  increase  more  and 
more  till  the  drying  up  of  the  Euphrates  that  the  way 
of  the  kings  of  the  East  may  be  prepared." 

We  find  this  note  written  to  Dr.  Chalmers  before 
the  address : — 

"  BiLSTANE  BY  LoANHEAD,  Tuesday,  8th. 

"  Mt  Deae  Sir, — I  thank  you  with  all  my  heart  for 
your  very  kind  note  of  this  morning.  To  receive 
from  you  anew  in  any  form  the  address  of  ten  years 
ago — the  material  of  which  became  food  for  the  white 
ants  of  Bengal,  but  the  moral  of  which  had  been 
previously  incorporated  into  my  mental  constitution — 
will  be  to  me  an  invaluable  boon. 

"  I  am  grieved  to  say  that  I  had  a  pre-engage- 
ment  for  breakfast  on  Thursday  morning,  of  such  a 
nature  that  I  cannot  suspend  it.  But,  if  possible,  I 
shall  endeavour  to  call  on  you  between  ten  and  eleven 
o'clock,  a.m.  I  cannot  express  the  gratification,  the 
comfort,  the  invigoration  of  spirit  which  I  have  ex- 
perienced in  the  very  prospect  of  your  giving  me  a 
parting  address  on  Thursday,  for  to  you  I  feel  more 
indebted,  as  an  instrument  in  the  hands  of  God,  for 
the  impulse  that  carried  me  to  heathen  lands,  than  to 
any  other  in  the  form  of  mere  man.  "With  grateful, 
aff'ectionate  regards,  "  Alexandee  Duff." 


^t.  33.  ANGLO-INDIAN   PARTINGS.  2>^^7 

Dr.  Duff  preached  his  farewell  sermon  to  his  own 
people,  in  the  Moulin  parish  kirk  of  his  childhood, 
from  the  text,  "  Finally,  brethren,  farewell."  The 
services,  Gaelic  and  English,  lasted  for  five  hours,  and 
the  crowded  audience  were  in  tears.  On  the  subse- 
quent Monday  evening  he  met  with  them  again,  and, 
after  a  short  address,  shook  hands  with  the  minister 
in  the  name  of  all  the  country  people,  who  had  flocked 
in  from  the  vale  and  the  hillsides  of  Athole.  Then 
followed  the  living  martyrdom  of  Indian  exile,  tlie 
parting  of  father  and  mother  from  their  four  children. 
The  birth  of  the  youngest,  a  boy,  only  a  few  months 
before,  had  b^en  to  Dr.  Duff  a  source  of  new  joy  and 
strength  at  a  time  of  depression.  Parents  and  children 
were  not  to  meet  again  for  eleven  long  years. 


CHAPTER  XIIX 

1839-1840. 

EOYPT.SINAL—BOMBAY.—MABBAS. 

"Wagliom  and  the  Overland  Route. — Dr.  Duff  as  a  Traveller. — Har- 
■wicli  to  Civita  Veccliia  with  Cardinal  Wiseman. — The  Light 
Wines  of  France. — Syra. — Alexandria. — Muhammad  Ali  and  the 
Church  of  St.  Mark. — The  Pyramids  and  Memphis. — Dr.  Duff  on 
the  Pasha's  Misgovernment  of  Egypt. — Interviewwith  the  Coptic 
Patriarch. — Caravan  to  Suez  and  an  Indian  of  the  old  School. — 
Dr.  Duff  goes  alone  to  Sinai. — Justinian's  Convent  of  St.  Catha- 
rine.— Greek  and  Hindostanee. — A  Christian  Sabbath  on  the 
Mount  of  Moses. — Letter  to  his  Daughter. — Suez. — Bombay. — 
Meeting  vrith  Wilson  and  I^esbit. — The  Differing  Conditions  of 
Western  and  Eastern  India  as  Missionary  Fields. — Comparative 
Backwardness  of  English  Education  in  Bombay. — The  Scottish 
Missions  and  Missionaries  there. — Round  Cape  Comorin  to 
Madras  — A  Night  with  Samuel  Hebich  at  Manga;lore. — The 
Scottish  Mission  iu  Madras. — A  Cyclone  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Hooghly. — Calcutta  again. 

The  Overland  Route,  a  ptrase  which  has  ceased  to 
have  any  but  a  historical  meaning  since  the  opening 
of  the  Suez  Canal,  had  just  been  made  a  fact  when,  in 
the  autumn  of  1839,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Duff  went  forth  to 
India  for  the  second  time.  On  the  ordinary  roll  of 
the  English  martyrs  of  science  the  name  of  Thomas 
Waghorn  is  not  to  be  found.  It  has  been  left  to  the 
French  to  do  justice  to  the  memory  of  the  man  who, 
amid  obstruction,  obloquy  and  injustice  ending  in  a 
pauper's  death,  first  opened  the  British  overland  route 
to  India  in  1830.  When  M.  Ferdinand  de  Lesseps 
created  the  consequent  of  that  by  cutting  the  canal 


^t.  iZ.     LIEUTENANT    WAGHORN    AND    THE    SUEZ   CANAL.    3S9 

between  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Mediterranean  in  1870,* 
his  first  act  was  to  erect,  at  the  Ked  Sea  entrance,  a  co- 
lossal bust  of  Waghorn  on  a  marble  pedestal,  with  bas- 
relief  of  the  explorer  on  a  camel  surveying  the  desert, 
and  this  inscription :  "  La  Compagnie  Universelle  du 
Canal  Maritime  de  Suez  au  Lieutenant  Waghorn." 
We  have  never  passed  that  statue  without  a  sense  of 
shame — and  of  gratitude  to  the  genius  of  the  catholic 
Frenchman.  In  1830,  the  quondam  midshipman  of  the 
Qavy,  who  had  become  a  Bengal  pilot,  sailed  down  the 
Red  Sea  in  an  open  boat  with  despatches  from  Lord 
EUenborough  to  Sir  John  Malcolm.  He  took  four 
months  and  twenty-one  days  to  make  the  journey 
from  London  to  Bombay,  because  all  the  authorities 
except  Lord  William  Bentinck  scouted  him  as  a  mono- 
maniac ;  yet  he  beat  the  Cape  ships  of  the  time,  and  his 
voyage  was  pronounced  *'  extraordinarily  rapid."  For 
ten  years  thereafter  he  wasted  his  life  and  his  means 
of  living  in  attempting  to  convince  the  Company,  which 
snubbed  the  Governor-General  for  sending  the  Hugh 
Lindsay  steamer  to  Suez  in  a  month  ;  and  to  conciliate 
the  king's  Government,  which  sent  Colonel  Chesney 
to  discover  a  short  way  by  the  Euphrates  and  the 
Persian  Gulf.  The  bluff  English  sailor  triumphed, 
but  only  to  see  all  the  fruits  of  his  victory  snatched  by 
the  Government  which  had  scorned  him,  and  for  very 
shame  at  last  threw  him  a  miserable  pension  which 
was  at  once  seized  by  his  creditors.     Thomas  Wag- 


*  In  the  eight  years  endiug  1878,  the  number  of  vessels  which 
have  passed  through  the  Suez  Canal  has  been  10,988,  yielding 
eight  millions  sterling  in  dues.  Of  these  vessels  8,007  were  British, 
which  paid  six  millions  sterling  out  of  the  eight.  In  the  last  year, 
1878,  of  96,303  passengers  who  passed  through  the  Canal  in  1,593 
ships  with  a  measurement  of  3,209,178  tons,  besides  the  many  who 
crossed  the  isthmus  by  railway,  28,339  were  British  soldiers  and 
14,775  Anglo-Indians,  or  43,114  in  all. 


390  LIFE   OF   DR.    DUFF.  1839. 

horn  died  in  the  misery  of  debt,  while  the  Peninsular 
and  Oriental  Company  sent  its  first  steamers,  in  1843, 
along  the  path  he  had  persistently  tracked  out.  To 
complete  the  scandal,  not  seven  years  have  passed 
since  his  aged  sisters  were  driven  to  ask  the  public  for 
support,  while  the  Government  which  had  so  ruined 
their  brother  raised  a  revenue  of  fifty  millions  sterling 
a  year  from  India  and  paid  nearly  half  a  million  in 
subsidies  for  the  postal  traffic  on  his  overland  route. 
So  it  is  that  the  Latin  poet's  experience  is  still  true — 
"Sic  vos  non  vobis."  The  bees  of  humanity  make 
honey,  but  not  for  themselves. 

When  Dr.  Duff  resolved  to  return  to  India  by  what 
was,  in  1839,  still  Waghorn's  overland  route,  he  knew 
the  story  of  the  heroic  pioneer  so  far,  and  he  resolved 
to  run  the  risk.  "A  man  above  the  common  for 
activity,  energy  and  enterprise  ! "  was  his  admiring 
exclamation  then,  before  the  eager  life  had  been-made 
a  miserable  tragedy  by  an  ignorant  country  and  an 
ungrateful  Government.  Hotels  in  Egypt,  swift  horse 
vans  instead  of  camels  in  the  desert,  and  a  steamer 
with  cabin  accommodation  for  twelve  passengers,  were 
the  marvellous  facilities  supplied  by  this  national 
benefactor  in  such  circumstances.  Thus  he  had  con- 
verted the  nearly  five  months  of  1830  into  the  month 
and  a  half  of  1839  between  London  and  Bombay,  just 
as  he  pointed  the  road  to  the  present  reduction  of  the 
time  to  sixteen  days.  Dr.  Duff  had  to  find  his  way 
first  to  Bombay,  at  the  request  both  of  Dr.  Wilson 
and  the  Kirk's  committee,  that  he  might  comfort  and 
counsel  his  colleagues  there  after  the  keen  excitement 
caused  by  the  baptism  of  the  first  two  converts  from 
Parseeism.  His  most  rapid  course  thus  lay  from 
Harwich  to  Antwerp  and  Brussels,  south  by  Paris  to 
Marseilles,  and  thence  by  steamer  to  Syra,  there  to  join 
the  mail  steamer  from  Constantinople  to  Alexandria. 


^t.  S3-  WITH    CARDINAL   WISEMAN.  391 

As  a  traveller  Dr.  Duff  always  showed  more  tlian  the 
apparent  restlessness  of  the  Anglo-Indian.  By  reading 
and  conversation  with  those  who  had  gone  over  his 
route,  he  prepared  himself  for  the  intelligent  enjoy- 
ment of  new  lands  and  peoples.  To  the  ardour  of  the 
boy  he  added  the  endurance  of  manhood  and  the  broad 
culture  of  the  genial  student.  Nothing  sacred  or 
secular  escaped  his  observation,  but  his  letters,  while 
they  delighted  those  who  were  less  travelled,  fell  far 
short  of  his  conversation,  under  the  occasional  stimulus 
of  cross-examination.  Then  his  talk  was  at  its  best, 
whether  he  told  of  the  political  condition  of  a  country 
like  Italy,  of  the  benevolent  enterprises  of  the  Protes- 
tants of  France  and  Switzerland,  or  of  the  numerous 
mishaps  of  a  tour  in  the  wilds  of  Scandinavia. 

We  may  pass  rapidly  over  the  European  portion 
of  his  outward  journey.  At  dinner  in  the  Harwich 
steamer  he  was  attracted  by  the  remarkable  intelli- 
gence of  an  English  gentleman,  on  his  left-hand,  who 
showed  unusual  familiarity  with  the  literary  and 
scientific  questions  of  the  day.  They  parted  on  land- 
ing at  Antwerp,  when,  on  visiting  the  great  cathedral 
to  see  the  master-pieces  of  Rubens,  he  observed  his 
new  acquaintance  bent  almost  prostrate  before  an 
image  of  the  Virgin.  He  then  discovered  that  the 
attractive  talker  was  Dr.  Wiseman,  already  known  as 
a  Syriac  scholar  and  fresh  from  his  controversy  with 
Dr.  Turton  in  that  eucharistic  branch  of  the  Tractarian 
movement  from  which  he  expected  even  greater  fruit 
than  Rome  has  gathered.  Dr.  Wiseman  was  on  his 
way  to  Rome,  where  he  had  been  rector  of  the  English 
College,  and  was  about,  as  bishop,  to  take  the  first 
step  to  the  coveted  position  of  the  seventh  cardinal 
whom  England  had  seen  since  the  Reformation.  At 
Antwerp  Dr.  Duff  observed  the  traces  of  the  wealth 
created  by  the  flow  of  the  trade  from  India  along  the 


392  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1839. 

earliest  overland  route — by  Solomon's  cities  in  the 
desert,  tlie  Danube  and  the  Rhine  to  the  Dutch  East 
India  Company's  docks.  In  Brussels,  "  so  strangely 
mixed  up  with  the  intricate  web  of  British  history," 
and  still  more  in  Paris,  he  marked  "  the  combined 
idolatry  of  sense  and  intellect "  which  more  than  ever 
attracts  worshippers  from  every  land.  As  he  went  on 
to  Chalons-sur-Saone,  Melun  recalled  Abelard  to  him. 
The  wealth  of  the  wine  country  through  which  he  was 
slowly  driven  suggested  such  reflections  as  these,  of 
even  more  significance  to  our  own  time  than  they  were 
forty  years  ago  : — 

"  In  these  countries,  mantled  with  vineyards,  one 
cannot  help  learning  the  true  intent  and  use  of  the 
vine  in  the  scheme  of  Providence.  In  our  own  land 
wine  has  become  so  exclusively  a  mere  luxury,  or, 
what  is  worse,  by  a  species  of  manufacture,  an  intoxi- 
cating beverage,  that  many  have  wondered  how  the 
Bible  so  often  speaks  of  wine  in  conjunction  with  corn 
and  other  such  staple  supports  of  animal  life  !  Now, 
in  passing  through  the  vineyards  in  the  east  of  France, 
one  must  at  once  perceive  that  the  vine  greatly 
flourishes  on  slopes  and  heights  where  the  soil  is  too 
poor  and  gravelly  to  maintain  either  corn  for  food  or 
pasturage  for  cattle.  But  what  is  the  providential 
design  in  rendering  this  soil — favoured  by  a  genial 
atmosphere — so  productive  of  the  vine,  if  its  fruit 
become  solely  either  an  article  of  luxury  or  an  instru- 
ment of  vice  ?  The  answer  is,  that  Providence  had  no 
such  design.  Look  at  the  peasant  at  his  meals  in 
vine-bearing  districts  !  Instead  of  milk  he  has  before 
him  a  basin  of  the  pure  unadulterated  '  blood  of  the 
grape.'  In  this,  its  native  and  original  state,  it  is  a 
plain,  simple  and  wholesome  liquid,  which  at  every 
repast  becomes  to  the  husbandman  what  milk  is  to 
the  shepherd, — not  a  luxury  but  a  necessary,  not  an 


^t.  33.        WINES    OP   FRANCE.       URNS   OF    KTUUUIA.  393 

intoxicating  but  a  nutritive  beverage.  Hence,  to  the 
vine-dressing  peasant  of  Auxorro,  for  example,  an 
abundant  vintage,  as  connected  with  his  own  immedi- 
ate sustenance,  is  as  important  as  an  overflowing  dairy 
to  the  pastoral  peasant  of  Ayrshire.  And  hence,  by 
such  a  view  of  the  subject,  are  the  language  and  the 
sense  of  Scripture  vindicated  from  the  very  appearance 
of  favouring  what  is  merely  luxurious  or  positively 
noxious,  when  it  so  constantly  magnifies  a  well- 
replenished  wine-press,  in  a  rocky,  mountainous 
country  like  that  of  Palestine,  as  one  of  the  richest 
bounties  of  a  gracious  Providence — not  to  the  rich 
or  the  mighty  of  the  earth,  but  to  man,  as  man,  with 
his  manifold  physical  wants  and  infirmities." 

The  sail  from  Chalons  down  the  Saone  took  the 
travellers  into  the  heart  of  scenery  like  their  own 
Scotland,  but  with  a  climate  more  congenial  to  the 
Anglo-Indian  than  the  gloom  and  the  grey  of  the  cold 
North.  Past  Roman  ruins  and  fairy-like  villas,  Rous- 
seau's valley  of  Rochecardon  and  Lyons  of  martyr 
memories, — w^here  a  day  of  refreshing  intercourse  was 
spent  with  the  evangelical  pastor,  M.  Cordes, — they 
were  swept  on  by  the  rapid  Rhone  two  hundred  miles 
in  twelve  hours  to  papal  Avignon ;  thence  Marseilles 
and  its  steamer  were  reached.  On  the  calm  bosom  of 
the  Mediterranean,  the  Presbyterian  and  very  catholic 
missionary  and  the  Roman  Catholic  Dr.  "Wiseman  were 
glad  to  renew  their  talk.  The  magnificence  of  Genoa 
— the  first  "*  city  of  palaces  ' — from  the  sea,  with  the 
setting  sun  bathing  it  in  gold,  gave  place  to  the  gentler 
beauty  of  Leghorn,  framed  as  it  were  in  the  Western 
Apennines,  and  that  to  the  low  land  and  fever-stricken 
sw^amps  of  the  neighbourhood  of  Civita  Vecchia.  As 
they  coasted  along  the  ancient  Etruria,  their  talk  was 
of  the  discovery  of  ancient  urns  in  its  hills.  Here 
Dr.  Wiseman  was  a  master,  and  he  courteously  guided 


394  i-i^E  OP  DR.  DurF.  1839. 

his  travelling  companion  to  the  nearest  eminence 
where  the  treasures  of  ancient  art  had  been  found. 
At  the  then  papal  port  they  parted  never  to  meet 
again,  the  English  priest  to  his  episcopal  consecration 
and  cardinal's  hat  in  due  time,  the  Scottish  missionary 
to  his  turning  upside  down  of  the  idolatries  of  the  far 
East. 

The  Marseilles  steamer  then  called  at  Malta,  passed 
within  a  hundred  yards  of  the  precipitous  headland 
of  Cape  Matapan,  and  dropped  anchor  at  Syra,  the  port 
of  Europe  which  is  nearest  to  India.  The  filth  and 
the  vice  of  a  Levantine  albeit  G-reek  centre  contrasted 
painfully  with  the  glories  of  Homeric  and  even  later 
days.  The  steamer  from  Constantinople  had  Colonel 
Hodges,  the  new  British  Consul-General  for  Egypt,  on 
board,  and  also  the  Rev.  Mr.  Grimshaw,  rector  of 
Bedford,  and  known  in  his  day  as  the  author  of  a  life 
of  Cowper  the  poet.  On  reaching  Alexandria  they 
found  that  the  last  act  of  the  departing  Consul- 
General,  Colonel  Campbell,  would  be  to  lay  the  founda- 
tion stone  of  the  first  English  church,  of  St.  Mark, 
which  now  adorns  one  corner  of  the  great  square.  Dr. 
Dufi"  learned  that  the  ceremony  was  to  be  of  a  purely 
civil  character,  in  this  Muhammadan  city,  with  its 
memories  of  Pant^enus  and  Clement,  of  Origen  and 
Athanasius,  and  sought  an  explanation  of  the  anomaly. 
Colonel  Campbell  was  a  great  favourite  with  the 
enlightened  Muhammad  Ali,  the  irresponsible  ruler 
of  Egypt.  Being  religiously  disposed,  the  Consul- 
General  had  felt  the  need  of  a  Protestant  place  of 
worship  in  a  city  like  that  of  Alexandria,  which  was 
daily  becoming  a  greater  thoroughfare  between  the 
West  and  East  than  it  had  been  since  the  time  of  its 
founder.  Though  himself  a  Presbyterian,  he  did  not 
want  it  to  be  exclusively  Presbyterian  :  he  knew  that 
members  of  all  Protestant  Churches  would   often  be 


JEt.  33.      MUHAMMAD  ALI  AND  ST.  MAKK  8,  ALEXiVNDiilA.     395 

passing  through  and  there  be  often  detained  for  days. 
What  ho  wanted  was  a  Protestant  Church  on  a  purely 
cathoHc  basis,  so  that  he  might  freely  invite  any  minis- 
ter of  any  Church  to  conduct  divine  service  there.  He 
had  repeatedly  therefore  asked  his  friend  the  Pasha 
for  a  piece  of  ground,  outside  the  walls  of  Alexandria, 
on  which  such  a  church  might  be  erected. 

Muhammad  Ali  frankly  declared  that  personally  he 
had  no  prejudice  on  the  subject,  but  the  religious 
heads  of  Islam  at  Constantinople  would  resist  the 
attempt.  At  his  farewell  interview  with  the  Consul- 
General,  however,  he  said,  with  a  smiling  countenance  : 
*'  Colonel  Campbell,  you  and  I  have  always  been  fast 
friends.  You  have  often  greatly  helped  me  with  your 
counsel,  and  in  other  respects  have  done  me  good 
service.  You  know  that  in  the  East  the  custom  is  for 
a  ruler  to  make  his  friend  a  present  of  a  piece  of  land, 
commonly  called  'jagheer,'  to  be  in  perpetuity  his  own 
property.  I  want  to  give  you  a  small  portion  of  the 
space  occupied  by  the  great  square  in  Alexandria, 
very  near  its  centre.  It  is  my  parting  gift  to  you, 
only  you  must  ask  me  no  question  as  to  what  use 
you  may  make  of  it,  as  that  may  involve  me  in 
official  trouble.  But  I  tell  you  plainly,  you  may  use 
it  for  whatever  purpose  you  think  proper."  Colonel 
Campbell  thoroughly  understood  the  Pasha,  thanked 
him  with  all  his  heart,  and  soon  made  over  the  land 
to  a  committee  of  the  English  residents  as  the  site 
of  the  first  English  church.  Muhammad  Ali  went 
further.  He  could  not  himself  be  present,  but  he 
sent  his  chief  officers  of  state  and  his  body-guard 
to  honour  his  friend  on  the  occasion  of  laying  the 
foundation  stone.  All  the  consuls,  all  Alexandria, 
were  to  be  present.  How  could  a  religious  service 
be  attempted  in  such  circumstances  ? 

Colonel  Campbell  came  to  see  that,  even  in  Oriental 


39^  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1839. 

eyes,  the  dedication  of  a  site  for  the  worship  of  God 
Avithout  the  recognition  of  the  presence  of  Grod  would 
be  a  scandal,  or  a  cause  of  suspicion.  Accordingly  on 
the  14th  December,  Dr.  Duff — described  in  the  Globe 
newspaper  of  the  time  as  "  a  missionary  of  some  cele- 
brity in  India,  who  happened  to  be  present  in  Alexan- 
dria— perfo:  ned  the  religious  part  of  the  ceremony, 
in  which  he  was  followed  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Grimshaw." 
Since  that  occasion  Dr.  Yule  has  raised  a  Scottish 
church  near  the  square,  and  M.  de  Lesseps  has  had  his 
canal  cutting  blessed  by  prelates  of  all  the  Eastern 
Churches  side  by  side  with  Muhammadan  Moulvies. 
But  never  before  or  since  has  the  Egypt  of  Fatimite 
caliphs  and  Turkish  pashas  heard  publicly  read  in  its 
greatest  place  Solomon's  dedication  of  the  first  Temple 
and  the  prayers  of  Protestant  ministers  from  West  and 
East.  "  It  was  quite  remarkable  to  note,"  wrote  Dr. 
DuflP,  "the  stillness,  respectfulness,  and  earnestness 
with  which  the  whole  mass  of  surrounding  Mussul- 
mans, only  a  few  of  whom  could  understand  English, 
listened  to  the  prayers,  the  reading,  and  addresses,  and 
then  quietly  dispersed.  Such  was  the  noble  catholicity 
of  the  Protestant  church,  as  projected  and  practically 
established  by  Colonel  Campbell."  In  two  interviews 
with  Muhammad  Ali  thereafter,  Dr.  Dufi*  pressed  upon 
the  Pasha  the  importance,  for  industrial  as  well  as 
other  reasons,  of  attracting  the  Jews  back  to  Palestine, 
for  the  Pasha  was  at  the  time  master  of  that  part  of 
Syria. 

By  dahahieh  up  the  Mahmoodieh  canal,  excavated 
in  1820  by  cruelly  forced  labour,  and  slowly  up  the 
Hooghly-like  Nile  of  the  Delta,  Cairo  was  reached,  only 
to  find  that  there  were  sixty  passengers  to  fill  the  twelve 
berths  of  the  small  steamer  to  Bombay.  This  gave 
Dr.  Duff  a  whole  month,  in  which  he  not  only  visited 
the   pyramids   of  Geezeh  and  Sakkara,  and  explored 


yKt.  S3-  MUIIA.MMADAX    MISlJULK    IX    KOYPT.  397. 

Mempliis  from  the  ancient  cemetery,  of  winch  Sit* 
G.  Wilkinson's  Arabs  were  busily  laying  bare  the 
mummy  pits,  but  carefully  studied  the  condition  of 
the  unhappy  fellaheen  of  Egypt,  and  afterwards  went 
to  Mount  Sinai.  Familiar  with  Bengal  and  with  the 
British  financial  and  administrative  systems,  the  far- 
seeing  missionary  formed  impressions  regarding  the 
rule  of  Muhammad  Ali  very  different  from  those  which 
were  popular  at  the  time,  but  too  sadly  confirmed 
by  the  subsequent  history  of  Egypt  to  the  present 
hour.  Indeed,  having  many  times  passed  through 
the  land,  from  the  days  of  the  vans  in  the  desert  to 
those  of  the  canal  steamer  and  the  new  railway,  we 
can  find  no  more  correct  description  of  Egypt  as  it  was 
than  that  of  the  Bengal  missionary  in  1839,  and  no 
more  faithful  account  of  Egypt  as  it  is  than  that  of  the 
Bengal  Lieutenant-Governor,  Sir  George  Campbell. 
The  one  unconsciously  confirms  the  other.  Both 
independently  show  the  hopelessness  of  Mussulman 
rule  under  the  very  best  conditions. 

After  an  eloquent  description  of  Cairo,  full  of  the 
life  and  colour  of  the  confused  oriental  scene  which 
Parisian  taste  has  now  covered  but  not  cleansed,  and 
the  exposure  of  a  great  magician  whose  spiritist  arts 
made  him  the  talk  of  the  East,  Dr.  Duff  wrote  in  the 
Calcutta  Christian  Observer  of  1840,  that  the  hope 
of  a  revival  of  Egypt  under  the  new  Pasha  was  a 
delusion. 

"  That  the  Pasha  is  one  of  the  most  extraordinary 
men  of  his  age — a  man  of  uncommon  talent  and 
energy  of  character ;  a  man,  too,  capable  of  being- 
courteous  and  affable  in  the  extreme — is  universally 
conceded.  But  that  he  is,  in  any  sense,  the  real  friend 
or  regenerator  of  Egypt,  is  belied  by  every  one  of  his 
actions.  Self,  self,  self,  is  with  him  the  all  in  all. 
Personal  fame,  personal  power,  and  personal  aggran- 


39^  LIFE    OP   DK,   DUFF.  1840. 

dizement,  circumscribe  the  entire  horizon  of  his  policy. 
On  the  details  of  his  well-known  history  it  is  needless 
to  dwell.  Born  of  a  humble  parentage  at  Cavallo 
in  Albania,  in  1769,  he  for  some  time  acted  as  an 
assistant  collector  of  taxes,  and  afterwards  as  a  to- 
bacco merchant.  Having  been  twice  admitted  to  his 
immediate  presence,  it  wonderfully  struck  us  that  his 
whole  appearance  still  pointed  very  significantly  to 
the  lowliness  of  his  origin.  Of  middle  stature,  inclined 
to  corpulency  rather  than  corpulent,  he  exhibited  in 
his  countenance  nought  of  real  greatness,  dignity,  or 
command.  Indeed,  the  entire  expression  of  it  was 
decidedly  of  a  sharp,  harsh,  and  vulgar  cast ;  its  chief 
redeeming  quality  being  its  venerable  beard.  But 
those  eyes — were  they  not  striking  ?  Yea,  verily ; 
such  a  pair  of  flashing  eyes  we  never  saw.  It  seemed 
as  if  their  possessor  could  penetrate  through  one's 
bodily  frame,  and  at  a  single  glance  read  the  most 
secret  thoug^hts  and  intents  of  the  heart.  Still  it  was 
not  the  piercing  glance  of  a  profound  intelligence 
which  mainly  lightened  through  these  eyes  :  it  was 
rather  the  vivid  flash  of  a  tiger-like  ferocity.  Hence, 
doubtless,  his  favourite  oath,  when  bent  on  some  deed 
of  more  than  ordinary  horror,  '  By  my  eyes  ! '  When 
he  spoke,  his  voice  had  a  peculiar  shrillness  which 
made  one  feel  uneasy ;  and  when  he  smiled,  his  very 
smile  had  somewhat  in  it  of  a  savage  grin." 

Dr.  Duff  showed  in  detail,  in  agriculture,  in  manu- 
factures, in  public  works,  in  commerce,  in  military 
discipline,  and  in  the  aggravated  horrors  of  the  slave- 
trade,  that  all  the  changes  amounted  to  neither  a 
reform  nor  a  regeneration,  but  to  the  oriental  art  of 
squeezing  the  peasantry  that  the  ruler  might  have 
a  full  treasury  and  a  ruthless  army.  The  solitary 
printing-press  and  polytechnic  school  were  "  in  point 
of  fact,  as  much  the  mere  instrument  of  an  all-absorb- 


^t.  34.  DEGENERACY    OF   TnE    COPTIC   CHURCH.  399 

iug  despotism  as  the  drill  ground,  the  cannon  foundry 
or  the  powder  mill."  Then,  as  all  through  the 
debasing  history  of  his  house,  while  it  is  true  that 
Muhammad  Ali  and  his  successors  have  been  capable 
of  occasional  acts  of  generosity,  the  remark  of  their 
French  panegyrist  sums  up  the  truth  : — "  The  traveller 
sees  with  astonishment  the  richness  of  the  harvests 
contrasted  with  the  wretched  state  of  the  villajres.  If 
there  is  no  country  more  abundant  in  its  territorial 
productions,  there  is  none,  perhaps,  whose  inhabitants 
on  the  whole  are  more  miserable."  Forty  years  of 
that  misery  have  slowly  passed,  handing  it  on  in  an 
intensified  form  to  a  new  generation,  from  whom 
Christian  bond-holders  still  demand  the  pound  of  flesh, 
while  the  Western  Powers  are  foiled  in  the  attempt  to 
keep  the  fellaheen  quiet,  only,  let  us  hope,  to  hasten 
the  day  of  their  deliverance. 

Dr.  Duff  could  not  be  in  Egypt  without  studying 
the  most  degraded  of  all  Christian  churches  except  its 
Abyssinian  offshoot,  the  Coptic.  Yery  tender  is  the 
sympathy,  very  eager  the  hope,  which  he  expresses  in 
its  case.  Then  the  only  missionaries  in  all  Egypt  were 
Messrs.  Lieder  andKruse,  the  former  and  his  wife  long 
the  benefactors  of  its  people,  and  the  friends  of  all 
Christian  travellers  who  sought  them  out.  Now 
American  Presbyterians  like  Dr.  Lansing,  as  well  as 
others,  have  done  in  Cairo,  and  from  Ramleh  to  the 
equator,  the  same  work  among  Copts  and  Arabs  that 
Dr.  DujBf  had  been  doing  among  Hindoos  and  Muliam- 
madans.  "  Roused  by  recollections  of  faded  glory,  we 
felt  moved  with  a  burning  desire  to  know  how  life 
could  be  rebreathed  into  the  shrivelled  skeleton  of  so 
fruitful  and  so  noble  a  mother  of  churches,"  wrote 
Dr.  Duff.  The  Patriarch,  professing  to  be  the 
apostolic  successor  of  St.  Mark,  had  been  conveyed 
from  his  convent  to  the  chair  of  the  Evangelist  by 


400  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.     .  1840. 

the  soldiery  of  the  Pasha  for  consecration  !  Dr.  Duff 
sought  an  interview  with  him,  that  he  might  urge 
the  gradual  establishment  of  a  college  like  that  in 
Calcutta — a  scheme  since  most  successfully  carried 
out  by  the  Americans.  He  and  Mr.  Grimshaw  were 
conducted  to  the  audience  chamber  by  the  Bishop  of 
Jerusalem. 

"  There  the  Patriarch,  a  dark-complexioned,  venerable 
old  man  clad  in  his  pontificals,  was  seated  in  oriental 
style  to  receive  us.  Having  explained  the  anti-popish 
character  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Churches  of  England 
and  of  Scotland  as  well  as  of  other  Protestant  denomi- 
nations, and  having  referred  at  some  length  to  the 
original  prosperity  and  subsequent  decline  and  per- 
secution of  the  Church  of  Egypt,  we  expressed  ,  our 
deep  regret  at  the  obscuration  of  their  light,  our 
sympathy  for  their  past  and  present  sufferings,  and 
our  earnest  concern  for  their  restoration  to  more  than 
primitive  excellence.  The  Patriarch  admitted  that 
many  grievous  errors  had  formerly  crept  in ;  that 
much  deadnoss  still  continued  to  benumb,  and  much 
darkness  to  overshadow  them ;  and  that  there  was 
need  for  the  infusion  of  new  life  and  new  light. 
When,  in  making  this  admission,  he  pointedly  referred 
to  the  sufferings  of  their  martyred  fathers,  he  seemed 
greatly  moved,  and  melted  into  tears.  What  then  was 
to  be  done  towards  a  revival  and  a  re-illumination? 
Might  not,  it  was  asked,  might  not  the  Bible  be  freely 
circulated,  not  in  the  Coptic,  which  was  a  dead  lan- 
guage studied  by  few,  but  in  the  Arabic,  which,  read 
by  numbers,  was  understood  and  spoken  by  all  ? 
Without  qualification  or  reserve  the  Patriarch  de- 
clared that  it  might;  adding,  with  emphasis,  that 
whatever  else  might  be  alleged  against  his  Church, 
this  at  least  had  never  ceased  to  be  one  of  its  distin- 
guishing characteristics,  viz.,  that  the  Bible  should  ba 


^t.  34.    HIS  SCHEME  FOR  REVIVING  THE  COPTIC  CHURCH.    4OI 

held  as  the  ultimate  standard  of  appeal  in  articles  of 
faith  ;  and  that  to  it,  through  any  intelligible  medium, 
the  laity  and  the  priest  should,  all  alike,  have  the 
right  of  unrestricted  access.  Again,  it  was  asked 
whether,  in  order  to  aid  in  reviving  and  diffusing 
a  knowledge  of  Christian  doctrine,  tracts  or  small 
books  in  the  form  of  extracts  or  selections  from  the. 
most  celebrated  fathers  of  the  Alexandrian  school, 
who  are  still  regarded  with  profoundest  veneration 
by  the  Copts  themselves,  might  not  be  compiled,  trans- 
hited,  and  distributed  among  the  people,  or  introduced 
into  seminaries  of  education  ?  Without  hesitation  the 
Patriarch — smiling  with  evident  delight  at  our  respect- 
ful recognition  of  names  which  have  reflected  honour 
on  the  Christian  Church — replied,  that  there  could  be 
no  possible  objection  to  such  a  measure,  yea,  that  he 
would  consider  such  tracts  and  books  an  invaluable 
boon.  The  subject  of  raising  or  rather  new-creating 
a  standard  of  instruction  for  the  clergy  next  occupied 
the  main  part  of  conversation.  Not  to  arouse  the 
fears  and  suspicions  of  an  ignorance  so  profound,  not 
to  tear  up  by  the  roots  a  plant  so  sapless  and  feeble 
by  sudden  stretches  of  innovation,  it  was  asked  in 
the  first  instance,  whether  a  seminary  might  not  be 
established  in  which  candidates  for  the  ministry 
could  pass  through  a  systematic  course  of  theological 
tuition,  making  the  Bible  itself  the  great  text-book, 
and  selections  from  the  most  venerated  of  the  fathers 
important  auxiliaries,  superadding,  with  a  view  to  the 
expansion  of  the  mind  by  an  enlargement  of  the  range 
of  ideas,  a  course  of  instruction  in  geography  and 
general  history,  ancient  and  modern,  placing  the 
whole  system  under  the  patronage  and  supervision 
of  a  committee  composed  of  the  Patriarch  himself  and 
other  leading  members  of  the  Coptic  community,  to- 
gether with  the  English  missionaries,  and  entrusting 

D  D 


402  LIFE    OP   DE.    DUFF.  1840. 

the  latter  with  the  entire  practical  and  professorial 
duties  of  the  proposed  institution  ?  After  much  initial 
explanation,  the  Patriarch  eventually  signified  his  own 
acquiescence  in  some  such  scheme.  He  accordingly 
announced  his  consent  and  sanction  that  Mr.  Lieder 
should  forthwith  prepare  in  writing  a  well  digested 
syllabus  of  the  projected  plan,  to  be  submitted  form- 
ally to  himself  and  his  council  of  bishops  and  presby- 
ters for  their  united  approval  and  ratification;  and 
that,  when  approved  of  and  ratified,  an  authenticated 
copy  thereof,  signed  by  the  Patriarch  and  sealed  with 
the  patriarchal  signet,  should  be  furnished  to  the 
missionaries,  to  be  by  them  forwarded  for  the  satis- 
faction of  the  British  Churches,  with  a  view  to  secure 
and  guarantee  their  countenance  and  support.  After 
replying  to  many  other  questions  relative  to  the 
present  doctrines,  discipline  and  ceremonial  of  his 
Church ;  and  after  thanking  us  for  the  interest  which 
had  been  manifested  in  its  re-invigoration  and  pros- 
perity, the  Patriarch  rose  up  and  solemnly  pronounced 
his  benediction,  subjoining,  with  tearful  eyes  and 
quivering  lips  which  betrayed  deep  emotion,  the  simple 
but  devout  aspiration :  '  If  we  should  never  meet 
again  in  time,  my  prayer  is,  tharfc  we  may  meet  in 
heaven,  before  the  throne  of  our  common  Lord  and 
Saviour.' " 

For  the  expedition  from  Cairo  to  the  peninsula  of 
Sinai  a  party  of  five  Enghsli  gentlemen  offered  to  join 
Dr.  Duff.  At  Alexandria  he  had  engaged  an  assistant 
at  the  British  Consulate,  who  was  master  of  the  popular 
Arabic.  The  sheikh  of  the  tribes  of  the  Sinai  range, 
happening  to  be  in  Cairo,  was  secured  as  guide  of 
the  caravan,  Mr.  Lieder  making  the  necessary  con- 
tract. Bach  of  the  six  travellers  had  three  camels, 
for  himself,  for  the  tent  and  for  the  provisions. 
One  was  a  Madras  civilian,  whose  ideas  of  comfort  in 


^t.  34.  AN    OLD    INDIAN    IN   THE    DESERT.  403 

the  desert  proved  to  be  those  of  the  most  luxurious 
nawab  tliat  Theodore  Hook  or  Thackeray  ever  satir- 
ised. The  route  was  the  most  southerly,  from  old 
Memphis  to  Jebol  Attaka,  believed  by  the  scholars  of 
that  day  to  have  been  the  line  of  the  Exodus,  just  as 
the  latest  scholar,  Brugsch  Bey,*  would  now  send  tlio 
Israelites  north  through  the  Serbonian  bog.  Before 
sunrise  on  the  morniug  after  the  first  encampment  in 
the  desert,  when  all  were  up  for  a  frugal  breakfast 
and  early  start,  the  nawab  was  heard  shouting  for 
his  gridiron,  and  then  for  chops.  He  was  pacified 
with  difficulty,  but  only  to  call  an  early  halt  for 
*  tiffin,'  or  luncheon,  in  the  blazing  sun.  Next  day  a 
sandstorm  threatened  to  engulf  the  whole  party,  and 
the  unhappy  gourmand  demanded  to  be  led  back  to 
the  joys  of  the  Waghorn  hotel  in  Cairo.  He  was  forced 
to  proceed,  but  his  troubles  were  not  yet  at  an  end. 
On  the  following  morniug,  after  the  misery  of  the 
sand,  he  called  for  water.  Dr.  Duff's  description  of 
the  scene  used  to  be  most  amusinsf.  "  For  what 
purpose?"  **  Why,"  said  the  nawab,  "to  have  a  bath, 
for  this  state  of  things  is  simply  intolerable."  His 
associates  tried  to  persuade  him  that  it  was  vain  to 
expect  water  for  such  a  purpose.  Then  it  was  that  he 
coolly  asked  for  one  or  more  of  the  hogskins  in  which 
water  for  culinary  purposes  was  carried,  though,  as 
the  skins  had  not  been  sufficiently  tanned,  the  water 
by  that  time  had  got  the  colour  of  London  porter ! 
Yet  being  the  only  water  available  for  necessary  uses, 
no  part  of  it  could  be  given  up  for  the  luxury  of  a 
bath.  The  civilian  was  still  unsatisfied,  and  could  not 
be  quieted.  At  last  it  occurred  to  some  one  to  call 
the  sheikh.     The  look  of  the  Arab  was  one  of  perfect 

*  A  History  of  Egypt  tinder  the  Pharaohs  derived  enlirclij  from  the 
Momiments.     By  Henry  Brugsch  Bey.     1879. 


404  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1840. 

astonislimeub.  He  ejed  the  Sybarite  from  liead  to 
foot  as  if  liis  eyes  would  penetrate  his  very  body.  At 
last  when  the  explanation  was  fully  given,  the  sheikh, 
instead  of  a  formal  reply,  looked  somewhat  con- 
temptuously at  the  gentleman,  put  both  his  hands 
down  into  the  deep  sand,  took  up  a  handful,  rubbed 
his  fingers  with  it,  and  looking  steadfastly  at  the 
Englishman,  said  with  great  emphasis  :  *'  That,  sir, 
is  the  water  of  the  desert!"  The  result  was  that, 
from  Suez,  Dr.  Duff  alone  went  on  to  Sinai,  while  his 
companions  returned  to  Cairo,  not  however  without 
having  exacted  from  the  sheikh  a  new  pledge,  drawn 
up  by  the  English  vice-consul  then  just  established  at 
Suez,  to  bring  back  in  safety  the  foolhardy  missionary  ! 
The  silence  of  the  desert  of  Sinai  for  the  next  fort- 
night proved  a  time  of  refreshing  to  the  spirit  of  the 
solitary  traveller,  as  he  passed  from  the  toils  of  the 
West  to  the  labours  about  to  be  renewed  in  India. 
Bible  in  hand,  he  rode  day  by  day  along  the  track  of 
the  children  of  Israel,  as  they  had  marched,  noting 
the  wells,  the  palm-trees,  the  acacias,  the  camel  tracks, 
and  the  desert  landscape.  As  he  left  the  Eed  Sea  for 
the  great  plain  at  the  foot  of  the  Mount  of  the  Law, 
he  followed  the  eastern  central  route  and  returned  by 
the  south-western,  that  he  might  cover  as  much  ground 
as  possible.  It  was  evening  when  he  came  to  the 
outer  border  of  the  great  platform  of  the  wilderness  of 
sandy  rock.  The  rays  of  the  setting  sun  fell  slantingly 
on  the  stupendous  masses  of  grey  granite  which  form 
the  Sinai  range,  as  it  stretches  for  forty  or  fifty  miles 
along  the  sea  and  rises  to  a  height  of  between  8,000  and 
9,000  feet.  To  his  imagination  the  sight  was  that  of 
a  mighty  fortress  on  fire,  of  blazing  battlements  and 
flashing  towers.  On  the  morrow  at  sunrise,  while  the 
ground  w^s  still  bound  by  frost,  the  disintegrated 
granite  seemed  a  mass  of  orient  pearl  and  gold,  and 


Mt.  34.     APPROACni-NG  THE  MOUNT  OF  MOSES.       405 

the  plain  looked  as  if  strewed  with  the  manna  from 
heaven,  which  melted  away  as  the  sun  rose  in  the 
sky.  k:5iiice  that  time  many  a  scientific  explorer 
and,  finally,  the  Ordnance  Survey  have  revealed  the 
physical  appearances  of  the  wilderness  of  the  wander- 
ings, only  to  leave  the  question  of  the  actual  peak 
from  which  God  talked  with  Moses  as  unsettled  as 
ever.  Dr.  Duff's  experiences,  as  often  told  to  his 
chiklren  and  grandcliildren  down  to  his  last  years, 
have  an  interest  of  their  own. 

The  broad  valley  running  along  the  north  side, 
opposite  the  eastern  portion  of  the  Sinai  range,  is  the 
Wady  es-Sheikh.  The  wady  runs  eastward  for  some 
distance,  then  turning  to  the  south  it  enters  the  centre 
of  the  great  range,  and  proceeds  westward  to  the 
foot  of  Jebel  Musa,  the  traditional  Mount  Sinai.* 
This  undoubtedly.  Dr.  Duff  used  to  say,  is  the  route 
that  would  be  pursued  by  any  great  caravan  or  large 
company  of  travellers,  and  more  particularly  by  such 
a  host  as  that  of  Israel.  From  the  central  point  in 
the  Wady  es-Sheikh  there  is  a  pass  which  rises  on  the 
riofht  to  a  considerable  elevation,  and  runs  strai<2:ht 
to  Jebel  Musa.  Following  this,  Dr.  Duff  was  struck 
by  the  appearance  of  the  precipitous  mountains  on 
both  sides.  It  really  looked  as  if  the  mount  some 
time  or  other  had  been  cleft  asunder.  As  he  as- 
cended, the  mountain  air  became  exhilarating  in  a 
way  scarcely  to  be  conceived.  When  the  summit  of 
the  pass  was  reached,  a  lofty,  perpendicular  conical- 
looking  mountain  suddenly  rose  up  some  miles  in 
front.  Immediately  the  whole  of  the  Arabs  dis- 
mounted   and   began   to    shout    out,    "  Jebel   Musa," 

*  Dean  Stanley's  map  of  the  traditional  Sinai,  in  his  Sinai  and 
Palestine  (1860),  best  illustrates  Di\  Dufi's  experience  in  1840,  and 
Dr.  Wilson's  in  1843. 


406  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1840. 

"  Jebel  Miisa,"  "  Jebel  Musa,"  showing  tlie  veneration 
they  had  for  the  mountain.  Then  the  traveller  entered 
on  a  very  remarkable  gently  sloping  plain,  the  slope 
being  downwards  to  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  but  the 
surface  as  smooth  as  if  it  had  been  artificially  pre- 
pared. Here  was  a  plain  quite  capable  of  holding  the 
entire  encampment  of  the  Israelites,  for  it  should 
never  be  forgotten  that  their  ordinary  tentage  must 
have  occupied  very  little  space,  somewhat  like  that  of 
the  Arabs  now.  This  plain  seemed  a  gigantic  nest  in 
the  centre  of  the  mountains,  for  all  round  on  every 
side  it  was  bordered  by  craggy  precipices.  The  soli- 
tude was  profound,  reminding  him  of  the  perfect 
stillness  of  a  well-kept  Scottish  Sabbath.  Proceed- 
ing onwards  he  reached  the  base  of  a  high  peak. 
Here  the  first  thing  which  astonished  him  was  the 
literal  truth  of  the  Scripture  passage  which  speaks  of 
the  mountain  that  might  be  touched,  and,  when  the 
law  was  given  with  such  awful  solemnity  from  its 
summit,  declares  how  means  were  used  to  prevent  the 
people  from  touching  it.  As  a  native  of  the  Gram- 
pians, he  had  been  wont  from  infancy  to  gaze  at  and 
climb  mountains.  Then  when  he  read  this  in  the 
Bible  about  Mount  Sinai,  he  wondered  what  it  meant ; 
for  if  any  one  had  told  him,  as  a  youth,  of  any 
Scottish  or  Grampian  mountain  that  it  might  be 
touched,  or  that  means  might  be  taken  to  prevent  its 
being  touched,  he  would  at  once  have  inquired — for 
instance  of  Schehallion,  Ben  Lawers,  or  Ben-y-gloe — 
"Where  is  the  beginning  of  the  mountain?"  Now 
when  he  saw  Mount  Sinai  itself,  the  literal  truth  of 
the  whole  description  flashed  upon  him. 

A  mile  or  two  up  the  wady,  on  the  east  side  of  the 
mountain,  is  the  celebrated  convent,  Justinian's  St. 
Catharine.  He  had  left  Suez  on  Monday  morning, 
and   it  was  Saturday  forenoon  when  he  reached  the 


Mi.  34.  IN    ST.    CATHARINE  S    CONVENT.  407 

convent.  The  stately  building  is  an  irregular  fortress, 
with  apparently  no  entrance  into  it.  For  the  sake 
of  protection  from  the  Arabs  it  is  surrounded  by  a 
massive  wall,  forty  feet  high.  In  the  centre  of  the 
eastern  wall  was  a  cupola,  with  a  windlass  inside  ;  the 
ordinary  rule  was,  when  strangers  appeared  there,  to 
let  down  a  bag  to  receive  any  communication,  from 
parties  known  to  the  superior,  who  might  accredit 
their  character  and  position.  When  Dr.  Duff  loft 
Cairo  there  were  six  who  intended  to  visit  the  convent, 
and  they  got  from  the  Greek  Patriarch  the  requisite 
order.  But  here  was  only  one  traveller.  The  superior 
demanded  an  explanation  from  the  sheikh.  On  that 
Dr.  DufF  was  hoisted  up  into  the  convent,  and  was 
fairly  installed  as  a  guest  in  all  that  is  left  of  what 
was  once  the  great  episcopal  city  of  Paran,  and  a 
mountain  of  Greek  hermitages  to  which  pilgrims 
flocked  from  all  parts  of  the  Christian  East. 

How  to  communicate  intelligibly  witli  the  superior 
and  the  monks  was  the  Indian  missionary's  first  diffi- 
culty. They  were  ignorant  of  Latin,  but  their  first 
evening  service,  followed  by  a  reading  of  the  Gospels, 
suggested  to  Dr.  DufF  that  he  should  try  Greek. 
After  he  had  been  taken  round  the  traditional  siofhts 
of  the  convent,  including  the  legendary  site  of  the 
burning  bush,  he  visited  the  superior,  who  was 
walking  on  the  terrace.  Having  heard  of  the  convent 
garden,  every  inch  of  the  soil  of  which  had  been  carried 
from  Egypt  on  camel-back.  Dr.  Duff  said  to  him,  "  You 
have  a  garden,"  using  the  word  paradeisos.  To  him, 
examining  the  little  spot,  the  superior  said,  "  You  are 
going  to  India,"  as  the  Patriarch's  certificate  stated. 
"  Yes,"  said  Dr.  Duff,  "  I  am  returning  to  it."  "  Do 
you  speak  the  Indian  language,  then?"  "  In  India," 
Dr.  Duff  replied,  "  there  are  many  languages."  On 
this    the    superior   sent  for   a    monk   who    had  spent 


408  LIFE    OP   DR.    DUFF.  1840. 

several  years  in  India,  and  tlie  man  came  into  his 
presence  exclaiming,  "Baliout,  baliont  salaam,  Sabeb," 
The  familiar  Hindostanee  thenceforth  became  his 
medium  of  communication.  The  old  monk  was  a 
Russian  by  birth.  As  a  pedlar  he  had  worked  his 
way  through  the  great  Khanates  of  Central  Asia  and 
Afghanistan  to  the  Punjab,  and  thence  had  gone  as 
far  as  Calcutta,  where  he  had  resided  for  some  time. 
Such  wanderings  are  still  not  unusual  on  the  part  of 
semi-Eastern  races  at  a  low  stage  of  civilization  like 
the  Russians,  and  of  our  own  hardy  Muhammadan 
and  Sikh  merchants.  Sikhs  and  Hindoos  of  Western 
India  have  been  settled  in  St.  Petersburg ;  there  are 
traces  of  them  in  the  marts  along  the  Danube,  and  we 
have  met  them  in  recent  years  at  the  Nijni  Novgorod 
fair  on  the  Volga.  Not  long  ago  the  Government  of 
India  was  sorely  puzzled  to  find  heirs  in  the  Punjab 
for  the  enormous  fortune  left  by  a  villager  who  had 
thus  found  his  way  to  wealth  in  the  Nevski  Prospekt. 
Having  set  his  heart  on  climbing  to  the  top  of  the 
Mount  of  Moses  before  the  sun  rose  on  the  coming 
Sabbath,  Dr.  Duff  persuaded  his  new  friend,  in  spite 
of  all  dissuasions,  to  call  him  in  time  and  give  him 
a  younger  guide  with  food  that  he  might  there  spend 
the  day  of  rest  and  worship.  Excited  by  the  prospect 
he  could  not  sleep,  any  more  than  Tischendorf  when, 
four  years  after  this,  that  scholar  spent  Whitsun  morn 
on  the  peak  of  Jebel  Musa,  during  the  memorable 
visit  when  his  casual  discovery  of  forty-three  leaves 
of  the  Septuagint  among  the  waste  paper  intended 
for  the  oven  of  the  convent,  led  to  his  discovery  of 
the  only  complete  Uncial  MS.  of  the  Bible.  Descend- 
ing from  St.  Catharine,  which  the  Ordnance  Survey 
places  at  an  elevation  of  5,020  feet,  while  Jebel  Musa 
rises  to  7,359,  the  impetuous  missionary  mounted  up- 
wards with  a   speed   that   alarmed   his    guide.      The 


.^t.  34.  ON    THE    TOP    OF    MOUNT    SINAI.  409 

summit  was  reached  just  before  the  sun's  first  rays 
heralded  his  approach,  always  rapid  in  the  south,  and 
the  sky  was  clear  without  a  cloud.  Dr.  Duff's  heart 
was  filled  with  gratitude  to  God  for  the  favour  with 
which  He  had  thus  visited  him.  While  the  monk 
vainly  displayed  the  contents  of  his  wallet,  the  travel- 
ler was  gazing  at  the  first  red  ray  of  light  which  shot 
and  then  streamed  over  the  whole  range,  turning  its 
peaks  for  the  moment  into  a  succession  of  glowing 
furnaces.  Then  rose  the  glorious  luminary  of  day  in 
all  the  fulness  of  its  majesty,  calling  out  from  the  dark 
waste  of  mountains  the  infinite  variety  of  tints  and 
colours.  There  he  penned  this  letter  to  his  daughter, 
one  of  twelve  which  he  wrote  to  dear  friends  in 
Scotland  from  the   same  spot : — 

"  Top  of  Mount  Sinai, 
*'  Sabbath  Morning,  12th  January,  1840. 

"  My    Deaeest    R , — Did   you    ever   expect  to 

get  a  letter  from  papa  dated  ^ Mount  Sinai^  ? — a  letter 
written  on  the  very  top  of  that  extraordinary  moun- 
tain on  which  Jehovah  once  came  down,  amid  thun- 
derings  and  lightnings,  so  that  the  thousands  of 
Israel  were  affrighted,  and  Moses  himself  exceedingly 
quaked  !  And  yet  so  it  is.  Here  I  am  on  a  Sabbath 
morning,  on  the  12th  January,  about  sunrise — when 
perhaps  you  and  your  sister  and  brothers  are  scarcely 
out  of  bed.  And  amid  all  the  wonders  of  that  most 
indescribable  scene  around  me  I  have  not  forgotten 
my  dear  children,  or  the  guardian  friends  that  surround 
them.  Yes,  this  very  moment  I  have  finished  reading 
aloud  the  19th  and  20th  chapters  of  Exodus, — but  oh 
in  what  a  different  voice  from  that  in  which  they  were 
uttered  upwards  of  three  thousand  years  ago ;  and 
have  just  now  risen  from  the  naked  granite  peak,  on 
which  I  knelt  to  implore  the  Lord  for  a  blessing — to 


4IO  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1840. 

pray  that  the  law  miglit  be  my  schoolmaster  to 
brmg  me  to  Christ ;  and  iu  my  prayer,  rest  assured 
that  you  and  sister,  brothers  and  other  friends,  were 
not  forgotten.  No ;  the  remembrance  of  you  all  has 
been  sweet  to  me.  May  the  Lord  lead  and  guide  you, 
in  grace  and  in  truth,  to  know  and  to  do  His  holy 
will! 

"  I  left  Cairo  in  company  with  some  gentlemen  for 
Sinai.  We  followed  the  route  of  the  children  of  Israel 
as  recorded  in  Exodus,  through  Succoth,  Etham, 
Pihahiroth  to  the  Red  Sea — to  the  memorable  spot 
where  Jehovah  divided  the  waters  of  the  great  deep 
to  afford  a  safe  passage  to  His  chosen  people.  We 
could  not  cross  on  dry  ground,  so  we  travelled  north- 
ward to  Suez,  where  my  companions,  from  fatigue  or 
faint-heartedness  in  traversing  the  desert,  resolved  to 
proceed  no  farther.  So,  in  the  society  of  an  Arab 
sheikh,  or  chief  of  a  tribe,  and  a  few  Arabs,  with 
camels,  etc.,  I  advanced  alone  along  the  eastern  border 
of  the  Red  Sea  into  the  'great  and  terrible  wilderness  ;* 
passed  the  bitter  fountain  of  Marah — whose  waters  I 
tasted  and  found  as  bitter  and  un drinkable  as  ever ; 
passed  Elim,  where  there  are  still  wells  and  palm- 
trees  ;  came  to  the  spot  where  the  Israelites  next 
encamped  by  the  sea  shore,  and  so  on  to  the  base  and 
top  of  Sinai,  where  I  now  am. 

"  But  you  may  say,  '  What,  papa,  climb  a  mountain 
on  Sabbath  !'  Yes,  my  dear;  think  for  a  moment.  In 
Edinburgh,  where  there  is  a  church,  it  would  be  wrong 
not  to  go  there  to  worship  with  the  rest  of  God's 
people.  But  here  there  is  no  church — no  church 
within  hundreds  of  miles,  in  which  I  could  worship. 
Now  you  know  that  God  is  'not  confined  to  temples 
made  with  hands.'  He  is  a  Spirit,  and  is  to  be  wor- 
shipped in  spirit  and  in  truth.  He  is  everywhere  to 
be  found,  and  may  everywhere   be   worshipped.     Our 


Mt.  34.  SlNAI   AND    CALVARY.  4  I  I 

Saviour  often  went  apart  to  a  mountain  to  pray;  so 
this  morning  I  retired  to  tlie  summit  of  Sinai  to  hold 
communion  with  my  Grod,  and  to  remember  in  prayer 
those  that  are  dear  to  me.  I  never  had  such  a  church 
before;  for  this  is  the  church  wliere  Jehovah  Himself 
proclaimed  the  law  to  the  thousands  of  Israel.  And 
the  very  rocks  now  surround  me  that  quaked  and 
shook  at  that  mighty  voice.  Oh  may  we  all  find 
refuge  from  the  thunders  of  Sinai  beneath  the  shadow 
of  the  Cross  of  Calvary  ! 

"  This  is  a  solemn  spot !  This  is  a  solemn  day  ! 
And  never  in  my  life  did  I  before  read  the  fourth 
commandment  with  such  peculiar  emotion  !  '  Re- 
member the  Sabbath-day  to  keep  it  holy.'  I  hope,  my 
dear  children,  that  you  strive  to  obey  this  and  other 
commands  of  the  Lord.  Attend  submissively  to  the 
instructions  of  those  who  are  over  you;  pray  that 
God  Himself,  by  His  Spirit,  may  make  you  more  able 
to  obey.     .     .     Your  affectionate  papa, 

"Alexander  Duff." 

Several  times  during  that  memorable  day  did  Dr. 
Duff  read  aloud,  amid  the  awful  silence  of  the  mount, 
the  Ten  Commandments.  To  him  the  desolation  and 
the  barrenness  around  marked  the  blighting  influences 
of  sin,  the  hopeless  state  of  man  under  the  law  which 
condemns.  In  desire  he  turned  to  the  mount  in  Jeru- 
salem where  the  great  Sacrifice  for  sin  was  offered, 
and  heaven  was  opened  for  the  Pentecostal  effusion 
which  is  yet  to  bless  the  whole  earth.  "  The  law  was 
given  by  Moses,  but  grace  and  truth  came  by  Jesus 
Christ,"  the  words  he  had  first  joined  the  monks  of  St. 
Catharine  in  reading,  rang  in  his  ears  as  his  guide  took 
him  to  the  legendary  spots  where  since  Justinian's 
days  it  had  been  taught  that  Jehovah  passed  by  re- 
vealing the  skirts  of  His  glory,  while   farther  on  the 


412  LIFE    OP    DJa.    DUFF.  1 840. 

Arabs  stow  the  footprint  of  MuTiammad's  dromedary 
on  the  night-journey  from  Mecca  to  Jerusalem.  Like 
every  traveller  before  and  since,  down  to  the  purely 
scientific  members  of  the  Ordnance  Survey,  Dr.  Duff 
returned  from  his  fortnight's  study  of  the  natural 
features  of  the  peninsula  of  Sinai  strengthened  in  his 
conviction  of  the  truth  of  Holy  Scripture.  He  was 
invigorated  by  the  air  of  the  desert  at  that  season. 
His  only  mishap  was  his  being  thrown  from  a  camel 
and  stunned  for  a  time. 

The  little  Bombay  steamer  arrived  at  Suez  the 
morning  after  his  return,  with  the  news,  then  as  now 
eagerly  looked  for,  of  the  progress  of  an  evil  policy  in 
Afghanistan.  Sir  John  Keane  had  marched  up  the 
Bolan  Pass  to  the  capture  of  Kandahar  and  Ghuznee, 
where  the  young  lieutenant  of  Engineers  who  had 
forced  the  gate  was  his  old  companion,  Durand.  But 
till  he  learned  this  Dr.  Duff  had  doubted  whether  there 
might  be  a  British  India  to  go  to,  so  fatal  did  the 
policy  which  sacrificed  Dost  Muhammad  seem  to  all, 
save  to  the  council  of  Lord  Auckland,  and  the  Cabinet 
in  which  Lord  Palmerston  was  the  foreign  secretary 
and  Sir  J.  C.  Hobhouse  president  of  the  Board  of 
Control.  But  there  was  a  practical  question  of  more 
importance  for  the  moment — how  to  secure  a  passage. 
Dr.  Duff  happened  to  be  the  first  to  meet  the  purser, 
who  advised  him  to  go  to  the  ofiice  at  once  and  pay 
his  money.  This  the  missionary  refused  to  do  because 
the  day  was  the  Sabbath.  Had  not  the  purser  re- 
spected his  conscientiousness,  and  himself  secretly 
become  responsible  for  the  passage-money.  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Dufi"  would  have  been  left  in  Egypt  for  another 
month.  "  I  have  secured  for  you  the  best  cabin,"  said 
the  purser,  "  next  to  that  occupied  by  the  Commander- 
in-Chief." 

When  early  in   February,   1840,   the  Suez  steamer 


^t.  34.  WITH    DR.    WILSON    IN    BOMBAY.  413 

entered  the  harbour  of  Bombay,  Dr.  Wilson  was  wait- 
ing to  receive  Dr.  and  Mrs.  DiifF,  wliom  he  at  once 
installed  in  what  was  then  the  centre  of  all  his 
operations,  the  mission-house  of  Ambrolie.  The  two 
missionaries  to  Western  and  Eastern  India,  from  the 
Scottish  border  and  the  Grampian  highlands,  from 
the  Universities  of  Edinburgh  and  St.  Andrews  respec- 
tively, met  for  the  first  time.  Robert  Nesbit,  too,  was 
there,  and  Dr.  Murray  Mitchell  who  had  not  long  be- 
fore arrived  from  Aberdeen.  All  were  still  young  men  : 
Wilson  was  just  thirty-six,  and  Duff  was  nearly  thirty- 
four  years  of  age.  Their  experience  of  India  had  not 
been  the  same,  for  they  had  been  separated  by  distance, 
by  race,  by  language,  and  even  by  social  differences 
more  widely  than  France  from  Russia.  Like  a  bracing 
wind  from  the  north.  Dr.  Duff  brought  with  him  all  the 
news  of  national  and  ecclesiastical  affairs  in  Scotland, 
— of  the  widening  gap  in  the  Kirk,  of  the  work  of 
Chalmers  and  the  toil  of  Welsh,  of  the  devotion  of 
Gordon  and,  on  the  other  side,  of  the  kindly  zeal  of 
Brunton ;  of  the  coming  men  like  Guthrie  and  Candlish, 
some  of  whom  he  had  vainly  summoned  to  higher 
work  in  the  East ;  of  the  missionary  spirit  of  presby- 
teries and  congregations  all  over  Scotland,  soon  to  be 
checked  for  a  time  by  internal  disruption,  but  only 
to  burst  forth  in  home  and  colonial  and  educational 
movements  as  well  as  foreign  missions,  along  the 
lines  first  marked  out,  as  Dr.  Chalmers  had  said,  by 
Duff"  himself.  Nor  was  the  talk  only  of  Scotland,  for 
the  Calcutta  missionary  had  visited  Bombay  to  consult 
about  that  new  mission  from  the  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Ireland  to  which  he  had  given  a  mighty  impetus 
after  Wilson  had  invited  it  to  the  Krishna-desolated 
lands  of  Kathiawar. 

Dr.  Duff  embodied  his  month's  experience  of  Bom- 
bay and  Poona   in   a   long  letter  which   his    Church 


414  I'l^E    OF   DR.    DUFF.  *  1840. 

published  as  a  complete  narrative  of  travel.  The 
pamphlet  of  thirty-six  pages  forms  an  artistic  picture 
of  Western  India,  its  physical  aspects,  its  varied  races, 
its  different  civilizations  existing  harmoniously  side  by 
side  under  the  shadow  of  the  Christian  Government, 
its  proselytising  and  other  benevolent  agencies,  and 
especially  its  Scottish  mission  and  missionaries.  The 
report,  written  as  he  doubled  Cape  Comorin  on  the 
way  to  Madras  and  Calcutta,  has  a  peculiar  value  from 
the  contrast  which  it  suggests  rather  than  works  out 
between  the  conditions  of  Western  and  Eastern  India 
as  fields  for  the  agencies  of  Christian  philanthropy. 
The  reproach  is  often  too  well  founded  that,  amid  the 
vastness  and  variety  of  India  and  its  peoples,  the 
foreign  resident  becomes  so  enamoured  of  his  own 
presidency  or  province  as  to  do  injustice  to  the  others 
of  which  he  is  more  ignorant.  Hence  the  conflicting 
statements  and  opposing  evidence  of  officials  and 
settlers  who  have  been  twenty  years  in  India  and 
speak  "  the  language."  Like  even  the  greatest  philo- 
sophers, they  are  wrong  only  in  what  they  deny,  while 
more  or  less  right  in  what  they  assert.  Of  this  weak- 
ness there  is  little  trace  in  Dr.  Duff's  report.  He  was 
too  well  travelled,  too  scrupulously  fair  for  that.  A 
quarter  of  a  century  after  his  visit  we  found  his 
representations  proportionately  true  as  between  the 
natives  of  the  more  imperial  and  superstitious  Bengal 
and  those  of  the  less  caste-bound  and  more  commercial 
Bombay. 

In  Western  India  the  small  community  of  Parsees, 
free  from  caste  and  aggressive  in  their  progress  as 
having  been  long  oppressed,  formed  a  more  remarkable 
element  of  the  population  in  1840  than,  since  the 
commercial  development  caused  by  the  United  States 
civil  war,  has  since  been,  relatively,  the  case.  The 
settlement  of  the  land  revenue  in  leases  directly  be- 


JEt  34-  BOMBAY  CONTKASTED  WITH  BENGAL.       415 

tv/een  the  Bombay  Government  and  the  cultivator, 
and  the  lapse  of  rent-free  tenures,  did  not  foster  the 
creation  of  such  a  body  of  zemindars,  or  great  and 
generally  absentee  landed  proprietors,  as  those  who 
crowd  native  Calcutta.  The  temporary  nature  of  the 
Bombay  tenure  has  further  proved  fatal  to  the  growth 
of  prosperity  and  of  thrift,  and  has  developed  the 
shocking  agrarian  demoralisation  revealed  by  the 
Deccan  Riots  Commission.  Had  the  land  revenue 
settlement  of  Bombay  only  been  made  permanent  with 
the  cultivators,  it  would  have  created  prosperous  and 
loyal  millions  of  peasant  proprietors,  able  to  withstand 
famine,  free  to  attend  to  and  value  education  and 
Christianity,  and  enabled  in  time  to  yield  in  indirect 
taxation  far  more  than  the  periodically  increased  land- 
tax  which  now  keeps  them  on  the  margin  of  starvation. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  mistake  was  made  in  Lower 
Bengal  of  applying  the  financially  sound  and  equitable 
principle  of  permanence  of  tenure  not  to  the  cultivators 
but  to  their  lords,  some  hereditary  and  some  mere  tax- 
collectors,  from  whose  exactions  moreover  they  were 
not  protected  till  1859,  when  it  was  too  late  to  alter 
society.  The  knowledge  of  the  revenue  officials  of 
India  has  never  been  equal  to  their  benevolence. 
Hence,  for  want  of  a  Von  Stein,  the  British  Govern- 
ment, with  the  best  intentions,  has  created  and  is 
periodically  intensifying  the  only  serious  danger  to  the 
stability  of  its  rule  and  to  the  self-developing  growth 
of  civilization.  This  did  not  escape  Dr.  Duff's  eye 
when  he  wrote  of  the  main  bulk  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Bombay,  the  Hindoos : — "As  the  ryotwaree  system  pre- 
vails— that  which  regards  the  ryot,  the  actual  cultivator 
of  the  soil,  as  having  a  possessory  right  therein,  and  as 
directly  amenable  to  all  the  fiscal  and  other  regulations 
of  Government — there  is  no  large  and  powerful  body 
of  landed  proprietors,  corresponding  to  the  zemindars 


41 6  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1840. 

oE  Bengal.  From  these  and  other  causes  united,  there 
is  a  very  marked  difference  indeed  in  the  outward 
temporal  circumstances  of  Hindoo  society  in  Bombay 
and  in  Calcutta.  Most  of  the  avenues  to  worldly 
eminence  being  blocked  up  or  preoccupied  by  enter- 
prising strangers,  and  most  of  the  impellant  motives 
to  great  secular  exertion  being  cut  off,  the  Hindoo 
community  of  Bombay  seems  stricken  with  a  languor 
and  apathy,  a  poverty  and  mediocrity,  a  diminutive 
weight  and  injfluence,  a  want  of  general  activity  or 
zeal  for  improvement,  which  form  a  perfect  contrast 
to  the  wealth,  and  power,  and  splendour,  the  liveliness, 
and  energy,  and  restless  spirit  of  temporal  ameliora- 
tion, which  characterize  the  great  Hindoo  merchants, 
bankers,  zemindars,  and  rajas  of  Calcutta."  Since 
that  was  written,  trade  and  cotton  manufacture  have 
attracted  the  acute  intellect  of  the  Maratha  Brahmans 
and  the  keen  capital-hunting  scent  of  the  Groojarat 
Jains.  But  this  is  still  true,  to  some  extent,  of  the 
effect  produced  on  public  instruction  by  such  con- 
ditions. Dr,  Duff  is  describing  his  visit  to  the  Govern- 
ment Elphinstone  College  and  schools  : — 

"In  the  schools  there  are  at  present  about  500  pupils ;  in  the 
college  about  a  dozen.  In  passing  through  the  different  classes 
it  was  impossible  not  to  be  struck  with  the  sparkling  intelli- 
gence in  the  countenances  of  the  youth.  Yet  none  of  the  more 
advanced  have  begun  to  exhibit  that  freedom  from  prejudice, 
and  that  fearlessness  of  inquiry,  which  ^  ten  years  ago,  youth  of 
somewhat  the  same  standing  largely  manifested  in  Calcutta. 
What  are  the  causes  of  the  difference  ?  Some  of  these  may 
be  latent ;  others  are  obvious  enough.  First,  the  desire  for  a 
superior  English  education  is  of  later  growth  at  Bombay  than 
at  Calcutta;  and  even  now  it  is  not  so  ardent  and  widely 
diffused  in  the  former  as  in  the  latter.  The  local  government 
has  not  done  nearly  so  much  to  create  and  encourage  the 
desire  as  that  of  Bengal.  Besides,  one  gi'and  stimulus  was 
wanting  in  the  west,  which  operated  with  great  potency  in 


JEt  34.  r.OilBAY    AND    CALCUTTA.  4  I  7 

the  east.  In  tlie  west,  Persian,  tlie  language  of  tliplomacy,  waa 
not,  as  in  the  east,  also  the  language  of  the  civil  and  criminal 
courts — the  vernacular  tongue  being  fi'om  the  first  adopted. 
In  the  east  it  gradually  became  obvious  to  all  thinking  minds 
that  an  anomaly  so  preposterous  as  the  administration  of 
justice  through  a  medium  alike  foreign  to  rulers  and  ruled 
could  not,  in  the  nature  of  things,  bo  long  perpetuated.  It 
seemed  the  demand  of  reason  that  the  language  of  one  or  other 
of  the  parties  concerned  should  be  substituted.  In  either  case 
— Persian  ceasing  to  be  the  language  of  polite  literature  and 
of  converse  in  cultivated  society — English  must  take  its  place. 
Hence  it  was  that  a  strong  sense  of  self-interest,  operating  on 
shrewd  forecasting  minds,  gave  an  early  impulse  to  the  study 
of  English  in  Calcutta,  which,  in  like  intensity,  could  not  bo 
experienced  at  Bombay.  Accordingly,  while  in  the  latter 
place  the  aggregate  number,  in  seminaries  of  every  description, 
receiving  anything  really  entitled  to  the  name  of  a  good 
English  education,  scarcely  amounts  to  a  thousand;  in  Cal- 
cutta it  exceeds  five  or  six  times  that  sum,  though  the  popula- 
tion at  the  utmost  is  not  more  than  double.  But  at  Bombay, 
as  elsewhere,  the  English  tide  has  now  fairly  set  in;  and 
nought  can  arrest  its  progress  till  it  overflow  the  land. 
Secondly,  from  the  more  recent  and  limited  character  of 
evangelistic,  educational,  and  other  operations  at  Bombay,  it 
is  at  least  ten  years  behind  Calcutta  as  regards  the  general 
relaxation  of  unthinking  bigotry,  the  general  tendency  of 
indurated  hereditary  prejudices  towards  a  state  of  fusion  and 
incandescence,  and  the  consequent  general  preparedness  for 
change.  Nursed  and  nurtured  in  a  state  of  society  so  uncon- 
genial to  mental  freedom  of  inquiry,  the  young  men  naturally 
present  a  more  hostile  front  of  resistance  to  the  direct  influences 
of  the  new  truths  offered  for  their  acceptance.  This,  however, 
is  a  cause  the  force  of  which  will  be  yearly  diminishing. 
Thirdly,  in  the  Bombay  Government  seminaries,  a  prepon- 
derant share  of  attention  has  hitherto  been  bestowed  on  the 
polite,  the  mathematical,  and  the  physical  sciences,  to  the  com- 
parative disparagement  and  neglect  of  the  mental,  moral,  and 
economic.  Now,  the  former,  addi-essing,  as  they  chiefly  do, 
the  imagination,  the  memory,  the  understanding  or  '  faculty 
judging  by  sense,'  and  the  speculative  reason,  are  not  calcu- 
lated to  produce  the  same  varied  influential  practical  convic^ 

JB   E 


41 8  LIFE   OF   DR.    DUFF.  1840. 

tions,  or  to  awaken  the  same  bold  and  stirring  activities  of 
inquiry,  as  the  latter ;  whose  very  objects  are  the  powers  and 
capacities  of  the  immaterial  soul,  as  well  as  the  duties,  rights, 
privileges  and  relationships  of  man,  viewed  as  a  member  of 
human  society  and  a  denizen  of  the  moral  universe.  A  more 
vigorous  graft  J  therefore,  of  the  latter  on  the  Bombay  Govern- 
meut  institutions,  would  be  a  decided  improvement.  Still,  as 
it  is  in  the  hundred  metropolitan  institutions,  the  noblest,  most 
fruitful,  and  most  enduring  of  all  sciences  would  be  wanting — ■ 
and  that  is  ^knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified.' 
Until  it  be  admitted,  for  the  sanctifier  and  regulator  of  all 
other  knowledge,  man's  life  is,  after  all,  treated  practically  as 
nothing  better  than  a  meaningless  riddle ;  and  his  destiny  as 
nothing  higher  than  that  of  the  '  brutes  that  perish.' " 

The  Church  of  Scotland's  Mission,  in  both  Bombay 
and  Poona,  was  suffering  under  the  combined  triumph 
and  alarm  caused  by  the  conversion  of  the  first  two 
Parsees  who  had  accepted  Christianity.  "  The  Parsee 
convulsion,  like  the  shock  of  a  moral  volcano,  has 
more  or  less  affected  every  province  of  missionary 
labour.  It  has  laid  an  arrest  on  the  friendly  inter- 
course which  began  to  subsist  between  the  members 
of  the  mission  and  many  of  the  more  influential  of 
the  native  community.  It  drove  into  alienation  and 
desertion  the  young  men  educated  in  Government 
seminaries,  who  had  been  induced  to  attend  Dr. 
Wilson's  former  weekly  lecture,  and  Messrs.  Nesbit 
and  Mitchell's  private  evening  classes.  It  greatly 
affected  the  attendance  on  the  services  in  the  ver- 
nacular languages.  It  broke  up  certain  departments 
in  connection  with  female  education.  It  almost  anni- 
hilated, for  a  time,  the  English  Institution — reducing 
at  once  the  number  of  pupils  from  two  hundred  and 
sixty  to  fifty — and  removing  the  whole  of  the  Parsee 
youth,  by  far  the  most  advanced  and  promising  of  the 
number.  Yet,  in  the  midst  of  all  these  depressing 
and  disheartening  calamities,  did  our  brethren  betray 


yEt.  34.  NESBIT    AND    WILSON.  419 

either  faint-lieartedness  or  despondency  ?  No  !  *  Strong 
in  the  Lord,  and  in  the  power  of  His  might,'  they  still 
prayed,  and  laboured,  and  persevered." 

Yery  precious  were  the  sympathy  and  the  counsel 
of  Dr.  Duff  at  this  time.  Of  Nesbit,  his  old  St. 
Andrews  companion,  he  wrote,  "  With  commanding 
talents  of  an  intensive  rather  than  discursive  character, 
there  is  no  subject  on  which  he  is  led  to  concentrate 
his  powers  which  he  is  not  sure  to  master  in  a  style 
of  surpassing  superiority.  Hence,  as  a  philosophical 
linguist  and  practical  Marathee  scholar,  he  is  generally 
allowed  to  be  unrivalled."  After  descriptions  of  Dr. 
Wilson's  scholarship,  the  fruits  of  which  he  enjoyed  in 
the  study  of  the  Cave  Temples,  and  of  his  influence  in 
society,  native  and  European,  Dr.  Duff  thus  testified 
to  his  wisdom  in  the  battle  for  toleration  :  "  Dr.  Wil- 
son, who  took  the  lead  in  the  whole  proceedings, 
conducted  himself  throughout  with  a  manliness  of 
Christian  energy  which  must  for  ever  endear  him  to  all 
sincere  friends  of  the  missionary  enterprise."  How 
the  great  Bombay  missionary  valued  this  visit  he  has 
told  in  a  remarkable  letter  of  the  28th  February,  1840.* 
Of  Panwel,  where  they  parted  in  apostolic  fashion, 
after  reading  the  20th  chapter  of  the  Book  of  the  Acts 
and  prayer,  he  wrote :  "  My  memory  will  often  visit 
the  hallowed  spot  whence  we  moved  asunder."  These 
were  the  closing  words  of  Dr.  Duff's  report  on  Bombay 
and  Poona : — 

"  Intensely  occupied  were  the  days  which  I  spent  at 
both — in  visiting  educational  and  other  institutions ; 
in  witnessing  miscellaneous  missionary  operations ;  in 
eliciting  all  manner  of  information  which  might  present 
to  my  own  mind  somctliing  like  a  topographical  chart 
of  the  existing  state  of  things ;  in  addressing,  lectur- 

*  The  Life  of  John  Wilson,  D.D.,  F.B.S.  (1878),  p.  283. 


420  LIFE   OF   DR.   DUFF.  1840. 

ing,  and  preaching;  in  holding  converse  witli  my 
brethren,  individually  and  collectively ;  in  freely  can- 
vassing, reviewing,  and  comparing  all  past  proceedings 
connected  with  the  Mission,  at  home  and  abroad ;  in 
frankly  soliciting  and  communicating  suggestions  as 
to  the  future.  Sweet  and  pleasant  was  the  personal 
intercourse  with  my  respected  brethren ;  very  sweet 
and  very  pleasant  is  the  remembrance  of  it  now. 
Dearly  beloved  before  for  their  works'  sake,  they  are 
now  dearer  than  ever,  from  the  felt  experience  of  their 
worth.  We  met  and  we  parted  of  one  spirit  and  of  one 
mind ;  not  merely  as  children  of  the  same  Father, 
redeemed  through  the  same  blood,  and  partakers  of 
the  same  inheritance  of  grace ;  but  of  one  spirit  and 
of  one.  mind  as  regards  the  essential  principles,  modes, 
and  prospects  of  missionary  operation  in  India." 

The  only  communication  between  the  western  capital 
and  the  metropolis  of  India  then  was  by  teak-built 
sailing  vessels  round  the  peninsula.  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Duff  were  the  only  passengers.  Now,  Mr.  W.  Mac- 
kinnon  has  called  into  existence  the  second  largest 
fleet  of  steamers,  which  carry  the  traveller  rapidly 
and  touch  at  every  port  on  the  wide-stretching  coasts 
of  Southern  Asia  and  Eastern  Africa,  from  Singapore 
and  the  Java  islands  reaching  to  Australasia,  along 
the  shores  of  India,  Persia  and  Arabia  to  Zanzibar. 
Hugging  the  picturesque  coast  of  Malabar,  the  ship 
passed  native  town  and  feudal  castle,  pirate  stronghold 
and  busy  harbour,  till,  leaving  Goa  to  the  north,  it 
dropped  anchor  for  a  day  and  night  at  Mangalore  in 
the  Canara  county  of  Madras.  This  once  dreaded 
roadstead  of  Hyder  Ali,  scene  of  alternate  Portuguese 
intolerance  and  Mussulman  ferocity,  of  General 
Matthews' s  victory  and  of  the  East  India  Company's 
treaty  with  Tippoo,  had  been  occupied  by  the  self- 
denying  Basel  missionaries  in  1834.     It  has  been  ever 


^t.  34.      SAMUEL    HERinn    AND    THE    BASEL    MISSION.  42 1  ■ 

since  their  greatest  as  it  was  tlieir  earliest  Cliristian 
settlement,  having  now  some  1,200  church  members 
out  of  the  more  than  6,000  gathered  in  at  other 
stations.  In  Hebich,  the  afterwards  famous  and 
somewhat  eccentric  German  then  stationed  there, 
Dr.  Duff  found  a  friend  of  kindred  spirituality  and 
earnestness.  With  him  and  his  colleagues  the 
Scottish  missionary  spent  the  night  in  delightful  con- 
verse* till  within  an  hour  of  the  dawn.  Frequently 
afterwards  did  Samuel  Hebich  recall  the  talk  of  that 
night,t  especially  to  the  many  sepoy  officers  and 
civilians  of  the  East  India  Company,  whom  his  fear- 
less appeals  and  holy  self-denial  led  to  Christ.  Mr. 
Finlay  Anderson,  the  assistant  collector  who  received 
the  Basel  brethren  in  1834,  still  survives  to  help  in 
every  good  work  for  the  people  of  India.  This  was 
Hebich's  last  year  in  Man  galore,  where  he  had  laid 
the  spiritual  foundation  of  the  Tooloo  church,  and 
left  among  others  Dr.  Moegling,  to  civilize  not  only 
the  Canarese  but  the  recently  annexed  Coorgs  from 
Mercara  as  a  centre. 

Cape  Comorin — too  low  to  be  seen  save  where  the 
Western  Ghauts  abruptly  end  some  miles  inland — and 
Ceylon  were  then  successively  rounded,  when  the  ship 
came  to  anchor  in  the  swell  of  the  Madras  Roads 
for  five  days.  These  days  were  busily  spent  in  an 
inspection  of  the  Mission,  and  in  stirring  addresses  to 
both  natives  and  Europeans.  Mr.  Anderson  and  Mr. 
Johnston,  fruit  of  the   General  Assembly  address   of 

*  So,  long  after,  Dr.  ITorman  Maoleod  inspected  the  allied  Ger- 
man Mission  at  Calicut,  and  recorded  the  "  very  encouraging  re- 
sults" of  which  he  wrote  :  "  These,  being  connected  with  education 
as  well  as  preaching,  are  the  more  likely  to  be  permanent!  " 

t  The  Germau  Memoir  of  Hebich,  of  which  an  English  transla- 
lation  appeared  in  1876,  contains  no  reference  to  this  meeting  with 
Dr.  Duff. 


422  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1840. 

1835,  had  organized  out  of  tlie  St.  Andrew's  school, 
opened  by  the  Scotch  chaplains  in  Madras  in  that 
year,  the  nucleus  of  what  has  since  become  the  great 
Christian  College  of  South  India,  representing  all  the 
evangelical  missions  there.  Just  three  years  before,  on 
the  3rd  April,  1837,  Mr.  Anderson  had  begun  the  new 
Institution  in  a  hired  house  in  Armenian  street,  with 
fifty-nine  Hindoo  youths.  His  early  success,  in  the 
baptism  of  highly  educated  Hindoos  who  became 
missionaries  to  their  countrymen,  had,  as  at  Calcutta 
in  1830,  and  Bombay  in  1839,  so  alarmed  the  native 
community  as  to  produce  this  remark,  "  Some  of  our 
best  youths  have  been  forcibly  carried  off  or  withdrawn 
against  their  will."  Yet,  when  on  Monday,  the  20th 
April,  Dr.  Duff  visited  the  infant  college,  this  was  his 
impression: — "It  was  wise  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Ander- 
son and  his  coadjutor  to  make  the  Bible  itself — as  in 
Bombay  and  Calcutta — not  only  the  principal  book  of 
the  Institution,  but  to  bestow  upon  the  teaching  of  it 
the  largest  measure  of  their  time  and  attention,  so 
lonof  as  this  could  be  done  without  occasioning  that 
desertion  of  pupils  which  the  more  successful  prose- 
cution of  general  literature  and  science  in  other  native 
seminaries  must  inevitably  insure,  if  there  be  not  a 
correspondent  progress  in  such  studies  in  the  Mission 
seminaries.  And  certainly  in  the  Bible  department, 
which  has  been  chiefly  cultivated,  there  is  much,  very 
much,  to  excite  admiration,  delight  and  thanksgiving 
to  God.  Nowhere  have  I  met  with  young  men  of  the 
same  age  and  standing  who  evinced  a  more  intelligent 
grasp,  a  more  feeling  comprehension,  of  the  divine 
truths  which  they  had  learned  from  God's  holy  oracles. 
In  some  cases,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that 
vital  and  saving  impressions  have  begun  to  be  made. 
And  even  should  all  be  renounced  in  a  day,  what  has 
been  done  will  not,  cannot  be  lost.     Talk  and  dream 


^Et.  34.     'I'lii:  snoTTisir  mission  system  in  madras.      423 

who  will  of  not  being  able,  directly  and  formally,  and 
in  the  homo  sense,  to  preach  the  gospel  in  our  Indian 
mission  seminaries,  I  do  most  solemnly  aver  for  myself, 
that  never,  never,  when  addressing  an  audience  of 
fellow-Christians  in  my  native  land,  had  I  a  more 
sensible  consciousness  of  reaching  the  understanding 
and  the  heart  than  I  experienced  when  pouring  out 
my  soul  on  the  theme  of  man's  lost  and  ruined  state 
by  sin,  and  of  man's  redemption  through  a  crucified 
but  Divine  Redeemer,  in  presence  of  the  assembled 
youth  of  the  General  Assembly's  Institution,  Madras." 
On  the  other  side,  we  have  this  official  record  by  Mr. 
Anderson  of  the  visit  of  the  founder  of  the  Scottish 
missionary  system  in  the  East :  "  He  left  an  impression 
behind  him  on  the  minds  of  our  youths  which  nothing 
will  ever  efface.  It  was  quite  thrilling  to  see  how  he 
set  them  on  fire  by  the  truths  which  he  exhibited  to 
them  in  touching  and  graphic  figures,  with  an  energy 
of  manner  altogether  his  own.  Their  bright  eyes 
seemed  to  say,  as  they  sparkled  with  delight,  '  This 
man  loves  the  natives,  especially  native  boys.' " 

Dr.  Duff  had  been  delayed  on  his  outward  tour  too 
long  for  himself,  if  not  for  the  work  he  had  to  do.  He 
reached  the  pilot  ground  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hooghly 
at  very  nearly  the  same  advanced  season  as  on  the 
occasion  of  his  first  arrival  in  Bengal.  Again  did 
the  rotary  storm  seem  to  defy  his  advance.  The  sus- 
picious calm  of  a  hot  May  evening,  following  a  lurid 
sunset,  warned  the  captain  to  be  ready.  Before  mid- 
night the  cyclone  burst  upon  the  ship  with  savage  fury. 
Lashing  themselves  to  the  cuddy  hatch,  the  captain 
and  his  officers  sat  ready  to  cut  down  the  mast  should 
the  vessel  drift  to  the  shore.  For  twelve  hours  the 
whirlwind  raged,  with  a  violence  which  was  set  off  by 
a  hideous  and  sometimes  ludicrous  contrast.  An 
officer  who  had  joined  the  ship  at  Madras,  whither  he 


424  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1840. 

had  returned  from  leave  in  tlie  colonies,  and  who  soon 
after  fell  one  of  the  thirteen  thousand  butchered  amid 
the  snows  of  the  Khoord  Kabul  pass,  had  an  Australian 
parrot  which  he  had  diligently  taught.  Ever  and  anon 
in  the  pauses  of  the  blast,  and  continuously  as  if  con- 
tending with  it,  the  bird  was  heard  to  shriek,  now  de- 
fiantly, now  pathetically,  "  There's  nae  luck  aboot  the 
house  whan  our  gudeman's  awa'  ! "  The  Malabar 
teak  of  the  Bombay-built  vessel  withstood  tbe  wind 
and  the  waves,  and  the  course  of  the  cyclone  finally 
drove  it  out  to  comparative  safety  in  the  open  sea. 
After  a  voyage  from  Bombay  of  nearly  seven  weeks, 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Duff  were  received  under  the  hospitable 
roof  of  the  nephew  of  Dr.  Patrick  Macfarlan,  of 
Greenock,  who  was  chief  magistrate  of  Calcutta, 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

1841. 
FIGHTING  THE   GOVEBNOB-GENEBAL. 

India  Sacrificed  to  Party  Politics. — Malcolm,  M.  Elphinstone  and 
Lord  Heytesbury. — The  First  and  the  Second  Lord  Auckland. — 
The  Misses  Eden.— Controversy  between  Orientalists  and  Angli- 
cists Renewed. — Lord  Auckland's  Minute. — Mr.  Marshman's  Com- 
ment.^— Dr.  Daff's  three  Letters  to  the  Governor- General. — The 
Irony  of  Truth. — Lord  W.  Bentinck  and  Lord  Auckland  Com- 
pared.— The  Missionary  and  the  Govern  or- General  Contrasted — 
Vernacular  Education  by  a  School  Cess  urged. — Lord  Auckland 
Arraigned  at  the  Bar  of  Universal  Reason. — The  Dangers  of 
purely  Secular  Education  denounced  by  a  Government  Secretary. 
— The  Educational  Reaction  temporarily  forgotten  in  the  Cabul 
Disasters. 

LoED  Auckland  had  been  Governor-General  for  four 
years  wlien,  for  the  second  time,  Dr.  Duff  landed  at 
Calcutta.  Apart  from  contemporary  history,  his  ap- 
pointment to  the  most  responsible  office  under  the 
British  Crown  forms  the  most  scandalous  instance  of 
the  sacrifice  of  the  good  of  the  people  of  India  and  of 
the  peace  of  the  Empire  to  the  intrigues  and  the  self- 
seeking  of  political  parties.  India  is  so  far  outside  of, 
so  high  above,  the  level  of  purely  party  politics,  that 
it  used  to  be  true  that  its  governing  and  commercial 
classes  left  Whig  and  Tory  prejudices  behind  them. 
Even  the  purely  British  officials  who,  as  Governor- 
General,  governors,  and  law  member  of  council,  owed 
their  appointments  to  partisan  considerations  among 
others,  were  generally  raised  by  the  very  elevation  of 


426  LIFE    OF   DB.    DUFF.  1841. 

their  duties  to  tlie  disinterested  and  pliilosopliic  level 
which  looked  only  at  the  good  of  India.  From  the 
high  vantage  ground  of  a  Governor-General's  seat, 
the  purely  domestic  questions  which  cause  the  rise 
and  fall  of  ministers  in  England  often  look  petty  in- 
deed. It  may  be  accepted  as  an  absolute  test  which 
marks  off  the  really  able  statesmen  among  the  nine- 
teen Governor-Generals  from  the  few  whom  history 
despises,  that  the  former  in  every  case  acknowledged 
first  their  duty  to  India;  the  latter,  their  selfish  gra- 
titude to  the  party  which  sent  them  out.  Against 
rulers  like  Warren  Hastings,  Lords  "Wellesley  and 
Hastings,  "W.  Bentinck  and  Dalhousie,  Canning  and 
Mayo,  we  have  to  set  Cornwallis  (the  second  time), 
Amherst  and  Auckland,  not  to  mention  the  living. 

William  Eden,  a  younger  son  of  a  Durham  baronet, 
and  a  barrister  who  entered  political  life,  was  created 
Baron  Auckland  for  negotiating  a  treaty  of  commerce 
with  France.  His  successor  rendered  services  to  the 
Whig  party  of  a  less  evident  kind,  and  in  1830  Lord 
Grey  gave  him  a  seat  in  the  Cabinet.  When  sick- 
ness sent  Lord  W.  Bentinck  home  after  an  adminis- 
tration of  nearly  eight  years,  the  Court  of  Directors 
would  not  allow  the  most  brilliant  servant  they  had 
had  since  Warren  Hastings,  to  fill  the  seat  which  he 
occupied  provisionally,  because  his  honesty  had  been 
equal  to  his  ability.  They  were  willing  to  see  the 
Honble.  Mountstuart  Elphinstone  appointed,  but  he 
had  had  enough  of  office  as  Governor  of  Bombay 
and  he  declined  the  high  honour.  On  this  the  Tory 
ministry  selected  Lord  Heytesbury,  who  drew  the 
usual  allowance  for  outfit,  made  the  indispensable 
speech  about  peace  at  the  Albion,  and  had  taken  his 
passage  to  Calcutta.  But  just  as,  under  somewhat 
similar  circumstances,  George  Canning  gave  place  to 
Lord  Amherst,  and  died  Premier  of  England,  so  Lord 


Mt..  35.      LOKD    AUCKLAND    AND    SIR    J.    C.    HOBIIOUSE.        427 

Aiicldand  was  sent  out  instead  of  Lord  Heytesbury. 
The  Melbourne  ministry  took  office  in  April,  1835, 
with  Byron's  friend,  Sir  John  Cam  Hobhouse  as  Pre- 
sident of  the  Board  of  Control.  Refusing  their  con- 
fidence to  the  Tory  Governor-General  designate,  the 
\yhig  ministry,  which  was  to  hold  office  for  six  years 
and  a  half,  sent  out  Lord  Auckland  to  the  seat  which 
Bentinck  had  made  more  illustrious  than  ever,  and 
for  which  Metcalfe  and  Elpliinstone  were  better  fitted 
than  even  he.  In  a  word,  the  British  Government 
had  once  again  jobbed  the  appointment,  and  the  whole 
empire  was  to  suffer  the  consequence  in  the  military 
disasters,  the  financial  losses,  and — greater  than  both — 
the  political  consequences  in  1857  of  the  first  Afghan 
war.  Sir  John  Cam  Hobhouse,  made  Lord  Broughton 
for  the  iniquity,  found  in  Lord  Auckland  the  tool 
and  in  Lord  Palmerston,  then  Foreign  Secretary,  the 
confederate  who  enabled  that  reckless,  blinded  official 
to  boast  of  the  deepest  stain  on  the  page  of  English 
history,  "  It  was  I  that  did  it." 

The  best  thing  that  George,  the  second  Lord 
Auckland,  did  was  to  take  to  Calcutta  and  Simla  with 
him  his  two  clever  sisters,  one  of  whom,  Emily,  in 
her  journals,  not  to  mention  her  novels,  has  left  us 
unconsciously  the  most  vivid  picture  of  the  Governor- 
General's  weakness  of  character.  If  to  her  "  Up  The 
Country,"  and  the  book  which  more  recently  followed 
it,  we  add  Sir  John  Kaye's  picture  of  the  unhappy 
faineant  pacing  the  verandas  of  Government  House 
at  night  as  he  brooded  over  the  horrors  of  the  Ghilzai 
massacre  which  made  him  sleepless,  we  may  form  some 
idea  of  the  man  who,  between  Hobhouse  at  home  and 
]\lacnaghten  by  his  side,  blindly  let  the  empire  drift 
down  the  dark  current  of  a  policy  of  which  he  never 
approved,  but  which  party  prevented  him  from  fairly 
considering  and  resolutely  refusing  to  carry  out.     Any- 


428  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1841. 

thing  would  have  been  better  than  this  drifting,  but 
on  him  was  the  curse  against  which  the  prophet  cried 
in  vain. 

It  was  the  Govern or-Greneral's  vacillation — ending, 
as  is  generally  the  case,  in  weakly  following  the  evil — 
which  brought  Dr.  Duff  into  conflict  with  Lord  Auck- 
land. The  missionary  had  set  out  to  return  to  Bengal, 
grateful  to  his  Excellency  for  the  interest  which  he  and 
the  Honble.  Misses  Eden  had  shown  in  the  Institution 
during  his  absence,  by  frequent  visits  and  occasional 
prizes.  As  a  rule  the  English  settlers,  and  above  all 
the  Christian  ministers  in  India,  are  loyally  on  the  side 
of  the  Grovernment  there.  They  are  roused  to  demon- 
strations against  it  only  by  some  such  departure 
from  principle  as  Lord  EUenborough's,  or  evidence  of 
incapacity  to  understand  the  gravity  of  the  crisis  as 
Lord  Canning's  advisers  showed  in  1857,  Up  to  the 
disasters  of  1842  Lord  Auckland — who  had  been  made 
an  earl  in  reply  to  the  opposition  of  the  Court  of 
Directors  and  to  the  universal  public  opinion  which, 
then  as  since,  condemned  his  policy— was  personally 
respected  for  his  amiability.  His  advisers  liked  a 
Governor-G-eneral  whom  they  could  lead ;  the  public 
appreciated  the  social  attractions  of  his  court.  Those 
who  estimated  an  administration  by  a  higher  standard 
even  praised  him  for  legally  completing  what  his  pre- 
decessor had  begun  in  the  Act  of  November,  1837, 
which  abolished  Persian  as  the  language  of  the  courts. 

But  another  question  of  still  greater  importance  to 
the  people  had  come  down  to  him.  Lord  W.  Bentinck's 
Government  had,  in  1835,  decreed  that  English  should 
be  the  language  of  the  higher  public  instruction — 
finally,  as  it  seemed.  Still  the  formal  approval  of  the 
Court  of  Directors  had  not  been  communicated.  Not 
only  was  Lord  W.  Bentinck  out  of  office,  but  Dr.  Duff 
was  far  away,  and  of  their  coadjutors,  Metcalfe  was  in 


^t.  35.  LOKD    AUCKLAND'S    DELHI    MINUTE.  429 

Agra,  while  ]\racaula7  and  Troveljan  were  soon  to  go. 
The  defeated  orientalists  saw  their  opportunity  with 
the  new  and  weak  Governor-General.  They  resolved 
to  get  rid  of  the  reform  of  March,  1835,  by  a  side-blow. 
Mr.  Thoby  Prinsep  and  the  Bengal  Asiatic  Society  led 
the  assault.  Mr.  Colvin,  the  private  secretary,  was 
neutralised  or  so  far  talked  over  as  to  seem  to  con- 
sent to  the  undoing  of  that  which  he  had  formerly 
urged. 

From  183G  to  1839,  the  renewed  controversy  between 
the  Orientalists  and  Anglicists  went  on  in  the  form 
of  a  dispute  as  to  the  proportion  of  public  funds  to  be 
assigned  to  each.  On  the  24th  November,  1839,  Lord 
Auckland  signed,  at  Delhi,  a  minute  whicli  is  remark- 
able among  Indian  state  papers  for  its  bad  style  and 
worse  reasoning.  The  contrast  to  Macaulay's  and 
Duff's  was  painful.  The  minute  professed  to  be  a 
compromise  of  a  dispute  in  which  there  could  be  no 
concessions  by  what  was  true  to  what  the  Govern- 
ment had  officially  allowed  to  be  false  and  therefore 
unworthy  of  being  propagated  by  the  public  funds. 
But  the  defeated  Anglicists  were  not  to  be  found,  save 
one.  Mr.  Marshman,  though  rather  a  veruacularist, 
raised  his  solitary  voice  against  the  reaction  in  the 
weekly  press.  The  minute  itself  no  sooner  appeared 
in  an  official  blue-book,  fifteen  months  after  it  had 
been  written,  than  Dr.  Duff  criticised  it  in  a  series 
of  letters  to  Lord  Auckland  which  appeared  in  the 
Christian  Observer.  Mr.  Marshman,  tliough  grateful 
to  the  Governor-General  for  his  personal  support  of 
vernacular  schools,  did  not  spare  the  weak  amiability 
which  had  led  his  Excellency  to  apply  "  the  spirit  of 
compromise  amongst  varying  opinions  "  to  a  contro- 
versy over  vital  principles.  The  orientalists  he 
described,  in  18-41,  as  "a  few  elderly  gentlemen  of 
the  ancient  regime,  who  rather  dislike  the  spread  of 


430  WFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  l34l. 

knowledge  as  a  dangerous  innovation  than  hail  it  with 
generous  confidence  as  the  means  of  national  regener- 
ation ;  who,  if  compelled  by  the  spirit  of  the  age  to 
sanction  education  at  all,  must  use  every  endeavour  to 
restrain  it  to  the  absurdities  and  logomachies  of  the 
dark  ages.  .  .  AYhen  a  retrograde  movement  is 
made  merely  to  quiet  a  few  superannuated  European 
gentlemen,  and  extinguish  their  already  expiring  mur- 
murs, we  confess  it  passes  our  comprehension.  .  . 
What  will  be  gained  by  their  reconciliation,  or  to  what 
will  they  be  reconciled  ?  " 

The  evil  which  the  minute  had  secretly  attempted 
to  do  was  twofold.  It  reversed  the  decree  of  Lord 
W.  Bentiuck  by  restoring  the  stipends  paid  to  natives 
to  learn  Sanscrit  and  Arabic  books  which  their  own 
learned  men  neglected  where  they  did  not  teach  them 
far  more  effectually  in  the  indigenous  '  Toles '  or 
colleges.  Thus  error  was  again  endowed,  while  true 
oriental  research  was  hindered.  And  the  minute 
finally  shelved  the  plan  for  the  improvement  of  ver- 
nacular schools  and  teachers  which  Lord  W.  Bentinck 
had  appointed  Adam  to  submit.  Lord  Auckland  be- 
came the  victim  of  what  was  afterwards  scouted  by 
his  successors  as  the  filtration  theory — the  belief  that 
if  only  the  higher  classes  are  educated  with  the  public 
money,  the  millions  of  the  people  who  contribute  that 
money  may  be  left  in  their  ignorance  till  the  know- 
ledge given  to  their  oppressors  filters  down  to  them. 
Seriously  that  continued  to  be  the  fact,  if  not  the 
theory  of  the  Government  in  Bengal,  at  least,  for  the 
thirty  years  from  Lord  Auckland's  minute  to  the  time 
when  Sir  George  Campbell  was  made  Lieutenant- 
Governor  of  the  province. 

Dr.  Duff  did  well  to  be  angry,  for  his  experience 
and  his  foresight  anticipated  the  mistake.  Lord 
Auckland  thus  became,  not  only  the  foe  of  a  righteous 


JEi.  35-  LETTERS   TO   LOED    AUCKLAND.  43 1 

policy  boyoiid  tlie  frontier  but  the  reactionary  enemy 
of  the  people  of  India.  But  for  him  the  vernacular 
side  of  the  reforms  of  Duff  and  Bentinck  would  have 
become  a  reality  long  before  the  present  Earl  of 
Derby's  despatch  of  1859  on  the  subject  issued  in  the 
Duke  of  Argyll's  action,  through  Sir  George  Campbell 
in  1870.  Happily  Lord  Auckland  was  too  feeble  even 
to  stunt  the  already  vigorous  growth  of  the  English 
side  of  these  reforms.  So,  taking  Wordsworth's  lines 
as  his  introduction,  Dr.  Duff  thus  began  the  corres- 
pondence. The  language  now  reads  as  fine  irony,  since 
a  few  brief  months  were  to  reveal  the  incapacity  of 
Lord  Auckland  and  his  Government,  at  home  and  on 
the  spot,  with  its  miserable  results.  But,  early  in 
1841,  Dr.  Duff  used  such  language,  as  the  whole  press 
of  the  time  did,  in  all  good  faith  and  loyalty.  Had 
not  Baron  Auckland  just  been  made  an  earl  for  his 
apparent  success? 

"  Oh  !  for  the  coming  of  that  glorious  time 
When,  prizing  knowledge  as  her  noblest  Avealtli 
And  best  protection,  this  imperial  I'ealm, 
While  she  exacts  allegiance,  shall  admit 
An  obligation  on  her  part  to  teach 
Them  who  are  born  to  serve  her  and  obey; 
Binding  herself  by  statute  to  secure 
For  all  the  children  whom  her  soil  maintains. 
The  rudiments  of  letters  ;  and  to  inform 
The  mind  with  moral  and  religious  truth." 

"My  Lord, — When  the  Governor-General  of  India  has 
recorded  his  sentiments  on  a  great  national  question,  and 
when  these  have  been  rapturously  responded  to  by  so  many  of 
the  councillors,  the  judges,  the  secretaries,  and  the  leaders  of 
public  opinion,  it  may  be  deemed  presumptuous  in  a  Christian 
missionary  to  lift  up  his  voice  at  all;  more  especially  should 
that  voice,  however  feeble,  seem  to  mingle  as  a  note  of  discord 
amid  the  fresh  full  gale  of  popular  applause.  And  so  it  would 
bo,  were  the  question  exclusively  one  of  mere  worldly  policy. 
But  when  it  is  found  to  be  one  which,  in  its  essential  bearings, 
concerns  the  souls  fully  as  much  as  the  bodies  of  men,  affect- 


432  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1841. 

ing  the  interests  of  eternity  not  less  than  those  of  time,  the 
Christian  missionary  must  not,  dares  not  be  silent,  even  if 
his  voice  should  be  uplifted  against  kings  and  governors  and 
all  earthly  potentates.  When  the  honour  and  glory  of  his 
Divine  Master  and  the  imperishable  destinies  of  man  are  in- 
volved, the  ambassador  of  Jesus  can  brook  no  dalliance  with 
mere  human  greatness,  or  rank,  or  power.  In  the  spirit  of  St. 
Basil,  in  the  presence  of  the  Roman  prefect,  he  is  ever  ready 
to  exclaim  : — '  In  all  other  things  you  will  find  us  the  most 
mild,  the  most  accommodating  among  men  ;  we  carefully  guaixl 
against  the  least  appearance  of  haughtiness,  even  towards  the 
obscurest  citizen,  still  more  so  with  respect  to  those  who  are 
invested  with  sovereign  authority ;  but  the  moment  that  the 
cause  of  God  is  concerned  we  despise  everything.^ 

"  In  the  influence  of  policy  and  arms,  you  are,  my  lord,  at 
this  moment,  the  first  man  in  Asia.  Speak  but  the  word  for 
peace  or  for  wai',  and  that  word  will  speedily  cause  itself  to  be 
felt  from  Ceylon  to  Bokhara,  from  the  Euphrates  to  the  Kianko. 
Thus  planted  on  an  eminence  which  would  make  most  men 
giddy,  it  is  no  small  achievement  to  have  so  maintained  the 
equilibrium  and  balance  of  the  mental  powei's,  that,  amid  the 
blaze  of  conquest  and  the  echoes  of  victory,  you  could  have 
paused  to  indite  a  calm  dispassionate  dissertation  on  edu- 
cational economics.  But  does  it  follow  that  the  first  man  in 
Asia,  in  policy  and  arms,  must  also  be  the  first  in  the  depart- 
ment of  intellectual  and  moral  husbandry  ?  This  may  be  ;  but 
all  the  probabilities  are  against  it. 

"  That  the  author  of  the  immortal  work  on  '  The  Conduct 
of  the  Human  Understanding '  should  be  the  author  of  the 
equally  immortal  '  Thoughts  on  Education,'  is  nothing 
strange.  The  intellectual  habit  from  which  the  former  pro- 
ceeded formed  the  best  possible  discipline  and  preparation  for 
the  production  of  the  latter.  But  that  the  intellectual  habit 
from  which  resulted  the  celebrated  Simla  ukase  on  British 
policy  in  Central  Asia  should  prove  the  best  discipline  and 
preparation  for  inditing  a  Delhi  minute  on  national  education, 
would  be  passing  strange.  Who  that  has  studied  the  human 
mind,  or  attended  to  the  lessons  of  past  experience,  could 
reasonably  expect  Lord  Auckland  to  be  equally  at  home — 
equally  great — in  both  ?  When  the  first  statesman  in  Asia 
steps  aside  from  his  own  towering  eminence  to  grapple  with  a 


^t.  35.  LORD  AUCKLAND  CONTRASTED  WITH  BENTINCK.        433 

theme  that  is  wholly  foreif^n  to,  and  incompatible  with,  his 
general  habits,  he  must  reckon  it  no  disparagement  if  of  him  it 
be  recorded,  as  of  Newton  and  of  Brown  in  similar  circum- 
stances, that  he  has  gone  out  as  another  man !  Still,  as  the 
Commentary  on  Daniel  will  be  perused  because  it  is  the  pro- 
duct of  the  author  of  the  '  Priucipia,^  and  the  poem  of  the 
*  Paradise  of  Coquettes '  will  be  road  because  it  claims  the 
same  paternity  as  the  lectures  on  '  The  Philosophy  of  the 
Human  Mind,'  so  will  the  Delhi  minute  on  native  education 
obtain  currency  and  favour  because  it  is  the  offspring  of  a 
politician  and  statesman  who  is  at  the  head  of  the  most  power- 
ful empire  in  Asia.  And  as,  in  the  cases  of  Newton  and  of 
Brown,  the  splendour  of  their  great,  their  immortal  works, 
is  apt,  from  the  blending  of  association,  to  shed  and  diffuse 
a  portion  of  their  own  lustre  over  the  kindred  but  inferior 
progeny  of  the  same  minds ;  so  will  the  dazzliug  renown  of 
the  present  Govei-nor- General  of  India,  as  a  statesman,  be  sure 
illusively  to  communicate  a  share  of  its  own  brilliancy  to  a 
production  which  otherwise  might  soon  have  sunk  into  obli- 
vion ; — a  production  which  is  remarkable  chiefly  for  ita 
omissions  and  commissions — remarkable  for  its  concessions 
and  its  compromises — remarkable,  above  all,  for  its  education 
without  religion,  its  plans  without  a  providence,  its  ethics 
without  a  God  !  " 

Having  reviewed  the  whole  controversy  in  Lord 
W.  Bentinck's  time,  very  much  in  the  tone  of  his 
"New  Era  of  the  English  Language,"  Dr.  Duff  comes 
to  this  conclusion  in  his  first  letter  : — 

"  Here  are  two  systems  of  education,  directly  opposed  to 
each  other,  and  absolutely  contradictory  in  their  entire  sub- 
stance, scope  and  ends.  Reviewing  these  two  systems.  Lord 
W.  Bentinck,  with  the  straightforward  bearing  of  British 
manliness  and  British  courage  in  the  spirit  which  fired  the  old 
barons  oj.  Runuymede,  and  with  the  decisive  energy  of  uncom- 
promising principle,  thus  pronounced  his  decision  :  '  Regard- 
less of  the  idle  clamours  of  interested  partisanship,  and  fearless 
of  all  consequences,  let  us  resolve  at  once  to  repudiate  altogether 
what  is  demonstrably  injurious,  because  demonstrably  false, 
and  let  us  cleave   to  and  exclusively  promote  that  which  is 

F    P 


434  I^IPE    0^    DR.    DUFF.  1841. 

demonstrably  beneficial^  because  demonstrably  true,'  Review- 
ing the  very  same  system,  my  Lord  Auckland,  witli  what  looks 
very  like  tbe  tortuous  bearing  of  Machiavellian  policy,  in  the 
spirit  of  shrinking  timidity  which  heretofore  hath  compro- 
mised the  success  of  the  best  laid  schemes,  and  with  the 
Proteus-like  facility  of  temporizing  expediency,  thus  enun- 
ciates his  contrary  verdict :  '  Fearful  of  offending  any  party, 
wishing  to  please  all,  and  anxious  to  purchase  peace  at  any 
■Drice,  let  us, — dropping  all  minor  distinctions  between  old  and 
new,  good  and  bad,  right  and  wrong, — let  us  at  once  resolve 
to  embrace  and  patronize  both,  and  both  alike  : — 

'  Tros  Tyriusve  mihi  nullo  discrimiue  Labetur.' 

"  In  a  word,  '  Let  us,'  says  Lord  W.  Bentiuck,  '  disendow 
error  and  endow  only  truth/  'Let  us,'  replies  Lord  Auckland, 
'  i-e-endow  error,  and  continue  the  endowment  of  truth  too.' 
A  decision  so  wholly  at  variance  with  every  maxim  of  truth 
and  righteousness,  a  decision  so  utterly  repugnant  to  the  pro- 
gressive spirit  of  the  age,  what  valid  plea,  what  plausible  grounds 
can  be  adduced  to  justify  ?  Justify  !  It  surely  must  scorn  all 
justification  as  impossible,  and  any  attempt  at  justification  as 
the  most  ludicrous  farce.  But  seeing  that  vindication  is  im- 
practicable, does  it  not  admit  of  some  palliatives  ?  If  palliatives 
there  be,  they  may  be  summed  up  in  a  single  sentence ;  viz., 
that  it  was  most  kind  and  amiable  to  soothe  the  expiring 
sorrows  of  the  superannuated  remnant  of  the  race  of  orien- 
talists, who,  like  the  owls  and  the  bats,  have  such  a  special 
affection  for  the  dingy  and  the  dismal  edifices  of  hoar  antiquity, 
and  who,  like  these  lovers  of  darkness,  are  ever  ready  to  break 
forth  into  strains  as  doleful  as  the  notes  of  a  funeral  dirge, 
when  the  crazy  crevices  in  which  they  have  so  long  nestled  are 
threatened  with  extermination  !  Most  kind  and  amiable  we 
admit  all  this  to  be  !  But,  beyond  this  admission,  where  are 
we  to  look  for  grounds  of  palliation  ? 

"  These  words  are  penned  in  the  full  assurance  that  with 
your  lordship  and  councillors  they  will  not  have  the  weight  o£ 
a  feather.  So  let  it  be.  Here,  your  lordship  is  everything. 
Here,  politically  and  civilly  speaking,  your  voice  is  all  but 
omnipotent.  Speak  but  the  word,  and  thousands  are  ready  to 
shout,  '  It  is  the  voice  of  a  god  ! '  Speak  but  the  word,  and 
thousands  more  are  ready  to  fall  down  and  worship  whatever 


^t.  35.   TilE  MISSIONARY  AND  THE  GOVERNOR-GENHRAL.      435 

idol  or  image  you  may  be  pleased  to  set  up.  Here^  on  the 
other  hand,  the  humble  missionai'y,  in  a  woi-ldly  sense,  neither 
is,  nor  desires  to  be,  anything.  Let  him  but  speak  the  word, 
and  lo,  it  is  the  voice  of  a  fanatic  !  Let  him  but  give  forth  his 
warniugs,  and  lo,  they  are  treated  with  supercilious  scorn  or 
branded  as  a  grand  importiueuce.  But,  my  lord,  I  must 
remind  you  that  the  greater  the  power,  the  more  tremendous 
the  responsibility  !  I  must  also  remind  you  that — apart  from 
the  solemnities  of  the  great  assize  to  which  the  noble  and  tho 
mighty  will  be  summoned,  without  respect  of  persons,  along 
with  the  poorest  and  the  meanest  of  tho  land — there  is,  even 
here  below,  another  tribunal,  of  a  different  frame  and  texture 
from  that  of  an  Asiatic  time-serving,  favour-seeking  com- 
munity, at  whose  bar  the  appeal  of  a  gospel  minister  will  bo 
heard  as  promptly  as  that  of  the  noblest  lord.  There  is  a 
British  public,  and  above  all,  a  religious  public  in  Great 
Britain,  which  heretofore  hath  been  moved,  and  may  readily 
be  moved  again,  by  the  addresses  and  expostulations  of  a 
Christian  missionary.  It  was  the  righteous  agitation  of  this 
public  which  wrenched  asunder  the  bars  of  prohibition  to  the 
free  ingress  of  Bibles  and  heralds  of  salvation  into  India.  It 
was  tho  righteous  agitation  of  this  public  which  accelerated 
and  insured  the  abolition  of  the  murderous  rite  of  suttee.  It 
was  the  righteous  agitation  of  this  public  which  foredoomed 
the  ultimate  severance  of  official  British  connection  with  the 
mosques  -and  temples  and  idolatrous  observances  of  this  be- 
nighted people.  And  rest  assured,  my  lord,  that  as  certainly 
as  the  rising  sun  chases  away  the  darkness  of  night,  so  certainly 
will  the  righteous  agitation  of  this  same  British  public  even- 
tually wipe  away,  as  a  blot  and  disgrace,  from  our  national 
statute  book,  that  fatal  act,  by  which  your  lordship  has  restored 
the  Government  patronage  and  support  to  the  shrines  and 
sanctuaries  of  Hindoo  and  Muhammadan  learning  with  all 
their  idolatrous,  pantheistic  and  antichristian  errors !  A 
surer  prospect  of  earning  the  garland  of  victory  no  Christian 
missionary  could  possibly  desire,  than  the  opportunity  of 
boldly  confronting,  on  a  theme  like  this,  the  mightiest  of  our 
state  functionaries,  in  the  presence  of  a  promiscuous  audience 
of  British-born  free-men,  in  any  city  or  district,  from  Cornwall 
to  Shetland.  His  march  would  be  that  of  one  continued  con- 
quest.   The  might  and  the  majesty  of  a  great  people,  awakened 


43 6  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1841. 

to  discern  the  trutli  and  impoi't  of  things  as  they  are,  would 
increasingly  swell  his  train.  And,  from  the  triumph  of  in- 
domitable principle  in  Britain  would  emanate,  as  in  times  past, 
an  influence  which  would  soon  cause  itself  to  be  felt  in  the 
supreme  councils  of  India,  and  thence  extend,  with  renovating 
efficacy,  through  all  its  anti-religious  schools  and  colleges." 

In  the  second  letter,  with  consummate  art  as  well  as 
fairness  Dr.  Duff  takes  out  of  the  minute -and  holds  up 
to  eulogy  all  of  it  that  he  can  justly  praise.  Especially 
does  hie  thank  the  Grovernor-General  for  at  last  carry- 
ing out  his  own  recommendation  of  1834,  to  promote 
true  oriental  scholarship  by  "  a  separate  grant  for  the 
publication  of  works  of  interest  in  the  ancient  literature 
of  the  country,  to  be  disbursed  through  the  appro- 
priate channel  of  the  Asiatic  Society."  He  corrects 
the  mistake  which  would  build  the  pyramid  of  national 
education  on  its  apex,  beginning  with  the  college, 
going  on  afterwards  to  the  secondary  school,  and 
leaving  the  millions  without  primary  schools.  He  tells 
what  John  Knox  and  his  associates  did  for  Scot- 
land in  1560.  He  urges  that  the  same  means  which 
the  Scottish  Parliament  then  decreed  be  adopted  by 
the  Indian  G-overnment,  in  levying  a  school  cess  on  the 
land-tax,  as  a  road  cess  had  even  then  begun  to  be 
raised.  "  So  might  a  permanent  education  fund  be 
established,  proportionate  to  the  wealth  and  population 
of  each,  province,  by  *  the  surrender  in  return  of  one 
per  cent,  of  the  revenue  on  the  part  of  the  revenue 
receivers  for  educational  purposes.'  Well  might  such  a 
sum,  or  one  hundredth  part  of  their  immense  revenue, 
be  pronounced  the  very  minimum  amount  that  India — - 
sunk,  depressed,  benighted  India — has  a  right  to  ex- 
pect or  demand  from  her  rulers  for  securing  one  main 
iuo-redient  of  the  panacea  of  her  intellectual,  moral  and 
social  maladies."  Such  a  cess  was  raised  first  in  Bom- 
bay, and  then  by  tlie  late  Earl  of  Kellie  in  a  district 


JEt.  35.   APPEAL  TO  THE  STATESMEN  OP  ALL  COUNTRIES.        437 

of  Central  India,  till  now  it  is  exacted  all  over  India. 
But  it  is  not  the  revenue  receivers  who  pay  it.  Rather 
have  cesses  of  all  kinds,  of  which  that  for  schools  is 
the  least,  been  added  to  the  periodically  increased 
land-tax,*  till  the  burden  of  the  long-suffering  culti- 
vators is  greater  than  they  can  bear. 

The  third  letter  arraigned  Lord  Auckland  and  his 
advisers  at  the  bar  of  universal  reason,  as  spiritually 
guilty  in  their  education  schemes  "  of  what  looks 
like  treason  against  the  majesty  and  sovereignty  of 
the  God  of  providence ;  of  the  crudest  wrong  to  the 
souls  and  immortal  destinies  of  thousands  "  of  their 
Indian  fellow-subjects.  After  a  very  practical  exposi- 
tion of  the  fact,  ever  since  pressed  upon  the  G-overn- 
ment  of  India  in  vain,  that  it  stands  alone  of  all  the 
world  in  the  suicidal  attempt  to  support  by  public 
taxation  an  official  system  of  education  which  jealously 
excludes  religion  of  every  kind  and  the  sanctions  of 
morality.  Dr.  Duff  thus  closed:  "For  the  substantial 
justice  of  the  charge  I  appeal — not  to  the  religious 
public  of  Great  Britain  alone — but  to  the  recorded 
verdicts  of  the  Russells  of  England,  the  Cousins  of 
France,  the  Falcks  of  Holland,  the  Altensteins  of  Ger- 
many and  all  the  greatest  and  most  celebrated  states- 
men of  ancient  and  modern  times  !" 

The  appeal  remained  unheeded  by  the  Government 
till  1854.  The  concession  then  solemnly  made  by  the 
present  Lord  Halifax  and  by  Lord  Dalhousie,  to  the 


•  In  theory,  half  the  net  produce  of  the  land  is  left,  on  the  system 
of  thirty  years  leases,  to  the  cultivators.  Year  by  year  cesses  have 
been  imposed,  till  the  State  takes  sixty  per  cent,  and  the  peasant 
receives  only  forty.  The  latest  impost  is  that  of  a  cess  to  bo 
"solemnly,"  "  religiously,"  set  apart  as  a  reserve  for  the  famines 
which  the  periodical  increase  of  the  land-tax  provokes.  This  new 
burden  has  no  sooner  been  paid  for  the  first  time  than  it  has  been 
used  to  carry  on  the  second  Afghan  war. 


43^  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1841. 

effect  that  the  State  would  adopt  the  English  position 
of  giving  grants  for  secular  education  and  retiring 
from  its  functions  as  a  direct  schoolmaster  whenever 
the  public  would  take  its  place,  has  never  been  carried 
out.  As  a  commentary  on  Dr.  Duff's  appeal  in  1841, 
on  the  broken  pledge  which  he  secured  in  1854  from 
Parliament,  on  the  alarm  of  Lord  Northbrook  in  1875, 
on  the  censorship  of  the  native  press  in  1877,  and  on 
the  annually  increasing  political  as  well  as  moral  and 
spiritual  danger  of  the  system,  we  may  cite  this  ex- 
tract, made  confidentially  to  one  of  Lord  Auckland's 
successors  in  1872  by  the  Home  Department  which  is 
charged  with  the  imperial  direction  of  public  instruc- 
tion in  India : — 

"  That  most  remarkable  feature  in  Indian  education,  the 
religious  neutrality  of  the  Government,  is  no  doubt  a  relic  of 
the  extreme  apprehension  which  prevailed  in  1793,  and  whether 
its  original  declaration  was  a  wise  one  or  not  is  far  too  deep 
and  many-sided  a  question  to  be  discussed  here.  We  must 
accept  the  fact  as  we  find  it.  But  it  is,  I  believe,  absolutely 
without  precedent  or  parallel  elsewhere,  besides  being  entirely 
opposed  to  the  traditional  idea  of  education  current  in  the 
East.  In  Europe,  it  is  almost  an  axiom  that  the  connection  of 
any  State  system  of  education  with  religion  is  not  the  mere 
result  of  tradition  ;*  '  it  is  an  indissoluble  union,  the  bonds  of 
which  are  principles  inseparable  from  the  nature  of  education.' 
This  is  admitted  almost  universally.  Even  the  French  system 
is  religious,  not  in  the  sense  in  which  all  European  systems 
profess  to  be  more  or  less  so,  in  inculcating  the  precepts  of  a 
certain  universal  and  indisputable  morality,  but  in  inculcating 
morality  in  the  only  way  in  which  the  masses  of  mankind  will 
ever  admit  it,  in  its  connection  with  the  doctrines  of  religion. 
In  Holland,  primary  instruction  was  decided  in  a  much  debated 
law  to  be  designed  to  train  '  to  the  exercise  of  all  Christian 
and  social  virtues,'  while  respecting  the  convictions  of  dis- 
senters.     In   Switzerland,  religion  stands  on  the  same  footing 

*  Fthblic  Education,  by  Sir  J.  K,  Shuttleworth,  p.  290. 


^t.  35.  DANGKRS    OF    A    NATIONAL    SECULARISM.  439 

as  reading,  writing-,  grammnr  and  aritlimetic,  as  a  fundamontal 
part  of  the  scheme.  In  Germany,  generally,  religion  still 
forms,  as  it  lias  always  done,  the  first  and  staple  subject  of 
the  elementary  school,  and  the  religion  of  the  master  must  be 
in  conformity  with  that  of  the  majority  of  his  pupils.  The 
American  system,  while  repudiating  all  doctrinal  or  dogmatic 
teaching,  provides  everywhere  for  the  regular  daily  reading  of 
the  Bible  and  for  prayer.  And,  lastly,  the  framers  of  the 
English  Education  Act,  1870,  have  been  able  to  assume  as  a 
matter  of  course  that  every  elementary  school  would  be  con- 
nected with  a  recognised  religious  denomination,  and  that 
Government  aid  might,  therefore,  be  ollored  to  all  alike  for 
secular  education  only.  * 

"  In  India,  not  only  is  there  no  religious  teaching  of  any 
kind  in  Government  schools,  but  even  the  aided  schools  under 
native  managers  are  generally  adopting  the  same  principle.  I 
believe  this  result  was  never  anticipated,  and  I  am  sure  it 
requires  attention.  Looking  to  the  rapid  growth  of  our  educa- 
tional system,  and  to  the  enormous  influence  for  good  or  evil 
that  a  single  able  and  well  educated  man  may  exercise  in  this 
country;  and  looking  to  the  dense  but  inflammable  ignorance 
of  the  millions  around  us,  it  seems  a  tremendous  experiment 
for  the  State  to  undertake,  and  in  some  provinces  almost 
monopolise,  the  direct  training  of  whole  generations  above 
their  own  creed,  and  above  that  sense  of  relation  to  another 
world  upon  which  they  base  all  their  moral  obligations ;  and 
the  possible  evil  is  obviously  growing  with  the  system.  It  is 
true  that  things  go  smoothly  and  quietly,  but  this  is  attained 
by  ignoring  not  only  the  inevitable  results  of  early  training  on 
the  character  and  the  great  needs  of  human  nature,  especially 
in  the  East,  but  by  also  ignoring  the  responsibility  which 
devolves  on  the  Government  that  assumes  the  entire  control 
of  direct  education  at  all.  If,  therefore,  while  fanaticism  is 
raging  around,  there  is  a  calm  in  our  schools  and  colleges,  it 
is  an  ominous  and  unnatural  calm,  of  impossible  continuance, 
the-calm  of  the  centre  of  the  cyclone. 

"  The  subject  is  one  of  extreme  difficulty,  that  grows  with 
the  consideration  devoted  to  it.  Of  course  it  is  out  of  the 
question  to  recede  in  any  degree  from  the  pledges  of  the  past. 


Mr.  Gladstone's  speech,  Hansard,  vol.  CCIL,  p.  267. 


440  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1 8 41. 

And  it  is  probable  tbat  the  evil  is  less  serious  in  primary 
Bchools  wliere  tbe  instruction  given  does  not  necessarily  de- 
stroy religious  belief,  ■whereas  our  higher  instruction  does. 
Therefore,  although  the  State  may  establish  and  maintain 
primary  schools  where  no  local  effort  is  forthcoming,  it  would 
still  seem  very  desirable  that  it  should  retire  as  rapidly  and  as 
completely  as  practicable  from  the  entire  control  of  all  direct 
instruction,  and  especially  higher  instruction,  and  leave  it  to 
local  management  to  be  encouraged  by  the  State,  and  aided 
in  conformity  with  the  English  principle  which,  without  any 
interference  in  the  religious  instruction  imparted,  practically 
insures  by  the  constitution  of  the  local  boards  that  some 
religious  instruction  is  regularly  given/' 


We  shall  see  this  vital  question  coming  up  again 
and  again  to  the  very  close  of  Dr.  Duff's  life,  when,  as 
he  lay  a-dying,  his  memory  went  back  to  this  conflict 
with  Lord  Auckland,  and  he  longed  that  his  life  might 
be  spared,  if  only  to  fight  till  he  won  the  battle  against 
a  neutrality  which  is  not  neutral  to  but  carefully  fosters 
the  worst  error ;  against  a  secularism  which  is  fast 
robbing  the  Hindoos  even  of  the  natural  religion  and 
traditional  truth  of  their  own  system,  till  they  them- 
selves cry  out.  The  Christian  college  stands  alone 
in  the  breach  which  the  rising  flood-tide  is  threatening, 
while  Church  and  State  look  on  apathetically. 

Even  the  daily  newspapers  of  Calcutta  republished 
Dr.  Duff's  letters,  and  made  them  the  subject  of  edi- 
torial comment.  "  As  no  press  ever  struggled  more 
manfully  for  its  own  liberty,"  he  wrote  in  a  note  to 
his  reprint  of  the  correspondence,  "  so  none  has  on 
the  whole  ever  less  abused  that  liberty  when  conceded. 
In  this  respect  the  sentence  of  Sir  J.  C.  Hobhouse 
must  be  regarded  as  downright,  though  perhaps,  in 
his  happy  ignorance  of  Indian  affairs,  unintentional 
calumny."  But  the  subject  was,  in  a  few  months, 
swallowed  up  in  the  snows  of  Afghanistan,  with  our 


^-t  35-         'fHE    FIRST    AND    SECOND    AFGHAN    WAllS.  44 1 

thirteen  thousand  troops  and  their  officers.  Lord 
Auckland  began  his  evilpolicjMu  July,  1837,  with  Lord 
W.  Bentinck's  hard-earned  surplus  of  a  million  and  a 
half  sterling.  He  was  created  an  earl  in  1840,  for 
that  march  to  Ghuznee  which  made  Sir  John  Keane  a 
baron  though  he  forgot  his  battery-train.  The  more 
denounced  an  evil  policy  is  the  more  fruitful  of  hon- 
ours is  it  expedient  for  the  responsible  ministry  of  the 
day  to  make  it.  Sir  J.  C.  Hobhouse  himself  became 
Lord  Broughton  !  In  January,  1842,  when  he  had 
packed  his  baggage  to  return  home  triumphant.  Lord 
Auckland  received  intelligence  of  the  bloody  collapse 
for  which  he  had  converted  his  great  predecessor's 
surplus  into  a  deficit  of  two  millions,  had  added  enor- 
mously to  the  debt  of  India,  had  shaken  the  English 
power  in  the  East  till  it  nearly  fell  in  pieces  in  1857, 
had  allied  his  country  with  iniquity — and  yet,  had  not 
succeeded  in  warning  his  successors  forty  years  after 
against  following  in  his  blood-stuined  feeble  footsteps. 
It  fell  to  Henry  Lawrence  and  George  Clerk,  to  Colin 
Mackenzie  and  George  Broadfoot,  to  save  the  residue 
of  the  troops  and  to  rescue  the  captives  alike  from  the 
imbecility  of  the  "Whig  Governor- General  and  from  the 
madness  of  his  Tory  supplanter. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

1841-1843. 
TSE  COLLEGE  AND  ITS  SPIRITUAL  FBUIT. 

Outward  Signs  of  the  Progress  of  a  Decade. — The  Second  Convert 
a  Christian  Minister. — The  College  Buildings. — The  Staff  of 
Five  Missionaries. — Their  Unity  in  Variety.- — The  College  Re- 
organized.— A  jSTormal  Training  Class. — Dr.  Duff's  Educational 
System  then  contrasted  with  the  St^ate  Colleges  now. — The 
Spiritual  Machinery. — The  Female  Orphanage. — Legal  Disabili- 
ties and  Social  Oppression  of  Hindoo  Widows. — The  Native 
Christian  Family. — The  Death,  of  Dr.  Duff's  Child  in  Scotland. — 
Dx'.  Inglis  and  his  Son,  the  Lord  President. — Sympathy  with 
Mrs  Briggs,  of  St.  Andrews. — The  Movement  in  Krishnaghur. — 
A  New  Vaishnava  Sect. — Dr.  Duff  visits  the  District  twice. — Inter- 
view with  the  Gooroo  of  the  Worshippers  of  the  Creator. — New 
Stations  at  Culna  and  Ghospara. — The  Eight  New  Convei'ts 
from  the  College. — Mahendra's  First  Sermon. — -Review  of  the 
Twelve. — Proclamation  of  Peace  in  Afghanistan  and  China. — 
Lord  Ellenborough. — Dr.  Duff's  Anticipations. 

When  Dr.  Duff  landed  at  Calcutta  to  begin  the  second 
period  of  liis  work  in  India,  even  lie  was  astonished 
at  the  outward  signs  of  progress  which  ten  years 
of  English  education  under  really  enlightened  British 
administration  had  brought  about.  No  one  could 
doubt  that,  in  the  great  cities  and  intellectual  centres 
at  least,  as  in  Italy  of  the  first  three  centuries,  and 
again  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  the 
E/cnaissance  was  a  fact.  Even  on  his  way  from  the 
ship  to  his  own  college-building  and  principal's  or 
senior  missionary's  residence,  which  he  had  yet  to  see, 
he  passed  through  a  succession  of  such  outward  evi- 
dences, which  he  reported  in  his  own  graphic  style  to 
Dr.  Brunton. 


>Et.  35.         OUTWAHD    SIGNS    OF    THE    liKNAISSANCE.  443 

The  first  object  that  liad  caught  his  eye  on  landing 
was  a  signboard  on  which  were  marked  in  large  char- 
acters the  words,  "  Ram  Lochun  Sen  &  Co.,  Surgeons 
and  Druggists."  Not  six  years  had  passed  since  the 
pseudo-orientalists  had  declared  that  no  Hindoo  would 
be  found  to  study  even  the  rudiments  of  the  healing 
art  through  anatomy.  But  here,  scattered  over  the 
native  town,  were  the  shops  of  the  earlier  sets  of  duly 
educated  practitioners  and  apothecaries  who  had  begun 
to  find  in  medicine  a  fortune  long  before  the  chicane 
of  law  attracted  them  to  our  courts. 

"When  I  gazed  at  the  humble,  yet  significant,  type 
and  visible  symbol  before  me  of  so  triumphant  a 
conquest  over  one  of  the  most  inveterate  of  Hindoo 
prejudices — a  conquest  issuing  in  such  beneficial  prac- 
tical results — how  could  I  help  rejoicing  in  spirit  at 
the  reflection  that,  under  Divine  providence,  the 
singular  success  of  your  Institution  was  overruled  as 
one  of  the  main  instruments  in  achieving  it  ?  Oh ! 
that  a  like  energy  were  put  forth — an  energy  like  to 
that  which  characterized  the  Divine  Physician — for 
the  healing  of  the  spiritual  maladies  of  the  millions 
around  us !  Holy  Spirit !  do  Thou  descend  with  a 
Pentecostal  effusion  of  Thy  grace.  Come  from  the 
four  winds,  0  breath,  and  breathe  upon  these  slain, 
that  they  may  live.  Blessed  be  God  that  the  better 
cause  is  neither  wholly  neglected,  nor  without  promise. 

"After  passing  the  Medical  College  itself,  the  next 
novel  object  which  in  point  of  fact  happened  to  attract 
my  attention  as  I  approached  Cornwallis  Square,  was 
a  handsome  Christian  church,  with  its  gothic  tower 
and  buttresses,  and  contiguous  manse  or  parsonage. 
And  who  was  the  first  ordained  pastor  thereof  ?  The 
Rev.  Krishna  Mohun  Bauerjea,  once  a  Koolin  Brah- 
man of  the  highest  caste;  then,  through  the  scheme 
of   Government   education,  an   educated    atheist  and 


444  I'^^E    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1841. 

editor  of  the  Enquirer  newspaper  ;  next  brought  to  a 
saving  knowledge  of  tlie  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  and 
admitted  into  the  Christian  Church  by  baptism, 
through  the  unworthy  instrumentahty  of  him  who 
now  addresses  you;  and,  last  of  all,  ordained  as  a 
minister  of  the  everlasting  gospel  by  the  Bishop  of 
Calcutta,  and  now  appointed  to  discharge  the  evan- 
gelical and  pastoral  duties  of  the  new  Christian  temple 
which  was  erected  for  himself !  What  a  train  of 
pleasing  reflection  was  the  first  view  of  this  edifice 
calculated  to  awaken  !  Men  there  are  who,  practically 
ignorant  of  the  real  nature  of  the  gospel  and  of  the 
power  of  God's  grace  themselves,  still  choose  to  deny 
the  possibility  of  converting  Hindoos  of  good  caste. 
To  repudiate  with  holy  indignation  the  downright 
atheism  of  such  denial,  it  is  enough  for  the  believer  to 
know  that  with  God  all  things  are  possible.  But  here 
was,  in  addition,  a  sensible  refutation  of  the  atheistic 
dogma.  Here  is  not  a  low  caste,  but  a  high  caste 
Hindoo,  yea,  one  of  the  highest  order  of  the  Brah- 
manical  caste  in  India ;  not  an  ignorant  man,  but 
one  who,  having  gone  through  an  ample  course  of 
European  literature  and  science,  explored  the  labyrinth 
of  Hindooism  with  the  torch  of  modern  illumination, 
and  deliberately  rejected  his  ancestral  faith  as  a 
tissue  of  absurdity,  superstition  and  cruelty;  not  a 
rash  enthusiast,  but  one  who,  in  his  ignorance  of  a 
better  faith,  having  been  led  to  deny  the  very  being 
of  a  God,  was  persuaded,  on  the  ground  of  reason  and 
consistency,  to  examine  the  claims  of  natural  and 
revealed  religion;  one  who,  having  had  his  under- 
standing opened  to  discern  the  resistless  force  of 
evidence,  and  his  heart  deeply  affected  by  a  sense  of 
the  suitableness  and  adaptation  of  the  gospel  remedy 
to  his  felt  condition  as  a  guilty  and  helpless  sinner  in 
the  sight  of  God,  publicly  and  solemnly  embraced  the 


/Et.  35.  THE    FFRST    EENCAr.EE    MINISTER.  445 

Christian  faith,  through  the  sacred  ordinanQe  of  bap- 
tism. Such  has  been  the  steadfastness  of  his  Christian 
walk  and  conversation  for  the  last  eiglit  years,  that 
even  the  bitterest  enemies  among  his  own  countrymen 
now,  with  one  accord,  acknowledge  his  sincerity. 
Nor  has  he  been  innctive  in  his  Master's  service. 
Naturally  endowed  with  no  ordinary  degree  of  energy 
and  force  of  character,  he  has  laboured  assiduously 
and  successfully  as  a  teacher,  a  catechist,  and  nov/ 
an  ordained  minister  of  the  gospel  of  salvation.  He 
preaches  regularly  both  on  Sundays  and  week-days, 
in  Bengalee  and  in  English,  to  suit  the  wants  of  this 
country,  to  men  who  have,  or  have  not,  acquired  a 
European  education.  Nor  has  he  laboured  in  vain. 
Throug^h  his  faithful  ministrations  not  a  few  have  been 
shaken  out  of  their  idolatries.  Several  educated 
natives  of  high  promise  have  professed  Christianity ; 
and  some  already  act  as  his  fellow-helpers  in  advanc- 
ino"  the  cause  of  the  Redeemer  in  this  benio-hted  land. 
Who  can  dare  to  gainsay  facts  so  notorious  and  de- 
cisive? And  do  they  not  amount  to  a  visible  demon- 
stration of  the  wretched  fallacy  of  the  atheistic  dogma, 
of  the  alleged  impossibility  of  converting  higli  caste 
Hindoos  ?  Shall  we  glory  in  being  able  to  a})peal  to 
such  emphatic  demonstration  ?  Never,  never  !  so  far  as 
man's  instrumentality  is  concerned.  But  we  glory  in 
the  Lord.  His  is  the  kingdom,  and  His  the  power,  and 
His  too — and  His  alone — must  be  all  the  glory  !  '  It 
is  the  doing  of  the  Lord,  and  marvellous  in  our  eyes.' 
"  Of  the  Bengalee  sermons  preached  in  this  new 
church  the  author  has  published  a  small  volume. 
They  are  designed  specially  for  Brahmans  and  other 
high  caste  Hindoos.  Both  from  their  style  and  sub- 
stance they  are  admirably  calculated  for  the  object 
designed.  Of  this  work,  remarkable  as  being  the 
first  volume  of  regular  sermons  ever  published  in  the 


44^  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1841. 

Bengalee  language  by  a  Brahman  convert  and  ordained 
preacher  of  the  gospel,  and  peculiarly  enhanced  in 
our  estimation  from  the  circumstance  of  its  author 
being-  one  of  the  first-fruits  of  the  Church  of  Scotland's 
Mission  to  India,  I  shall  endeavour,  by  the  first  oppor- 
tunity, to  send  you  a  copy.  Nor  is  the  illustration 
hereby  afforded  of  another  process  of  paramount 
importance  to  be  overlooked.  What  is  wanted  to 
insure,  under  God,  the  rapid  and  extensive  spiritual 
regeneration  of  India,  is  not  an  exotic  artificially 
sustained  life,  but  an  indigenous,  self-sustaining,  self- 
propagating  life.  Here,  then,  is  the  process  com- 
menced in  this  great  heathen  metropolis.  One  has 
been  called  of  God,  endowed  with  such  gifts  of  nature 
and  endowments  of  grace,  as  to  have  not  only  life  in 
himself,  and  for  himself,  but  life  so  abundantly  as  to 
be  enabled,  through  the  Divine  blessing,  to  communi- 
cate a  portion  to  others  around  him.  These  already, 
in  the  good  providence  of  God,  have  been  blessed  in 
imparting  a  share  of  their  own  vitality  to  others ;  who 
must  be  destined  to  impart  the  same  to  others  still,  in 
an  onward  progression,  through  an  ever  widening 
circle.  The  rate  of  augmentation,  at  first  gradual  and 
almost  imperceptible,  may  at  length  advance  with  a 
rapidity  which  might  well  make  the  present  pioneering 
generation  incredulous.  Here  there  is  one  case  where 
Christianity  may  be  said  to  have  fairly  taken  root  in 
the  Indian  soil,  where  the  process  of  indigenous  self- 
propagation  may  be  said  to  have  fairly  begun.  The 
poor  earthen  vessel  which  had  originally  been  employed, 
under  Providence,  in  conveying  the  seed  of  life  to  this 
portion  of  the  Indian  soil,  after  depositing  the  seed  in 
the  spot  pre-ordained  and  chosen  of  God,  became 
shattered  and  useless.  To  prove  that  it  had  nought 
to  do  with  the  giving  of  the  increase,  the  human 
instrument  was  wholly  withdrawn  from  the  field.     By 


^t.  35-   THE  MAIN  DESIGN  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  COLLEGE.    447 

his  withelrawal  was  tho  process  of  itidependent  self- 
diffusion  arrested  ?  On  the  contrary,  in  the  particular 
instance  under  review,  it  progressed  more  rapidly  than 
ever.  And  thougli  the  original  conveyer  of  the  seed 
had  died,  or  had  never  returned,  the  process  would 
have  still  gone  on,  to  the  praise  of  God's  glorious 
grace.  Surely  a  statement  of  fact  like  this  might  well 
dart  a  ray  of  new  light  into  the  darkest  caverns  of 
prejudice  and  unthinking  bigotry.  Surely  it  might 
open  up  a  glimpse  of  the  holy  and  noble  extent  and 
purpose  of  the  most  frequently  misunderstood  part  of 
our  labours.  For  what  is  the  main  and  leading:  desi^rn 
of  all  our  Christian  schools  and  missionary  colleges  ? 
Is  it  not,  in  liumble  dependence  on  the  blessing  and 
fruitful  increase  of  God's  Holy  Spirit,  to  raise,  and 
rear  up,  and  multiply  a  superior  race  of  natives 
who,  like  the  Rev.  Krishna  ]\Ioliun  Banerjea,  shall  be 
privileged  to  originate  and  perpetuate  the  mighty 
process  of  gospel  propagation  through  all  the  cities 
and  provinces  of  India? 

"  After  passing  the  new  church,  which  stands  out  to 
the  eye  so  pleasing  a  monument  of  the  incipient  pro- 
gress of  Christian  influence  in  this  heathen  metropolis, 
I  came  full  in  view  of  the  Assembly's  new  Institution 
and  Mission-house,  on  the  opposite  side  of  Cornwallis 
Square.  Gratifying  as  some  of  the  preceding  spec- 
tacles were,  this  to  me  was  the  most  gratifying  of  all. 
What  a  change  since  May,  1830,  and  how  different  the 
thoughts  and  feelings  of  the  spectator  !  Then,  almost 
the  only  thing  determined  on  was,  that  Calcutta  should 
not  be  my  head-quarters  and  fixed  abode ; — now,  I 
saw  before  me  my  head-quarters  and  permanent 
residence.  Then,  the  precise  line  of  operations  to  be 
adopted  was  not  only  unknown,  but  seemed  for  a 
while  incapable  of  being  discovered,  as  it  stretched 
away  amid  the  thickening  conflict  of  contending  dif- 


44^  I'lI'B    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1841. 

ficulties ; — now,  there  stood  before  me  a  visible  pledge 
and  token  that  one  grand  line  of  operation  had  long 
been  ascertained,  and  cleared  of  innumerable  obstacles, 
and  persevered  in  with  a  steadfastness  of  march  which 
looked  most  promisingly  towards  the  destined  goal. 
Then,  I  had  no  commission,  but  either  to  hire  a 
room  for  educational  purposes  at  a  low  rent,  or  to 
erect  a  bun2:alow  at  a  cost  not  exceeding^  £30  or 
£40 ; — now,  there  stood  before  me  a  plain  and  sub- 
stantial, yet  elegant  structure,  which  cost  £5,000  or 
£6,000.  Then,  it  was  matter  of  delicate  and  painful 
uncertainty  whether  any  respectable  natives  would 
attend  for  the  sake  of  being  initiated  into  a  compound 
course  of  literary,  scientific  and  Christian  instruction; 
— now,  600  or  700,  pursuing  such  a  coui'se,  were  ready 
to  hail  me  with  welcome  gratulation.  Then,  the  most 
advanced  pupils  could  only  manage  to  spell  English 
words  of  two  syllables,  without  comprehending  their 
meaning;- — now,  the  surviving  remnant  of  that  class 
were  prepared  to  stand  an  examination  in  general 
English  literature,  science  and  Christian  theology, 
which  might  reflect  credit  on  many  who  have  studied 
seven  or  eight  years  at  one  of  our  Scottish  colleges. 
Then,  the  whole  scheme  was  not  merely  ridiculed  as 
chimerical  by  the  worldly-minded ;  but  as  unmissionary 
if  not  unchristian,  in  its  principles  and  tendencies,  by 
the  pious  conductors  of  other  evangelizing  measures ; 
— now,  the  missionaries  of  all  denominations  resident 
in  Calcutta,  not  only  approve  of  the  scope,  design  and 
texture  of  the  scheme,  but  have  for  many  years 
been  strenuously  and  not  unsuccessfully  attempting 
to  imitate  it  to  the  utmost  extent  of  the  means  at  their 
disposal.  Yea,  so  strong  has  the  conviction  of  some 
of  them  become  on  the  subject,  that  in  some  instances, 
they  have  laboured  to  promote  the  object  not  only 
without  the  sanction,  but  almost  in  spite  of  the  declared 


JEt.  35.       THE  PROGRESS  OF  A  DECADE.  449 

sentiments  of  the  home  committees  of  the  parent  socie- 
ties; and,  as  one  of  the  number  (who  has  devoted  the 
last  fifteen  years  exclusively  to  Bengalee  preaching,  but 
who  has  gradually  become  an  enthusiastic  admirer  and 
advocate  of  our  scheme,  as  one  of  the  mightiest  engines 
for  the  dissemination  of  the  gospel  in  India)  again 
and  again  declared  to  me,  in  the  presence  of  other 
missionary  brethren,  the  main  argument  employed 
by  them  in  writing  to,  and  expostulating  with  their 
home  committees,  has  been  an  appeal  to  the  model, 
example,  and  palpable  success  of  our  Institution. 
Then — not  to  multiply  more  contrasting  parallelisms, 
— it  was  my  lot  to  stand  alone,  without  any  actual 
assistance  or  practical  co-operation  whatever, — alone, 
yet  not  alone,  for  I  was  driven  the  more  urgently 
to  look  to  God  as  my  helper  and  my  counsellor,  my 
fortress  and  my  tower ; — now,  I  was  to  join  four 
beloved  brethren,  one  in  spirit,  one  in  mind,  one 
in  purpose,  one  in  resolution,  able,  willing,  ready 
mutually  to  assist,  mutually  to  co-operate  in  carrying 
out  the  great  generic  principles  of  the  Mission  into 
their  full  and  legitimate  development.  In  the  midst 
of  such  a  crowding  profusion  of  past  remembrances, 
and  present  realities,  and  future  prospects,  I  trust  that 
the  presiding  feeling  after  all  was  gratitude  to  the 
Father  of  mercies,  and  joy  in  the  God  of  our  salvation. 
Who  am  I — did  the  soul  instinctively  cry  out — who 
am  I,  that  the  Lord  should  condescend  so  graciously 
to  visit  me  ?  After  being  in  deaths  oft,  after  so  many 
perils  by  land  and  water,  after  so  much  unprofitable- 
ness and  unworthiness,  who  am  I,  that  I  should  have 
so  much  given  me  of  my  heart's  desire  ?  that  I  should 
be  spared  to  witness  so  much  of  what,  ten  years  ago, 
had  been  pronounced  to  be  the  wild  dreams  of  a 
visionary,  actually  realized  ?  Almost  instinctively  was 
I  led  to  appropriate  and  apply,  in  a  very  humble  and 

G    G 


450  LIFE    OP    DK.    DUFF.  1841. 

subordinate  sense,  the  words  of  aged  Simeon  : — *  Lord, 
now  lettest  Thou  Thy  servant  depart  in  peace ;  for 
mine  eyes  have  seen  Thy  salvation,  which  was  prepared 
before  the  face  of  all  people, — a  light  to  lighten  the 
Gentiles,  and  the  glory  of  Thy  people  Israel.'  " 

If  the  college  building  and  the  mission-house,  with 
their  spacious  grounds,  in  a  fine  open  square  and  yet 
close  to  the  busiest  part  of  the  native  city,  formed  the 
fruit  of  his  home  labours  on  which  he  could  look  with 
legitimate  satisfaction,  much  more  had  he  reason  to 
rejoice  in  the  colleagues  who  had  followed  him,  and 
had  so  well  carried  out  his  plans  during  his  absence. 
The  whole  staff,  with  Dr.  Duff  again  at  its  head, 
formed  a  remarkable  group  of  five  pioneers,  such  as 
no  other  mission  has  probably  ever  enjoyed  at  one 
time.  Dr.  W.  S.  Mackay,  whom  we  have  previously 
described,  had  bravely  brought  a  spirit  of  intense 
devotion  and  unusually  high  intellectual  grace  to  bear 
up  his  frail  body,  until  the  arrival  of  Dr.  Ewart  soon 
after  Dr.  Duff's  first  departure  set  him  free  to  obey 
the  physician's  order.  He  had  restricted  his  energy, 
but  in  1838  had  been  forced  to  visit  Tasmania  in 
search  of  health.  In  the  Australian  colonies  he  had 
pled  for  the  Mission  with  a  quiet  power  which  led 
many  of  the  churches  to  try  to  detain  him.  But  de- 
claring that  even  at  the  risk  of  chronic  sickness  there 
was  no  career  like  that  of  an  Indian  missionary,  he 
had  returned  to  his  post,  shipwrecked  like  Duff  in 
the  Bay  of  Bengal.  Dr.  Ewart  seemed  a  man  whose 
physique  the  tropics  could  not  touch,  even  when  he 
lectured  and  taught  for  six  hours  a  day  and  rested 
only  to  give  up  his  evenings  to  the  increasing  inquirers 
and  converts.  Mr.  Macdonald  had  found  a  place 
peculiarly  his  own  in  the  purely  theological  work  of 
evangelizing  all  the  classes,  and  specially  of  training 
the    catechumens    who    sought   to   be  first  catechists 


Ait.  35.  THE   FIVE   MISSIONARIES.  45  I 

and  then  ordained  missionaries  to  their  country- 
men. Youngest  of  all,  and  now  the  only  survivor, 
Dr.  T.  Smith  after  a  visit  to  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  to  throw  oflf  the  then  too  fatal  dysentery  of 
Bengal,  had  amply  redeemed  the  promise  which  Dr. 
Duflf  saw  in  him  when  presiding  at  his  ordination  in 
St.  George's,  as  a  spiritually  aggressive  missionary  to 
the  educated  Hindoos  and  as  the  first  mathematician 
then  in  the  East.  St.  Andrew's  kirk,  too,  was  a  help 
to  the  Mission  rather  than  a  drag  on  its  energies,  as  in 
former  days,  under  the  two  chaplains,  Dr.  Charles  and 
Mr.  Meiklejohn.  Thus  generously,  but  truthfully,  did 
Dr.  DufF  write  home  of  the  colleagues  who  only  needed 
him  among  them  to  consolidate  and  carry  out  to  still 
wider  results  their  varied  labours. 

'*  Our  missionary  brethren,  Messrs.  Mackay,  Ewart, 
Macdonald  and  Smith,  have,  in  different  ways,  been 
labouring  up  to  the  full  measure  of  their  strength,  and 
some,  it  is  to  be  feared,  beyond  their  strength.  Of 
the  rich  and  varied  endowments  and  graces  which  all 
of  these  have  been  privileged  to  bring  to  bear  upon 
this  great  missionary  field  it  is  impossible  to  think, 
without  admiration  of  the  disinterested  devotedness 
wherewith  all  have  been  consecrated  to  the  advance- 
ment of  God's  glory ;  or,  rather,  without  adoring  grati- 
tude towards  Him  who  bestowed  the  willing:  heart  to 
regard  such  self-consecration  as  one  of  the  chiefest  of 
the  privileges  of  the  heirs  of  glory.  How  admirable 
the  ordinance  of  Heaven!  Diversities  of  gifts — yet 
one  spirit !  Here  there  are  five  of  us,  born,  brought 
up,  educated  in  different  parts  of  our  fatherland,  in 
diverse  circumstances  and  amid  indefinitely  varying 
associations.  Still,  when  thrown  together,  in  the 
inscrutable  counsels  of  Divine  providence,  in  a  strange 
and  foreign  land,  without  losing  any  one  of  our  pecu- 
liar idiosyncrasies,  we  find  that  we  are  one  in  spirit, 


452  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1841, 

one  in  tlie  prime  actuating  motives,  one  in  tlie  grand 
clesio-n  and  end  of  our  beino^ !  Blessed  be  God  for 
the  realization  of  such  oneness  and  harmony,  as  the 
product  of  a  genuine  Christian  love.  With  one  accord, 
for  reasons  a  hundred  times  reiterated,  we  regard  our 
Mission  Institution  as  the  central  point  of  our  opera- 
tions. In  the  present  exigencies  of  India,  it  cannot 
be  otherwise  in  the  eye  of  any  largely  observant  and 
contemplative  mind.  From  an  intelligent  conviction 
of  the  peculiar  character  of  the  present  wants  of  India, 
as  well  as  from  voluntary  obligation,  we  all  feel  our- 
selves pledged,  systematically,  to  devote  a  due  propor- 
tion of  our  time  to  the  advancement  of  the  interests  of 
an  Institution  which  has  already  infused  so  much  of 
the  leaven  of  divine  truth  into  the  vast  mass  of  native 
society ;  and  which  promises,  with  the  Divine  blessing, 
to  infuse  still  more.  The  remainder  of  our  time  is 
daily  devoted  to  prayer-meetings,  conversations,  dis- 
cussions, preaching,  translation,  preparation  of  tracts, 
or  any  other  miscellaneous  objects  of  a  missionary 
character  which  may  present  themselves  in  the  course 
of  providence,  or  which  may  best  comport  with  the 
ability  or  predilection  of  the  individual  labourers." 

By  1841,  too.  Dr.  Duff's  return  enabled  him  to 
reorganize  the  Institution  in  all  its  departments, 
rudimentary  school  and  college,  English  and  Oriental. 
While  the  ecclesiastical  doctrine  and  practice  of 
Presbyterian  parity,  of  the  equality  of  ordained  elders 
lay  and  clerical,  governed  the  presbytery  and  the  kirk 
in  all  purely  spiritual  things,  organization  required 
something  more  for  the  efficient  working  of  a  great 
college  and  a  growing  mission.  All  the  gifts  and 
varied  energies  of  the  five  men  must  be  utilized  and 
directed  to  the  one  spiritual  end  of  the  immediate 
conversion  of  the  students,  as  the  test  of  a  system 
which  aimed  at  far  more,  even  the  ultimate  subver- 


^t.  35.  THE    COLLEGE    KEORGANIZED.  453 

sion  of  ilic  wliole  Brabmanical  system  and  tlio  substi- 
tutioQ  of  an  indif>-enous  Christian  Church.  Dr.  Duff's 
earliest  act  was  to  propose  the  formation  of  a  mis- 
sionary council  to  meet  regularly  for  consultation  and 
prayer  under  the  senior,  or  whomsoever  the  Churcli 
at  home  might  recognise  as  the  senior,  on  account 
of  peculiar  fitness  for  tho  presidency  of  a  Christian 
colleoce.  The  machinow  thus  established  within  the 
Presbyterian  ecclesiastical  system,  has  ever  since 
worked  as  well  as  in  any  divinity  or  uni\'ersity  Senatus 
in  Scotland.  Men  who  are  not  only  gentlemen,  but 
gentlemen  of  the  highest  type — the  Christian,  will  find 
no  difficulty  in  such  cases  save  when  a  mistake  is 
made  in  addinof  to  their  number.  The  odium  ecclesu 
asticum  is  a  sure  gauge  of  the  diminution  of  the  love 
of  Christ,  not  a  proof  of  intelligent  earnestness  for  the 
truth.  For  one  Athanasias  there  are  a  thousand  like 
Paul  of  Samosata.  Certainly,  with  the  exception  of  the 
two  sacerdotal  parties  of  the  Church  of  Rome  and  in 
the  Church  of  England,  foreign  missions  or  mission- 
aries  have  ever  testified  to  the  Churches  which  sent 
them  forth,  that  in  Jesus  Christ  there  is  neither  party 
nor  sect,  that  the  devil  is  a  common  enemy  strong 
enough  to  require  all  the  unitj^  of  the  evangelical 
forces.  How  Dr.  Duff's  reorganization  of  the  Mission 
was  received  by  his  colleagues,  Dr.  Mackay  thus  officially 
i-eported  to  the  committee  :  '*  Dr.  Duff  will  tell  you  of 
our  meeting  together  regularly  for  consultation,  and 
of  what  we  have  agreed  on ;  but  I  cannot  refrain  from 
saying,  that  in  all  our  new  and  complicated  arrange- 
ments, arising  out  of  our  increased  number  and  ef- 
ficiency, there  has  been  no  difference  of  opinion ;  and 
we  are  all  agreed  as  one  man.  Each  is  satisfied  with 
liis  own  peculiar  work,  and  all  are  satisfied  that  every- 
thing has  been  done  for  the  best.  In  Christ  we  feel 
that  we  have  one  Head,  one  end,  and  one  mind ;  and 


454  I'll'E    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1841. 

believing,  we  pray  that  we  may  always  labour  together 
ill  peace,  and  unity,  and  love." 

To  no  subject,  when  in  Scotland,  had  Dr.  Duff 
devoted  more  of  his  little  leisure  than  to  the  careful 
inspection  of  all  educational  improvements  in  school 
and  college  made  during  his  absence  in  India.  These  he 
now  proceeded  to  adapt  to  his  Bengalee  circumstances. 
He  had  the  buildings,  the  library,  the  philosophical 
apparatus  for  scientific  and  teclmical  training — every- 
thing but  the  assistant  native  teachers.  In  all  India 
there  was  not  a  normal  school  at  that  time.  The 
Mission  had  raised  its  own  subordinate  masters,  but 
on  no  regular  system.  He  saw  that  his  first  duty  was 
to  devote  part  of  the  strength  of  his  increased  staff  to 
the  systematic  training  of  native  schoolmasters.  He 
had  introduced  the  gallery  system,  as  it  was  called,  into 
India  for  the  first  time.  Every  Saturday  the  Institu- 
tion was  crowded  by  visitors  to  see  the  novel  sight  of 
some  three  hundred  boys  from  six  to  twelve  exercised 
after  the  most  approved  fashion  of  David  Stow,  begin- 
ning with  gymnastics  and  closing  with  an  examination 
on  the  Bible.  Here  was  his  practising  department. 
Daily,  since  he  lived  in  the  grounds,  did  Dr.  Duff  him- 
self induce  all  the  native  teachers  to  remain  for  an 
hour,  when  he  taught  them  "  Paideutik,"  with  results 
which  soon  showed  themselves  in  the  increased  efficiency 
of  the  school.  Not  only  so,  but  he  was  continually 
called  on  to  surrender  his  best  teachers  to  other 
Missions  and  to  Government,  while  he  was  consoled  by 
the  consciousness  that  he  was  thus  extending  a  Chris- 
tian, as  well  as  educational  influence,  far  and  wide. 
To  utmost  Siudh,  as  it  then  was,  as  well  as  far  eastern 
Burma  the  college  sent  forth  teachers  of  other  schools, 
as  well  as  officials  for  the  many  subordinate  and  some- 
times higher  appointments  of  the  State,  so  that  the 
little  leaven  was  gradually  leavening  the  whole  lump. 


JEt  35.        THE    COLLEGE    CURRICULUM    AND    METHODS.  455 

The  General  Assembly's  Institution  at  that  time  was 
strongest  in  the  two  allied,  though  too  often  divorced 
subjects,  of  physical  and  mental  science.  The  mission- 
aries themselves  were  fresh  from  the  highest  honours 
in  the  classes  of  Chalmers  and  Jackson,  LesUo  and  J. 
Forbes,  Brown  and  Wilson.  Of  the  five,  four  were 
masters  in  the  field  of  mathematics,  pure  and  applied. 
Dr.  Duff  himself  lectured  on  chemistry,  but  his  special 
delight  lay  in  the  exposition  of  psychology  and  ethics, 
leading  up  through  natural  religion  to  the  queenly 
theology  of  revelation.  A  native  student  of  that  time,* 
who  has  now  been  for  years  a  professor  in  a  Govern- 
ment college,  bears  this  testimony  to  the  intellectual 
and  scientific  training  of  a  period  when  "  cram  "  was 
unknown,  when  competition  had  not  learned  at  once 
to  stimulate  and  to  poison  the  higher  education,  and 
when  physical  science  was  taught  as  the  handmaid  of 
faith.  Dr.  Duff  lectured  on  the  methods  of  teaching 
pursued  in  Scotland,  in  Switzerland,  in  Germany,  in 
Prussia;  and  expounded  the  systems  of  Stow,  of 
Fellenberg,  and  of  Pestalozzi.  Two  things  were 
greatly  insisted  on  throughout  the  classes — a  clear 
conception  of  an  idea  in  the  mind,  and  the  expression 
of  that  conception  in  words.  "  Duff  did  not  think 
that  a  boy  had  thoroughly  caught  hold  of  an  idea 
unless  he  could  express  it  in  his  own  words,  however 

*  Rev.  Lai  Beliari  Day,  professor  of  Englisli  Literature  in  the 
Goverument  College,  Hooglily.  Tliese  -were  the  studies  of  the 
highest  college  class,  in  1843  : — In  Theology  :  the  Bible,  Scriptural 
doctrines  with  textual  proofs,  Greek  Testament,  Taylor's  "  Trans- 
mission of  Ancient  Books,"  Paley's  '"  Horoe  Paulinje."  In  English  : 
Milton's  "Paradise  Lost,"  Tourg,  Bacon's  Essays  and  "Novum 
Organum,"  Foster's  Essays.  In  Psychology :  Brown's  Lectures, 
Whately's  Logic  and  Rlietoric.  In  Mathematics :  analytical  geometry, 
spherical  trigonometry,  conic  sections,  the  dillerential  calculus,  optics. 
In  Physics  :  geology,  magnetism,  steam  navigation.  In  Sanscrit:  the 
Mugdhaboda.     In  Persian  :  the  Gulistan  and  Bostan. 


/]56  LirE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1841. 

inelegantly.  Wo  therefore  took  no  notes  of  explana- 
tions given  by  the  professors ;  indeed,  no  notes  were 
given  in  the  class,  under  the  apprehension  that  they 
might  contribute  to  cramming.  How  just  that  fear 
was  must  appear  evident  to  every  one  who  observes 
the  mischievous  consequences  arising  from  the  practice 
of  giving  notes  now  adopted  in  all  the  Indian  colleges. 
The  students  of  the  present  day  never  open  then* 
mouths  in  the  class-room — unless,  indeed,  it  is  to 
make  a  noise.  They  take  down  the  professor's  words, 
commit  them  to  memory — often  without  understand- 
ing them — and  reproduce  them  in  the  examination 
hall.  A  copying-machine  would  do  the  same.  An- 
other feature  in  the  educational  system  pursued  in 
the  G-eneral  Assembly's  Institution  was  the  judicious 
mixture  of  science  with  literature.  At  the  present 
day  the  cry  in  India,  as  in  Europe,  is — physical  science. 
And  many  people  think  it  is  a  new  cry.  But  thirty- 
five  years  ago  Daff  took  his  pupils  through  a  course  of 
pliysical  science,  in  addition  to  a  high  literary  course. 
Mechanics,  hydrostatics,  pneumatics,  optics,  astronomy, 
the  principles  of  the  steam-engine — the  text-books 
generally  being  of  the  science  series  of  Lardner — were 
tauofht  in  the  colleo^e  classes.  A  course  of  lectures  on 
chemistry  was  also  delivered,  accompanied  Avith  ex- 
periments; the  youthful  and  fascinating  science  of 
geology  was  studied  on  account  of  its  bearing  on 
theology ;  while  we  were  so  familiar  with  the  use  of 
the  sextant,  with  Norie's  '  Navigation,  and  with  the 
*  Nautical  Almanac,'  that  some  captains  of  ships,  after 
examining  us,  declared  that  some  of  my  class-fellows 
could  guide  a  ship  safely  from  the  Sandheads  to  Ports- 
mouth. The  Bengal  colleges  of  the  present  day  have 
not  yet  advanced  so  far  as  the  Greneral  Assembly's 
Institution  did,  under  the  guidance  of  Duff,  thirty-five 
years  ago." 


JEt.  35.  SPIRITUAL   AGENCIES   OF   THE    COLLEGE.  457 

In  all  this,  however,  again  as  in  the  solitary  time 
of  his  founding  the  Mission,  the  intellectual  was  di- 
rected above  all  things,  and  excluding  all  other  imme- 
diate ends,  to  the  spiritual.  A  new  creation  in  Christ 
Jesus  was  what  the  founder  and  the  four  colleagues  of 
like  spirit  with  himself  sought  to  make  every  student, 
while  they  were  sustained  by  the  divinely  given  con- 
sciousness that  they  were  working  for  ages  yet  to 
come,  under  the  only  Leader  with  Whom  a  thousand 
years  are  as  one  day,  against  a  system  which  would 
not  fall,  as  it  had  not  risen,  in  a  night. 

So  when  the  reorganization  of  the  college  was  com- 
plete, several  directly  and  exclusively  spiritual  agencies 
were  called  into  play.  First,  the  public  offices  being 
now  shut  on  the  Sabbath-day,  Dr.  DufF  opened  a  class 
for  the  systematic  study  of  the  Bible  by  thoughtful  and 
religiously  disposed  Bengalees,  who  had  never  studied 
in  a  Christian  college,  and  were  occupied  as  clerks  all 
the  week.  Many  of  that  large  class  were  in  the  habit 
of  visiting  him  and  the  otiier  missionaries,  as  inquirers, 
in  the  evening.  Every  Sunday  morning,  at  seven 
o'clock,  saw  a  goodly  number  of  young  and  niiddle- 
aged  Hindoos,  of  the  higher  class,  gathered  in  the 
mission-house  during  the  three  years  which  ended  with 
the  disruption  of  the  Kirk.  Dr.  Wilson  was  doing- 
similar  work  in  Western  India.  Never,  probably,  since 
Pantsenus,  the  first  Christian  missionary  to  India,  and 
his  successors  in  the  great  School  of  the  Catechumens, 
evangelized  the  lands  of  the  Mediterranean  and  the 
Indian  Ocean  from  Alexandria,  had  there  been  such 
searching  of  the  Scriptures.  The  result  of  that  three 
years'  Avork  was  that  the  majority  of  the  Hindoo  in- 
quirers expressed  an  intellectual  conviction  of  the  truth 
of  Christianity.  Only  the  Spirit  of  God,  in  direct, 
irresistible  and  expanding  influence,  was  wanting  so  to 
touch  their  hearts  as   to  make  them  dare  the  renun- 


458  LIFE    OP   DE.    DUFF.  1841. 

ciation  of  father  and  mother,  caste  and  kinship,  for 
Christ.  "  God  is  a  sovereign  God,"  Dr.  Duff  once 
said  of  these  busy  years,  "  and  at  that  time,  so  far  as 
I  could  judge,  the  grace  of  God's  Spirit  operated  effect- 
ually on  only  one  soul,  to  whom  it  brought  home  with 
power  the  whole  truth  of  gospel  salvation  through 
Jesus  Christ."  "We  shall  come  to  him  and  to  others, 
and  we  shall  see  in  the  coming  years  how  the  seed 
bore  fruit  of  different  kinds  secretly  and  openly. 

For  another  class,  students  who  had  left  college  for 
the  world  but  still  desired  at  once  the  elevating  influ- 
ence of  companionship  wdth  the  missionaries  and  the 
continuance  of  their  studies,  Dr.  Duff"  opened  a  week- 
day evening  lecture  in  his  house.  There  they  read, 
in  a  critical  spirit,  those  master-pieces  of  literature 
in  which  were  most  apparent  suggestions  of  good 
thoughts  and  spiritual  ideas  drawing  the  reader  to  the 
higher  life.  Such  were  Guizot's  History  of  Civilization,* 
a  history  of  the  Renaissance  and  Reformation  which 
had  gained  the  prize  offered  by  the  French  Academy, 
and  John  Foster's  Essays.  This,  too,  proved  most 
popular.  The  older  men  had  yet  to  be  cared  for, 
Hindoos  who  had  left  college  just  before  or  at  Dr. 
Duff's  arrival,  who  remembered  the  lectures  of  1831-4, 
and  desired  to  renew  their  investigations.  For  such  he 
delivered  a  weekly  lecture  in  a  side-room  of  the  Insti- 
tution, on  the  leading  points  of  a  complete  system  of 
mental  and  moral  philosophy,  leading  up  to  religion, 
natural  and  revealed.  Here  his  remembrance  of  the 
famous  series  of  Chalmers  at  St.  Andrews,  in  which  he 
had  been  the  foremost  man,  stimulated  the  missionary. 


*  The  Protestant  missionaries  in  China  have  just  issued  the  pro- 
spectus of  fifty-one  treatises  to  be  wi'itten  for  the  people  of  China 
and  Japan,  by  the  ablest  Sinologues.  Dr.  Williamson  is  engaged  on 
a  History  of  Civilization  for  this  Chinese  encyclopsedia  of  pure  and 
Christian  literature. 


JEt.  35.         FEMALE    EDUCATION    AND    HINDOO    WIDOWS.         459 

He  brouoht  liis  larsfo  audience  of  tliouo'Iitful  hearers  to 
the  utmost  confines  of  psychological  observation  and 
the  ethical  reason,  aiid  then  pointed  them  to  "  the 
higher  calculus  of  revealed  truth." 

At  this  time,  too,  he  saw  the  first  streaks  of  the 
dawn  of  that  day  which  he  had  anticipated  ten  years 
before,  when  the  educated  Bengalees  would  demand 
educated  wives,  and  the  increasing  community  of 
native  Christians  w^ould  seek  the  means  of  instruction 
for  their  children.  The  orphan  refuge  for  girls,  begun 
by  Mrs.  Charles,  was  developed  into  an  efficient  Ben- 
galee school  under  the  Ladies'  Society,  and  from  that 
in  later  days,  in  its  two  branches,  many  young  women 
have  gone  forth  to  be  zanana  teachers,  and  the  happy 
wives  and  mothers  of  a  prosperous  Christian  commu- 
nity. The  time  for  more  public  and  direct  aggression 
on  the  ignorance  and  social  oppression  of  the  women 
of  Bengal,  at  least,  was  not  yet.  In  a  noble  building 
planted  just  opposite  Dr.  Duff's  first  college,  and  beside 
the  church  of  his  second  convert,  the  Honble.  Drink- 
water  Bethune,  a  member  of  the  Government,  founded 
a  female  school,  which,  though  no  longer  premature, 
pure  secularism  has  ever  since  blighted.  Yet  the  two 
enlightened  Brahman  landholders  of  Ooterapara,  near 
Calcutta,  had  in  vain  besought  the  State  to  join  them 
in  opening  a  school  for  Bengalee  young  ladies  there. 

But  while  Duff  sought,  in  the  new  orphanage,  to 
prepare  Christian  teachers,  wives  and  mothers  for  the 
future,  as  it  developed  before  his  own  eyes,  he  was  no 
less  active  in  procuring  the  removal  of  legislative  ob- 
structions to  the  freedom  of  women  within  legitimate 
limits.  In  an  official  letter  of  16th  September,  1842,  he 
expounded  in  detail  the  two  evils  of  infant  betrothal  and 
early  marriage — before  puberty,  often — and  of  the 
prohibition  of  widow  marriage.  The  characteristic  dis- 
belief of  Hindooism,  in  common  with  all  systems  except 


460  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1841. 

Christianity,  in  the  continence  of  man  and  the  purity 
of  woman,  makes  widows  for  life  of  the  infant  girls 
whose  betrothed  have  died.  These,  growing  up  de- 
spised, ill-treated  and  overworked,  become  the  centre 
of  the  household  and  village  intrigues  which  fill  the  re- 
cords of  the  criminal  courts  of  India,  and  the  mainstay 
of  the  thousand  great  shrines  to  which  pilgrimages  are 
made  from  vast  distances  and  amid  incredible  hardships 
all  over  the  peninsula.  Weary  of  life  and  dissatisfied 
with  herself,  allowed  a  freedom  unknown  to  the  wife 
and  frequently  never  herself  a  wife,  the  Hindoo  widow 
vainly  seeks  peace  at  the  hands  of  the  touting  priest, 
who  strips  her  of  her  all — even  of  what  honour  she 
may  have  left — in  the  name  of  the  Vaishnava  deity. 
Or  she  courts  rest  at  the  bottom  of  the  village  well. 
Add  to  this  the  state  of  wives  who  are  no  wives,  of 
the  Koolin  Brahman's  hundreds  of  wives,  some  of 
them  whole  families  of  mother  and  daughters,  and 
we  have  an  idea  of  the  moral  and  spiritual  problems 
which  Christian  education  faced  in  even  orthodox 
Hindoos.  With  satisfaction  did  Dr.  Duff  observe  the 
■discussion  of  these  in  the  vernacular  newspapers, 
and  the  formation,  so  early  as  1842,  of  "  a  secret 
society  among  the  educated  Hindoos  for  privately 
instructing  their  young  daughters  and  other  female 
relatives." 

On  the  other  side  he  had,  before  this,  described  his 
administration  of  the  ordinance  of  Christian  baptism. 
to  the  first  boy  of  his  third  convert,  Gopeenath 
Nundi :  "The  Christian  Hindoo  father  stood  forth, 
in  the  presence  of  his  countrymen,  some  of  whom 
had  formerly  been  either  his  pupils  or  companions, 
holding  in  his  arms  the  infant  whom  he  desired 
solemnly  to  consecrate  to  his  God  and  Saviour.  Be- 
side him  stood  the  Christian  Hindoo  mother,  holding 
by  the  right  hand  her  firstborn,  a  little  girl  of  three 


^t.   33.  THE    CHRISTIAN   FAMILY.  46 1 

years.  And  there,  in  the  presence  of  God  and  man, 
did  both  parents  unite  in  taking  upon  themselves  the 
most  sacred  vows  and  obhgations  to  bring  up  their 
little  one  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord." 
Thus,  in  the  heart  of  the  Brahmanism  of  Bengal,  there 
was  growing  up  the  sweet  plant  of  the  Christian 
family.  And  the  agitation  against  the  legal  prohibi- 
tion of  widow  marriage,  begun  in  these  years,  bore  its 
fruit  iu  the  Act  of  Lord  Dalhousie  and  Sir  Barnes 
Peacock,  which,  just  before  the  Mutiny,  removed  all 
legal  obstructions  to  the  marriage  of  Hindoo  widows. 

While  thus  sowing  joy  for  generations  to  come.  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Duff  were  called  to  bear  the  bitterness  worse 
than  death — the  sudden  blow  of  the  removal  of  one  of 
their  own  children  far  away  from  themselves.  Long 
separation  and  frequent  death  form  the  oft-repeated 
tragedy  of  Anglo-Indian  life.  That  is  none  the  less 
bitter  that  it  occurs  so  often,  and  seems  all  the  more 
cruel  that  the  dearest  friends  who  have  never  left  home 
can  only  half  sympathise  with  the  sufferers.  Duff's  im- 
pulsive, continuously  imi^etuous  affection  rushed  forth 
to  all  his  friends  and  converts,  but  it  flowed  in  a  rapid 
and  deep  stream  towards  his  family.  In  Dr.  Brunton 
he  had  made  a  friend  to  whom  he  poured  forth  all  the 
fulness  of  his  heart  in  private  letters,  often  side  by 
side  with  his  official  correspondence.  Thus  did  they 
write  each  other,  and  thus  did  Dr.  Duff,  in  his  own 
sorrow,  comfort  the  venerable  and  still  surviving  lady, 
Mrs.  Briggs,  of  St.  Andrews,  whose  gift  he  employed 
in  the  mission  work  : — 

"Edinburgh  College,  2nd  June,  1841. 

"My  Dear  Dr.  Doff, — I  had  counted  upon  commencing  my 
letter  by  this  mail  with  an  appeal  which  would,  I  well  know, 
be  readily  responded  to,  for  your  sympathy  and  condolence 
under  our  sore  bereavement.  But,  in  the  unsearchable  counsels 
of  God,  I  am  called,  on  the  other  hand,  to  offer  ours  to  you. 


462  LIFE    OP   DR.    DUFF.  1841. 

Our  heavenly  Father  has  called  little  Anne  to  Himself.  I  need 
not  detail  the  circumstances.  I  know  that  more  than  one 
affectionate  friend  intends  to  transmit  them  to  you.  Nor  do 
I  need  to  remind  you  what  are  the  duties  to  which^  after  the 
first  sore  burst  of  anguish^  j^ou  will  feel  yourself  called.  I 
write  merely  to  assure  you  that  the  little  sufferer  had  every 
human  resource  which  you  yourself  could  have  desired.  Mrs. 
Campbell  watched  her  with  maternal  care.  The  best  medical 
skill  of  Edinburgh  was  promptly  and  affectionately  bestowed 
on  her.  We  have  laid  her  in  Dr.  Inglis^s  burial  place^  close 
to  the  spot  of  his  own  hallowed  rest. 

"I  will  mix  up  no  other  theme  with  this.  The  little  which 
I  had  to  say  on  business  I  address  to  Mr.  Ewart.  I  am  sure 
you  will  not  misunderstand  me,  as  if  I  imagined  that,  even 
under  this  sore  trial,  you  would  cease  for  a  day  to  labour  in 
your  Master^s  work.  On  the  contrary,  I  know  by  experience 
that  such  labour  is  most  wholesome  medicine  in  human  sorrow. 
But  you  are  well  entitled  to  judge  for  yourself  at  what  precise 
time  and  in  what  proportion  you  are  best  able  to  bear  the 
medicine.  Mr.  Webster  happened  to  be  here  from  Aberdeen 
on  Assembly  duty  ;  and  nothing  could  exceed  his  devotedness 
in  doing  all  that  was  kind  and  useful.  He  has  written  to  you, 
I  believe ;  as  has  also  Dr.  Abercrombie.  Miss  Stevenson  (the 
writer's  niece)  communicates  with  Mrs.  Duff  by  this  despatch. 
My  dear  friend,  my  prayers  and  my  best  wishes  are  with  you. 
May  God  Himself  sustain  and  cheer  you  !  Yours  affection- 

ately, "  Alexander  Beunton." 

"Calcutta,  Coenwallis  Square,  17th  August,  1841. 
"  My  Dear  Dr.  Brunton, — How  strikingly  did  the  mournful 
intelligence  by  the  last  overland  make  me  realize  the  force  of 
the  humble  but  expressive  adage,  '  a  friend  in  need  is  a  friend 
indeed.^  Often,  often,  have  I  in  retrospect  watched  with  wonder 
and  delight  the  manifold  acts  of  personal  kindness  shown  to 
me  by  yourself  and  Miss  Stevenson.  And  I  assure  you  that, 
unable,  in  the  deep  sincerity  of  my  heart,  to  find  anything  in 
mvself  worthy  of  such  kindnesses,  I  have  been  ever  led  to  ascribe 
it  all  to  the  special  grace  and  favour  of  God  my  heavenly 
Father,  who  hath  been  pleased  in  His  sovereign  mercy  to 
raise  up  unto  me  friends  in  so  peculiar  a  sense.  But  oh,  me- 
thinks  your  last  attentions  to  our  darling  and   beloved  child 


Mt  35.  ON    THE    DEATH    OF    HIS    CHLLD.  463 

were,  if  possible,  tlie  kindest  acts  of  all,  attentions  paid  too 
amid  your  own  sore,  sore  domestic  bereavements.  It  were  to 
affect  a  stoicism  alien  to  my  nature  wore  I  to  pretend  that  the 
affliction  has  been  to  us  a  light  one.  Oh  no,  it  was  one  of  the 
heaviest  that  could  possibly  have  befallen.  Even  now,  after 
the  interval  of  nearly  a  month,  the  vivid  realization  of  it 
brought  about  by  my  writiug  this  note  scarcely  allows  me  to 
proceed.  The  tears  flow  now  as  copiously  as  on  the  day  of 
the  unexpected  intelligence.  But  do  not,  my  dear  father 
and  friend  in  the  Lord,  do  not  conclude  that  these  are  tears 
of  murmuring  or  complaint  against  the  will  and  act  of  my 
heavenly  Father.  Oh  no,  they  are  the  meltings  of  the  poor 
weak  human  heart  of  a  fond  parent,  still  smarting  under  the 
rod  of  my  heavenly  Father's  chastisement.  I  can  truly  say  that 
if  these  past  weeks  have  been  fertile  in  natural  sorrow,  they 
have  also  been  still  more  fertile  in  spiritual  joy.  Every  thought 
of  my  departed  darling  child  is  associated  with  the  thought  of 
heaven — the  home  of  the  weary  pilgrim  of  Zion,  and  the  re- 
membrance of  Him  who  hath  gone  before  to  prepare  mansions 
of  glory  for  all  His  faithful  followers.  I  have  felt  more  in  the 
communion  of  the  Divine  lledeemer  and  its  fellowship  with  the 
redeemed  in  glory,  than  I  have  experienced  for  some  time  past. 
Still  may  I  say,  it  was  good  for  me  to  have  been  thus  afflicted. 

"  It  was  a  kind  thought  of  yours,  and  in  beautiful  harmony 
with  all  your  other  refined  and  delicate  consideration  for  human 
feelings,  to  have  our  little  one  laid  beside  the  man  for  whose 
memory  beyond  all  others  I  cherish  the  deepest  veneration. 
Kindest  and  best  thanks  to  dear  Mrs.  Inglis  and  family  for 
their  ready  consent.  Also  my  warmest  thanks  to  the  com- 
mittee for  their  tribute  of  respect.  I  think  far  more  of  their 
act  of  favour  in  behalf  of  the  departed  than  if  they  had  be- 
stowed thousands  on  the  living.    May  the  Lord  reward  you  all. 

"The  enclosed  business  note  for  Dr.  Gordon  I  leave  open,  that 
you  may  peruse  its  contents,  and  lend  your  aid  in  accelerating 
the  object  solicited.  Before  this  risach  you,  the  Madras  events 
will  have  cheered  you.  We  have  reason  to  bless  God  and 
take  courage.  It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  Satan  will  sur- 
render this  long-possessed  realm  without  a  deadly  sti-uggle. 
Your  report  to  the  Assembly  has  been  very  soothing  and 
cheering  :  may  the  Lord  bless  its  difi'usion.  The  enclosed 
you  will  kindly  hand  over  to  Mr.  Inglis ;  it  also  contains  one 


464  LIEB    OF    BR.    BUFF.  1 841. 

for  his  motlier,  Mrs.  Dr.  Inglis.  Tliis  reminds  me  of  what  I 
often  intended  to  ask;  could  you  not  manage  to  procure  for  us 
a  bust  (or  even  a  print,  if  that  cannot  be  had)  of  Dr.  luglis,  to 
be  set  up  in  the  library  of  our  Institution  ?  Surely  nothing 
could  be  more  appropriate.  With  heartfelt  thanks  and  re- 
membrances to  Miss  Stevenson,  Mrs.  Stevenson,  and  love  to 
my  dear  young  friends  the  Borrowmans,  I  am  ever  gratefully 
and  affectionately,  "  Alexandbe  Ddpf." 

''16th  November,  1841. 
"  My  Dear  Mrs.  Brigqs, — It  was  indeed  kind  of  you — more 
than  kind — amid  your  own  affliction  and  sore  bereavement,  to 
remember  one  so  distant  and  so  unworthy.  The  announce- 
ment of  the  death  of  your  dear  husband  I  had  noticed,  and 
longed  to  learn  some  particulars  relative  to  his  latter  end. 
This  I  was  disposed  to  ask  for  as  a  favour  at  your  own  hands. 
But  you  more  than  anticipated  me.  And  your  doing  so,  un- 
solicited and  unprompted,  enhances  the  favour  a  hundred-fold. 
That  you  had  '  much  comfort  in  his  death,  which  was  that  of 
the  Christian  enjoying  peace  in  believing ; ' — ah,  my  friend, 
these  simple  but  touching  and  thrilling  words  in  your  letter 
did  cause  tears  of  joy  to  flow  from  eyes  which,  in  these  heathen 
climes,  seldom  find  matter  but  for  tears  of  sorrow,  and  a  song 
of  grateful  thanks  to  ascend  to  the  Father  of  spirits  from  a 
heart  which,  though  vexed  daily  and  almost  hardened  by  the 
freezing  obduracy  of  the  votaries  of  idolatry,  has  not  yet 
(blessed  be  God)  wholly  lost  its  sensibilities  or  its  sympathies 
with  the  great  Christian  brotherhood.  To  sleep  in  Jesus,  to 
die  in  the  Lord,  oh,  is  not  this  the  top  and  flower  of  all 
other  blessings  here  below  ?  What  more  could  the  expanded 
souls  of  the  ransomed  in  glory,  what  more  could  the  burning 
desires  of  a  seraph  long  for  on  behalf  of  sinful  mortal  man, 
than  that  he  should  fall  asleep  in  Jesus  ?  This  being  the  case 
with  your  departed  husband,  while,  if  I  met  you,  I  could  not 
help  weeping  along  with  you,  could  not  help  the  outgush  of 
nature^s  tenderness  and  nature's  regrets,  I  should  also  soon 
be  constrained  to  mingle  joy  with  my  weeping  on  account  of 
the  ascended  and  ransomed  spirit.  And  in  order  to  die  the 
death  of  the  righteous,  oh,  may  it  be  ours  to  live  the  life  of 
the  righteous,  to  be  united  to  Christ  by  a  living  faith,  to  be 
grafted  on  Him  as  a  liviiiy  branch,  to  be  built  up  in  Him  as  a 


Mi,  35.  LETTER   TO    A    LADY.  465 

living  stone,  to  be  replenished,  through  the  energy  and  in- 
working  of  His  Almighty  Spirit,  with  that  grace  now  which 
shall  ripen  into  glory  hereafter.  These,  my  dearly  beloved 
friend,  these  are  amongst  the  blessings  which  constitute  the 
heritage  and  possession  of  God^s  own  children. 

"As  to  your  remembering  me  by  the  large  munificence  of  a 
Christian  heart,  as  well  as  the  kindness  of  a  Christian's  holiest 
wishes,  I  know  not  what  to  say.  Coming  from  one  whose  noble 
and  (considering  the  arduous  circumstances  of  the  case),  I  will 
add,  heroic  example  of  piety  I  was  wont  to  admire  and  gather 
strength  from  when  yet  a  feeble  neophyte  myself,  I  cannot 
doubt  the  heartfelt  kindliness  of  the  motive,  and  dare  not 
therefore  refuse.  In  the  spirit  of  Chi-istian  love  that  prompted 
the  token  of  remembrance,  I  cannot  but  accept  it  as  sent  to 
me  by  the  Lord,  through  the  instrumentality  of  one  of  His 
own  chosen  ones.  And  I  pray  God  that  I  may  be  privileged 
to  employ  it  in  such  way  as  may  best  promote  His  own  glor}'- 
and  honour.  Recompense  yon  on  earth  I  cannot;  I  can  only 
pray  that  the  God  of  all  grace  may  continue  to  shower  upon 
you  still  richer  effusions  of  His  fatherly  loving-kindness,  and 
in  the  world  to  come  reward  you  a  hundred-fold.  And  to  all 
your  other  kindnesses,  oh,  deny  me  not  the  .crowning  one,  to 
remember  me  in  your  daily  petitions  at  a  throne  of  grace,  that 
the  Lord  may  uphold  me  in  His  strength,  and  cause  His 
pleasure  more  abundantly  to  prosper  in  my  unworthy  hands. 

"  Amid  much  to  humble  we  have  much  to  cheer  us  here.  The 
other  day  we  joyously  admitted  a  young  Brahman,  of  whose 
faith  in  the  atoning  sacrifice  of  the  Divine  Redeemer  we  had 
ample  evidence,  into  the  communion  of  Christ's  visible  Church. 
But  as  Dr.  Brunton  will  probably  publish  some  portion  of  the 
account  I  sent  him,  I  need  say  no  more  here.  Is  Miss  Grace  still 
with  you  ?  Often,  often,  do  I  blend  my  being  with  ten  thou- 
sand recollections  of  St.  Andrews.  There  I  passed  some  of  my 
earlier  days  of  sin  and  folly,  and  shameful  neglect  of  God  and 
salvation.  There,  too,  the  Lord  ..was  pleased  to  rescue  me  as 
a  brand  fi*om  the  burning.  Oh,  praised  be  His  Holy  Name. 
Were  I  to  name  the  many  men  in  whom  I  feel  the  deepest  in- 
terest, and  to  whom  I  would  beg  to  be  remembered,  my  whole 
paper  would  be  filled.  The  Lord  bless  you,  and  enrich  you, 
and  ennoble  you  more  and  more  by  the  shining  of  His  grace. 
Yours  gratefully  and  affectionately,         "Alexander  Duff." 

H   H 


466  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1 841. 

In  tlie  year  1838,  wlien  Dr.  Dufi  was  in  the  press  of 
his  home  operations,  the  news  came  from  Nuddea,  a 
county  fifty  miles  to  the  north  of  Calcutta,  of  large 
additions  of  Hindoo  and  Muhammadan  peasants  to 
the  Church.  In  1830  he  had  visited  the  spot,  among 
other  parts  of  rural  Bengal,  only  to  decide  that  he  must 
begin  the  Scottish  Mission  in  Calcutta,  and  from  that 
as  a  base  extend  his  influence.  In  1832  the  Church 
Missionary  Society  opened  a  school  in  Krishnaghur, 
the  county  town,  and  baptized  five  students  in  the  first 
twelve  months.  By  1838,  whole  villages  with  their 
head  men  had  sought  instruction,  and  hundreds  of 
earnest  men  and  women,  under  purely  spiritual  in- 
fluences, were  baptized,  and  proved  their  sincerity  by 
suffering  persecution  unmoved.  Then  there  came  into 
operation  motives  of  a  more  mixed  character.  The 
river  Jellinghi,  one  of  three  streams  into  which  the 
mighty  Gauges  spills  over  so  as  to  form  the  united 
Hooghly  on  which  Calcutta  stands,  inundated  the  dis- 
trict and  swept  off"  the  rice  harvest.  The  result  was  a 
local  famine,  from  too  much  water,  such  as  we  have 
twice  witnessed  since  that  year.  There  was  no  rail- 
way to  pour  in  food  as  now,  no  machinery  to  link  the 
million  of  sufferers  with  the  charity  of  Great  Britain, 
no  prudent  anticipation  on  the  part  of  the  authorities. 
The  work  of  relief  fell,  as  usual,  on  the  few  mis- 
sionaries, English  and  German,  who  sailed  over  the 
inundated  plains  of  an  area  as  large  as  Lincolnshire, 
distributing  rice  to  the  dying  and  lending  small  sums 
to  those  who  could  thus  struggle  through  the  crisis. 
The  result  was  precisely  what  Madras  and  Mysore  have 
recently  displayed  on  a  greater  scale.  The  evangeliza- 
tion of  the  previous  six  years,*  acted  on  by  gratitude 

*  The  Tfident,  the  Crescent,  and  the  Cross  (1876),  by  the  Rev. 
James  Yaughan,  who  is  now  again  building  up  the  Church  at 
Krishnaghur  amid  many  difficulties. 


/Et.  35.  THE  NEW  SECT,  "WORSHIPPERS  OF  THE  CEEATOr.."  467 

for  the  liumniiity  and  sjmj.athy  shown,  bore  both 
natural  and  spiritual  fruit  in  the  profession  of  Chris- 
tianity by  thousands.  On  one  occasion  Bishop  Wilson 
presided  at  the  baptism  of  nine  hundred  Hindoos 
and  Muhamniadaus.  Dr.  Duff  drew  up  a  document 
explaining  the  movement  to  the  churches  at  home. 
Judging  from  analogy  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
Krishnaghur  and  the  rich  sngar,  indigo,  oilseed  and 
jute  districts  of  the  Hooghly  Delta  would  by  this  time 
have  been  what  the  Tinnevelly  Church  has  become,  in 
similar  circumstances,  had  the  missionaries  not  com- 
paratively deserted  it  before  the  infant  church  had 
been  consolidated  and  had  produced  its  own  tried  and 
trained  pastors.  As  it  is,  the  large  nominal  Christian 
descendants  of  the  first  converts,  among  whom  caste 
has  crept  and  the  sacerdotalism  of  Jesuit  priests 
recognising  caste,  is  being  again  evangelized,  like  the 
lapsed  sections  of  our  own  cities  and  mining  and 
manufacturino:  districts. 

But  there  was  another  providential  preparation  for 
the  rapid  creation  of  the  Krishnaghur  Church.  When 
Rammohun  Roy  was  feeling  after  God,  as  we  have 
already  told,  among  the  learned  of  Burdwan  and  Cal- 
cutta who  knew  Sanscrit  and  English,  there  was  a 
villager  of  the  cowherd  caste  in  Ghospara,  near  Krish- 
naghur, who  in  the  Bengalee  vernacular  admitted 
neophytes  to  a  new  sect  on  the  pa^^ment  of  a  rupee 
and  the  recitation  of  this  Muntra,  or  combined  creed 
and  charm — "0  sinless  Lord.  0  great  Lord,  at  thy 
pleasure  I  go  and  return;  not  a  moment  am  I  without 
thee;  I  am  ever  with  thee.  Save,  0  great  Lord." 
Ram  churn  Pal  was  really  a  follower  of  the  great 
reformer  Chaitunya,  but  he  set  up  a  new  sect  which 
recognised  him  as  the  incarnation  of  Krislma  rather 
than  the  character  which  he  professed.  The  Gooroo, 
or  teacher,   was  the   sinless  lord,  entitled  to   all  the 


4^8  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1842. 

spiritual  power  and  ouerings.  This  new  sect  of 
Vaishnavas  called  themselves  Kharta-bhajas,  or  wor- 
sliippers  of  the  Creator.  They  ate  together  twice  a 
year  ignoring  caste,  and  gained  over  many  women  and 
infirm  persons  by  the  belief  that  the  Muntra  removed 
barrenness  and  disease.  Such  is  the  account  of  the 
Gooroo's  contemporary,  Mr.  "Ward,  of  Serampore.* 
In  this  its  first  stage,  before  the  denunciation  of 
caste  had  given  place  to  free  love,  as  in  many  such 
sects,  and  the  cessation  of  idol-worship  had  been 
followed  by  the  substitution  of  one  god  for  another, 
the  new  teaching  sent  many  to  swell  the  ranks  of 
true  but  uninstructed  Christians. 

To  a  careful  study  of  the  Kharta-bhajas,  with  the 
view  of  founding  a  mission  among  them,  Dr.  Duff 
devoted  the  college  vacation  of  1840-41,  and  again  of 
1841-42.  As  the  guest  of  the  Church  missionary, 
Mr.  Alexander,  he  was  at  the  head-quarters  both  of 
the  sect  and  of  Christian  operations.  In  discussing 
vernacular  education,  helping  to  spread  village  schools 
and  frequent  meetings  with  both  the  Christians  and 
the  Kharta-bhajas,  two  months  passed  away.  He 
signalized  his  farewell  by  a  simple  feast  to  the  Chris- 
tians of  one  station,  at  which  five  hundred  squatted, 
oriental  fashion,  before  piles  of  curry  and  rice  and  the 
fruits  of  the  cold  season,  spread  out  on  the  soft  green 
leaves  of  the  plantain-tree,  and  deftly  conveyed  to  the 
mouth  with  two  forefingers  and  thumb.  So  the  Rishis 
ate  on  the  ancestral  Aryan  tableland.  But  here  were 
also  women  and  children,  and  glad  sounds  of  praise 
arose  to  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour, 


*  Vol.  ii.,  page  175,  of  A  Vieiv  of  the  History,  Literature,  and.  My- 
thology of  the  Hindoos  (1818,  second  edition),  by  W.  Ward.  A 
work  now  of  some  rarity,  and  drawn  upon  by  not  a  few  writers 
without  due  acknowledgment. 


ALt  36.      THE  NEW  STATIONS  AT  CULNA  AND  GIIOSPAIIA.       469 

Jesus  Christ.  Dr.  Duff  was  intensely  human,  rejoicing 
as  much  in  the  social  feast  of  the  lately  christianized 
families,  in  its  way,  as  in  their  solemn  acts  of  pure 
worship.  Desirous  to  concentrate  his  mission  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  river,  Mr.  Alexander  urged  his  Pres- 
byterian guest  to  take  possession  of  Culna,  opposite, 
once  the  great  port  of  fertile  Burdwan,  and  still  a 
pilgrim  town  of  50,000  inhabitants,  where  the  per- 
petual lease  of  a  piece  of  ground  had  been  secured. 
After  inspecting  the  place,  Dr.  DufF  dropped  down 
the  Hooghly  to  Grhospara,  now  three  miles  from  the 
railway  station  of  Kanchrapara.  There,  in  a  mango 
tope  or  grove,  he  visited  the  Gooroo  of  the  Kharta- 
bhajas.  Surrounded  by  his  disciples,  the  son  of 
Ramchurn  made  a  statement  of  his  faith  to  the  mis- 
sionary sitting  upon  the  simple  "  charpoy "  or  low 
couch-bed  of  the  East,  and  willingly  granted  him, 
in  perpetuity,  a  lease  of  land  for  a  Christian  school 
and  church.  From  the  fifty  thousand  pilgrims  who 
twice  a  year  crowd  to  the  "  cold  sea"  or  pool  whose 
waters  had  healed  the  wife  of  their  Gooroo,  and  to  the 
sacred  pomegranate-tree  under  which  she  was  buried,* 
he  thought  to  gather  many  to  Christ. 

But  where  were  the  missionaries  for  the  rural 
stations,  thus  increased  to  three — Takee,  Culna  and 
Ghospara  ?  In  the  first,  Mr.  Clift  had  been  succeeded 
by  Mr.  W.  C.  Fyfe,  sent  out  from  Scotland  as  an 
educationist  and  subsequently  ordained,  so  that  he  is 
now  the  senior  missionary  in  Bengal.  Happily  the 
college  in  Calcutta,  which,  in  1830,  had  begun  with  the 
Lord's  Prayer  in  Bengalee,  the  English  alphabet,  and 
the  slow  spelling  out  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
and  had  given  its  first  four  converts  to  the  Angli- 
can,  American    Presbyterian    and    Congregationalist 

•  A  Statistical  Account  of  Bengal  (1875),  vol.  ii.,  p.  53- 


470  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1842. 

Churclies,  because  the  Kirk  was  not  prepared  to 
utilize  them,  was  producing  the  ripest  spiritual  fruit. 
Established  to  sway  towards  Christ,  and  by  Christ, 
the  whole  revolution  of  thought  and  feeling  which  the 
English  language  and  the  British  administration  had 
set  in  motion  and  were  hurrying  away  from  all  faith 
and  morals,  Dr.  Duff  felt  that  his  college  would  be 
an  immediate  failure  if  it  did  not  bring  in  individual 
souls  and  raise  an  indigenous  missionary  ministry. 
Before  all  other  agencies  for  educated  Hindoos,  his 
system  had,  in  1830-1834,  accomplished  both  results. 
Nor  had  it  ceased  to  do  so  in  his  absence,  while  his 
return  gave  it  a  new  impetus.  Whether  we  look  at 
the  spiritual  or  the  intellectual  character  of  the  young 
men;  whether  we  consider  what  they  sacrificed  for 
Christ,  or  what  He  enabled  them  to  become  in  His 
work,  we  may  assert  that  no  Christian  mission  can 
show  such  a  roll  of  converts  from  the  subtlest  system 
of  a  mighty  faith  and  an  ancient  civilization  as  Dr. 
Duff's  college  in  the  first  thirteen  years  of  its  history. 
We  begin  with  the  one  failure — let  the  truth  be  told, 
but  tenderly.  In  1837,  Dwarkanath  Bhose,  at  the  age 
of  seventeen,  was  baptized.  No  convert  witnessed  so 
good  a  confession  as  he,  if  persecution  be  the  test.  He 
was  the  Peter  of  the  band.  Thrice  carried  ofi"  by  his 
bigoted  family,  chained  and  imprisoned  till  Mr.  Leith's 
services  in  the  Supreme  Court  were  necessary  to  en- 
force toleration,  he  clung  to  his  convictions.  So  bright 
a  student  did  he  become  that  he  was  one  of  the  four 
Bengalees  selected  by  Government  to  complete  their 
medical  studies  in  London.  Was  it  there  that,  like  not  a 
few  of  his  countrymen  since,  he  found  the  temptations 
of  a  great  city,  in  which  he  was  alone,  overpowering  ? 
With  the  highest  professional  honours  he  returned  to 
practice  in  Calcutta,  where  he  fell  a  victim  to  the 
vice  which  our  excise  system  has  taught  the  educated 


^.t.  36.  THE    NEW   CONVERTS.  47I 

natives  of  India,  when  it  plants  the  licensed  wine-shop 
beside  the  Christian  school.  "Wo  visited  him  in  his  fatal 
sickness.  Who  shall  say  that,  like  Peter  also,  he  did 
not  rise,  ever  so  little,  from  his  fall  ?  It  is  not  English 
Christians,  at  least,  who  can  judge  him.  Rather  let  us 
judge  our  own  want  of  faith  and  cliarity  towards  India ; 
our  own  administration  which,  now  purged  of  most 
other  debasing  tendencies  and  immoral  monopolies, 
still  uses  the  whole  power  of  the  State  to  secularise 
public  instruction,  and  to  raise  an  annually  increasing 
revenue  by  spreading  drink  and  drug  licences  far  and 
wide  over  India  and  even  China.  The  missionaries 
were  used  to  make  Dwarkanath  Bhose  the  noble  con- 
vert and  accomplished  student  ho  was  when  he  landed 
on  our  shores — who  is  responsible  for  tlie  rest  ? 

A  fellow-student  of  Dwarkanath's  would  have  stood 
by  his  side  in  baptism.  Laid  low  by  fever  he  sent  for 
his  companions,  declared  to  them  that  he  believed  in 
Christ,  au'l  died  before  he  could  be  baptized.  He  was 
one  of  a  large  class  of  secret  Christians,  who  have 
been  known  to  baptize  each  other  in  the  last  hour. 
The  bloom  of  the  Mission,  intellectually  and  spiritually, 
was  also  cut  off  by  an  early  death — two  converts  who 
lived  and  worked  lono^  enousrh  to  become  the  Davdd 
and  the  Jonathan  of  the  Church  of  India,  Mahendra 
Lai  Basak  and  Kailas  Chunder  Mookerjea.  Mahendra 
had  entered  Dr.  Duff's  school  in  1831,  at  the  age  of 
nine,  but  was  removed  to  the  Hindoo  College  be- 
cause of  the  direct  Christian  teaching  of  the  former. 
Returning  lie  became  so  thoughtful  as  to  alarm  his 
Hindoo  friends,  who  tried  to  seduce  him  to  sins  which, 
they  thought,  would  make  even  the  missionaries  slum 
him.  It  was  in  vain.  He  rose  to  be  the  gold  medalist 
of  the  college,  and  his  demonstrations  of  some  of 
Euclid's  problems  were  so  ingenious  as  to  call  forth 
the  eulogy  of   Profesj=or  Wall  ace,  of  the  University  of 


472  LIFE    OP   DR.    DL'FF.  1S42, 

Edinburgli.  But  liis  intellectual  power  was  dedicated 
to  the  office  of  the  Christian  ministry.  Baptized  in 
1839,  after  renewed  opposition  from  his  father,  he  be- 
came the  first  divinity  student  of  the  college.  The 
same  year  saw  him  joined  by  a  Koolin  Brahman, 
Kailas,  who  had  gone  through  the  six  years'  course  of 
the  college.  When  on  the  way  with  his  family  to  an 
idolatrous  service,  his  conscience  so  pricked  him  that 
lie  fled  to  the  mission-house.  Gentle  and  confiding, 
he  was  deluded  by  solemn  pledges  into  leaving  its  pro- 
tection, when  he  was  kept  in  durance  for  three  months. 
On  escaping  he  was  publicly  baptized  in  the  college 
hall.  After  systematic  theological  training,  the  two 
friends  were  appointed  catechists.  Part  of  their  prac- 
tical training  had  been  to  accompany  the  missionaries 
on  itineracies  through  the  rural  districts  in  the  cold 
season.  Dr.  Duff  thus  described  his  experience  of 
Mahendra,  as  a  preacher,  at  the  beginning  of  1841 :  — 
"  In  these  rural  itineracies  I  had  much  reason  to 
be  satisfied  with  the  docility,  humble  demeanour,  and 
moral  earnestness  of  my  young  friend,  Mahendra. 
His  tact,  too,  and  management  in  meeting  the  objec- 
tions, and  in  presenting  divine  truth  in  an  intelligible 
form  to  the  minds  of  his  countrymen,  were  such  as  to 
encourage  no  ordinary  expectations  as  to  the  future. 
On  one  occasion  he  displayed  much  eloquence  and 
power.  Standing  on  the  steps  in  front  of  a  temple 
of  Shiva,  in  the  large  town  of  Culna,  we  got  into  a 
long  and  varied  di«:cussion  with  the  Brahmans.  Soon 
an  immense  crowd  was  assembled.  They  professed 
their  readiness  to  listen  to  what  the  Saheb  had  to 
say;  but  when,  at  my  suggestion,  Mahendra  began 
to  ask  certain  questions,  he  was  at  first  received  with 
a  shout  of  derisive  scorn.  '  What ! '  exclaimed  they, 
'  shall  we  give  ear  to  the  words  of  a  poor  ignorant 
boy  ? '      With  the  greatest  calmness  and  self-posses- 


Alt.  36.  THE    NOBLEST   OP   ALL    THE    CONVERTS.  473 

sion  Mahcndra  replied,  *  Well,  friends,  if  I  am  a  poor 
ignorant  boy,  is  that  not  a  stronger  reason  why  you, 
■who  are  so  learned,  should  take  pity  upon  me,  and 
give  me  the  knowledge  which  you  believe  would  re- 
move my  ignorance.  I  began  to  ask  the  questions, 
not  with  a  view  to  abuse  you,  or  your  faith,  or  to  dis- 
play my  own  learning,  which  is  very  little;  but  simply 
to  know  what  your  creed  really  is,  and  thus  enable  mo 
to  compare  it  with  my  own.'  This  '  soft  answer  '  had 
the  desired  effect.  After  answering  some  questions, 
they  began  to  interrogate  in  return.  In  reply  to  the 
query  respecting  his  faith,  Mahendra  began  by  giving 
a  brief  sketch  of  what  he  was  by  birth  and  education, 
and  how  he  came  to  renounce  Hindooism  and  embrace 
Christianity.  His  exordium  at  once  caught  the  ear 
and  riveted  the  attention  of  every  one;  and  not  a 
whisper  was  heard  from  the  previously  unruly  and 
uproarious  audience,  when  he  commenced  his  narrative 
by  saying,  '  Countrymen  and  friends,  I  am  a  Hindoo ; 
I  was  born  and  brouglit  up  a  Hindoo ;  yen,  I  belonged 
to  the  Boistobs,  one  of  the  strictest  sects,  as  you  know, 
among  the  Hindoos.  My  father  was  and  is  a  Boistob; 
my  mother  was  and  is  a  Boistob;  they  were  both  very 
careful  in  training  me  up  in  the  knowledge  of  their 
peculiar  creed ;  they  made  me  attend  upon  Radhanath, 
one  of  the  great  pundits  of  the  Boistob  sect ;  at  his 
feet  I  was  brought  up ;  he  laboured  to  imprint  upon 
my  mind  the  doctrines  of  Atma,  Onama,  and  other 
Shasters.*  How  forcibly  the  preliminary  part  of  this 
address  made  me  realize  the  exceeding  naturalness  and 
adaptation  of  the  Apostle's  appeal,  in  somewhat  similar 
circumstances,  and  with  a  view  to  somewhat  similar 
ends !  '  Circumcised  the  eighth  day,  of  the  stock  of 
Israel,  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  an  Hebrew  of  the 
Hebrews ;  as  touching  the  law,  a  Pharisee ! '  How 
forcibly,  too,  did  it  make  me  feel  the  superiority  of  the 


474  I'lFl^    OF   DB.    DUFF.  1S43. 

vantage-ground  on  wliicli  a  qualified  native  must  ever 
stand,  when  addressing  his  own  countrj^'men — his  own 
kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh !  Oh  that  we  had 
hundreds  of  Mahendras  ! — hundreds  exhibiting  simihxr 
qualifications  of  head  and  heart;  then  mig]it  we  begin 
to  lift  up  our  drooping  heads,  in  the  full  assurance  that 
the  day  of  India's  salvation  was  nigh  at  hand.  At 
the  conclusion  of  Maliendra's  long  address  we  dis- 
tributed all  the  tracts  in  our  possession.  We  had 
reached  the  temple  about  five  p.m. ;  it  was  now  eight 
o'clock;  and  the  full  moon,  shining  from  the  deep  blue 
vault  of  an  almost  starless  though  cloudless  sky,  lighted 
us  back  to  our  small  boat  on  the  river.  On  our  way, 
we  overheard  many  remarks  respecting  what  had  been 
said  ;  amongst  others,  the  following  :  '  Truly,  he  looked 
a  poor,  ignorant  boy ;  but  his  words  showed  him  to  be 
a  great  pundit.' " 

These  were  the  men,  Mahendra  and  Kailas,  who  were 
placed  in  Grhospara  as  missionaries  to  their  country- 
men. Within  a  few  weeks  of  each  other,  in  the  year 
1845  they  passed  away,  after  services  which  Dr.  Ewart 
and  Mr.  Macdonald  recorded  in  Memoirs  of  them.  So, 
also,  the  amiable  Madub  Chunder  Basak  died  ripe  for 
heaven.  Dr.  Duff  longed  for  hundreds  like  them,  and 
he  did  not  pray  in  vain.  Passing  over  the  baptism 
of  another  Brahman,  of  Kalichurn  Dutt,  and  of  Dr. 
Duff's  converts  baptized  by  other  Churches,  we  come 
in  1841-3  to  the  conversion  of  the  four  remarkable 
Hindoos  who  lived  to  be  ordained  ministers  of  the 
Free  Church  of  Scotland,  and  at  Culna  and  other  rural 
stations,  as  well  as  Calcutta  itself,  proved  successful 
missionaries.  The  Rev.  Jugadishwar  Bhattacharjya, 
a  Brahman  of  the  Brahmans,  above  eighteen,  whom  a 
mob  attempted  to  tear  from  the  mission-house,  has 
since  won  the  gratitude  of  his  peasant  countrymen, 
alike  by  his    spiritual  and  his  temporal   services   to 


.^,t.  37.  THE    TWELVE    PRINCIPAL    CONVEliTS.  4/5 

them,  having  saved  many  in  the  time  of  famine.  Sucli 
are  liis  knowledge  and  influence,  that  he  was  selected 
by  Lord  Nortlibrook  to  give  evidence  before  a  Com- 
mons committee.  The  Rev.  Prosuuno  Koomar  Chat- 
terjea,  once  of  the  same  highest  caste,  has  long  presided 
over  another  of  the  rural  missions  in  Bengal.  The 
Rev.  Lai  Behari  Day,  a  successful  English  author  and 
Government  professor,  who  preaches  regularly  to  the 
Scotsmen  sent  out  to  superintend  the  jute  mills  on  the 
Hooghly,  has  lately  told  the  world  his  "  Recollections  " 
of  the  missionary  who  was  one  of  his  spiritual  fathers. 
Last  of  all,  but  now  no  more,  do  we  linger  over  the 
name  of  the  Rev.  Behari  Lai  Singh,  the  Rajpoot  who 
died  the  only  missionary  in  India  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Eng^land.  The  teaching^  which  led  him  to 
sacrifice  all  for  Christ  he  and  his  brother  received  in 
the  college ;  the  example  which  afterwards  proved  to 
him  that  Christianity  was  a  living  power  was  that  of 
his  official  superior,  Sir  Donald  M'Leod. 

From  the  converts  made  up  to  1843  we  have  named 
these  twelve — four  in  the  first  period,  eight  in  the 
second — as  the  typical  fruit  of  the  system  directed  by 
the  first  missionary  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  to  the 
destruction  of  Brahmanism  and  the  building  up  of 
the  Church  of  India  by  educated  Hindoos.  The  first, 
Brijonath ;  the  sixth,  seventh,  and  tenth,  Mahendra, 
Kailas,  and  Madhub,  became  early  fruit  of  the  native 
Church  in  heaven,  but  not  before  Mahendra  and  Kailas 
had  done  true  service  for  their  Master.  With  a  joyful 
catholicity  Dr.  Duff  had  given  Krishna  Mohun  to  the 
Church  of  England,  Gopeenath  to  the  American  Pres- 
byterian Church,  Anundo  to  the  London  Mission,  and 
Behari  Lai  to  the  English  Presbyterians.  Of  the 
twelve  not  the  least  brilliant  fell ;  while  we  shall  see 
Gopeenath  witnessing  a  good  confession  in  his  hour 
of  trial  in  the  Mutiny. 


47^  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1843. 

While  the  college,  in  spiritual  influence  and  intellec- 
tual force,  with  its  900  students  and  three  branch 
stations,  was  thus  advancing  to  the  state  of  efficiency 
in  which  it  closed  for  the  last  time  in  1843,  all  around 
there  were  then,  as  now,  disaster  and  confusion  in 
public  affairs.  Thus  longingly  did  Dr.  Duff  dwell  on 
the  triumphs  of  peace,  and  on  the  way  which  it  opened 
for  the  Prince  of  peace,  into  the  lands  beyond  our 
frontiers,  then  on  the  Sutlej  and  the  Yoma  mountains 
of  Arakan.  How  hopefully,  in  the  Punjab,  the  Karen 
country  and  China,  have  his  anticipations  been  realized. 
What  he  wrote  of  Lord  Ellenborough  even  may  stand, 
for  he  wrote  it  on  the  17th  October,  1842,  before  the 
Somnath  Gates  proclamation  and  the  Sindh  war. 
Captain  Durand  being  that  Governor-General's  private 
secretary : — 

"  For  the  last  three  years  all  India  has  been  in  a 
state  of  suppressed  ferment  and  smothered  excitement, 
by  the  desolating  warfare  in  Afghanistan  and  China. 
A  permanent  peace  with  Afghanistan  may  prepare  a 
way  of  access  to  the  vast  nomadic  hordes  of  Central 
Asia,  who,  from  time  immemorial,  have  been  the 
conquerors  and  desolators  of  its  fairest  and  richest 
provinces.  The  last  few  years  have  served  to  prove 
that,  though  the  sword  of  war  may  destroy,  it  cannot 
tame  or  subdue  any  portion  of  these  wild  and  lawless 
races.  What  fresh  glory  will  this  shed  on  the  triumphs 
of  the  gospel,  when,  by  the  peaceful  *  sword  of  the 
Spirit,'  these  very  tribes  are  brought  into  willing  sub- 
jection, and  endowed  with  meek  and  lamblike  disposi- 
tions !  A  permanent  peace  with  China  may  open  up 
an  effectual  door  of  ingress  to  more  than  300,000,000 
of  human  beings — one-third  of  the  entire  race  of  man- 
kind ! — hitherto  shut  up,  and,  as  it  were,  hermetically 
sealed  against  the  invasion  of  gospel  truth.  How 
mysterious,  and  yet  how  wisely  beneficent  the  ways  of 


.'i<:t.  37.     ri:AOK  the  orpoiiTUJ^iTY  of  the  missionary.     477 

Divine  Providence !  China  being  sealed  against  tlie 
direct  intrusion  of  Bible  heralds,  the  last  thirty  years 
have  been  chiefly  devoted  by  the  lamented  Morrison 
and  others  to  the  study  of  that  unique  and  solitary 
lingual  genus,  the  Chinese  tongue — to  the  investigation 
of  Chinese  antiquities,  literature,  mythology,  and  other 
such  like  subjects  as  tend  to  throw  light  on  the  genius, 
the  character,  the  mental  and  religious  habitudes  of  so 
singular  and  multitudinous  a  people — to  the  prepara- 
tion of  grammars,  and  dictionaries,  and  tracts,  and, 
above  all,  to  the  translation  of  the  Word  of  life,  that 
Book  of  books,  the  Bible.  And  when  the  requisite 
apparatus  for  an  effectual  spiritual  warfare  has  been 
fully  prepared,  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  the  immense 
field  for  their  practical  application  has  been  thrown 
open,  by  the  instrumentality  of  one  who  *  meant  not 
so,  neither  did  his  heart  think  so.'  (Isa.  x.  7.)  What 
a  striking  coincidence  !  Who  dare  say  that  it  is  for- 
tuitous ?  Oh  no !  It  is  altogether  the  ordination  of 
Him  who  '  knoweth  the  end  from  the  besrinnino:.'  It 
is  one  of  those  marvellous  points  of  confluence  among 
the  manifold  streams  and  currents  of  Providence, 
which  may  flow,  for  years  or  even  ages,  unseen  be- 
neath the  surface,  till  the  *  set  time  '  hath  come  for 
their  springing  forth  visibly,  to  bespeak  the  presiding 
presence  of  Him,  who  '  doeth  according  to  His  will 
among  the  armies  of  heaven  and  the  inhabitants  of 
the  earth.' 

"  If  anything  could  enhance  the  joy  which  we  have 
all  experienced  from  the  simple  announcement  '  Peace,* 
it  is  the  language  in  which  the  present  Governor- 
General  has  couched  his  solicitation  for  the  offerinof  of 
public  prayers  and  thanksgivings  to  Almighty  God 
throughout  all  the  Indian  Churches.  From  the  State 
circular,  penned  by  Lord  Ellenborough  himself,  I  ex- 
tract the  following  passage : — '  The  seasonable  supply 


478  LIFE    OF   DR.    DOFF.  1843. 

of  rain,  following  our  prayers  recently  offered  to  God 
for  that  blessing,  whereby  the  people  of  the  North- 
Western  Provinces  have  been  relieved  from  the  fear  of 
impending  famine;  and  the  great  successes  recently 
obtained  by  the  British  arms  in  Afghanistan,  whereby 
the  hope  of  honourable  and  secure  peace  is  held  out  to 
India,  impose  upon  us  all  the  duty  of  humble  thanks- 
giving to  Almighty  Grod,  through  whose  paternal 
goodness  alone  these  events  have  been  brought  to 
pass.  Nor  have  we  less  incurred  the  duty  of  earnest 
supplication,  that  we  may  not  be  led  to  abuse  these 
last  gifts  of  God's  bounty,  or  to  attribute  to  ourselves 
that  which  is  due  to  Him  alone  ;  but  that  He  may  have 
granted  to  us  grace  so  to  improve  these  gifts  to  us, 
to  show  ourselves  worthy  of  His  love,  and  fit  instru- 
ments, in  His  hand,  for  the  government  of  the  great 
nation  which  His  wisdom  has  placed  under  British 
rule.'  These,  surely,  are  sentiments  worthy  of  a 
British  statesman,  and  honourable  to  the  Christian 
head  of  the  most  powerful  empire  in  Asia  ! — sentiments, 
embodying  so  solemn  a  recognition  of  Jehovah's  su- 
premacy and  man's  responsibility  ; — sentiments  which 
are  sure  to  be  translated  into  all  the  languages,  and 
circulated  among  all  the  nations  of  the  Eastern  world ! 
Oh,  let  all  the  British  Churches  respond,  with  heart 
and  soul,  to  the  voice  of  thanksgiving  and  supplica- 
tion which  is  about  to  be  lifted  up  by  all  the  Churches 
in  India  !  and  pray  that  the  time  may  come,  and  that 
right  speedily,  when  the  outpourings  of  God's  Spirit 
shall  descend  on  this  dry  and  parched  land.'* 


END   OF   VOL.    I. 


TH  E    LIFE 


OF 


ALEXANDER  DUFF,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


VOL.  II. 


IV  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    XXIII. 

1 85 6- 1 85 8.  PAGES 

The  Mutiny  and  the  Native  Church  op  India     .        .    307-354 

CHAPTER    XXIV. 

1 858-1863. 

Last  Yeaks  in  India 355-395 

CHAPTER    XXV. 

1 864- 1 867. 

In  South-East  Afkica.— The  Missionaut  Propaganda  .    396-423 

CHAPTER    XXVI. 

I 867-1 878. 
New  Missions  and  the   Results  of   Half  a  Century's 

Work «...    424-464 

CHAPTER    XXVII. 

1865-1878. 

Dr.  Duff  at  Home        .-»....    465-494 

CHAPTER    XXVIII. 
1 877-1 878. 

PEACEMAKINfl 495-518 

CHAPTER    XXIX. 

1877-1878. 

Dying 519-542 

Index     ••••••••••    548-553 


LIFE 


OP 


ALEXANDER   DUFF,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


CHAPTER  XVL 

1843-1844. 
MISS  ION AEY  OF  THE  FREE  CHUECE  OF  SCOTLAND. 

The  Power  of  Youth. — Spiritual  Independence  and  the  People  of 
Scotland. — Torpor  of  the  Ministers  for  a  century  and  a  quarter, 
— Anecdotes  from  Dr.  Duff's  experience. — On  Robert  Burns. — 
Reproving  an  Officer  for  Profanity. — Sir  Charles  Napier. — Sir 
Rotjert  Peel  rebuked. — Duff's  public  silence  on  the  Disruption 
Controversy. — Appeals  from  Dr.  Brunton  and  Dr.  Charles  J. 
Bi'own. — All  the  Missionaries  adhere  to  the  Church  of  Scotland 
Free. — Dr.  Duff's  "  Explanatory  Statement." — A  critical  time. — 
The  Disruption  in  Calcutta. — Dr.  Simon  Nicolson.  —  Messrs. 
Hawkins,  M.  Wylie  and  A.  B.  Mackintosh. — The  Free  Church 
in  Calcutta. — Dr.  Duff's  four  Lectures. — Lord  Brougham  and 
Gibbon. — Duff  describes  the  Disruption. — Free  Church  resolves 
to  extend  Foreign  Missions. — The  Property  Wrong. — Sympathy 
of  all  Evangelical  Churches. — Duff's  disinterestedness. — Opening 
of  the  General  Assembly's  Institution  of  the  Free  Church  of 
Scotland. — A  Professorship  of  Missions  urged. 

NOT  only  is  the  world  the  heritage  of  the  young, 
as  has  been  said.  The  young  mak«  the  world 
what  it  is.  Dr.  Duff  had  really  done  his  work  in 
India  when  he  was  twenty-eight;  he  had,  apparently, 
completed  its  parallel  side  in  Great  Britain  when  he 
was  thirty-three ;  he  had  consolidated  the  whole  sys- 

VOL.    II.  B 


2  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1843, 

tern,  and  he  saw  it  bearing  rare  spiritual  as  well  as 
moral  and  intellectual  fruit  before  lie  was  thirty-seven. 
So,  in  the  same  field  of  reformation,  Luther  and 
Melanchthon  in  Grermany,  Pascal  and  Calvin  in  France, 
Wesley  and  Simeon  in  England,  and  Chalmers  in 
Scotland  had  sowed  the  seed  and  reaped  the  early 
harvests  while  still  within  the  age  which  Augustine 
pronounces  the  "  culmen  "  and  Dante  the  *'  key  of 
the  arch"  of  life.  Dr.  Duff  might  have  spent  the 
rest  of  his  career  in  quietly  developing  the  principles 
and  extending  the  machinery  of  his  system  on  its 
India  and  Scottish  sides,  but  for  two  forces,  in  Church 
and  State,  which  the  shrewdest  took  long  to  foresee. 
His  Kirk  had  to  work  its  way  back  to  the  purity  and 
spiritual  independence  of  covenanting  times — a  pro- 
cess in  which  all  the  Churches  of  Europe  are  following 
it,  from  Italy  and  Germany  to  France  and  Ireland — 
and  in  so  working  it  became  broken  into  two.  And  the 
Afghan  War  was  to  prove  only  the  first  act  in  the 
prelude  to  the  history  of  British  India.  That  prelude 
closed  in  the  Sepoy  Mutiny.  That  history  fairly 
began  with  the  too  rapid  obliteration  of  the  military 
and  political  system  by  which  the  old  East  India 
Company  had  brought  the  empire  to  the  birth  and 
had  reared  it  into  a  vigorous  childhood. 

Foreign  Missions  being  of  no  ecclesiastical  party 
but  the  privilege  of  all,  we  have  seen  how  Dr. 
Duff",  during  his  first  visit  to  Scotland,  had  kept  aloof 
from  even  the  most  vital  controversies.  To  him,  as 
charged  with  the  conversion  of  a  hundred  and  thirty 
millions  of  human  beings.  Whig  or  Tory,  Voluntary 
or  State  Churchman,  even  "  Intrusionist "  or  "  Non- 
Intrusionist "  were  of  little  account  save  in  so  far  as 
they  could  promote  or  hinder  his  one  object.  Even 
in  India,  on  his  return  in  1840,  he  was  so  silent 
regarding  his  relation  to  parties  and  the  course  he 


^t.  37.  PKEPARED    FOR   THE    DISRUPTION.  3 

would  follow  if  a  rupture  took  place,  that  somo 
doubted  how  he  would  act.  In  truth,  the  approaching 
cataclysm  so  weighed  him  down,  in  reference  to  its 
effects  on  his  own  mission,  that  he  refrained  from 
speech,  in  public,  till  the  issue  should  be  fairly  put 
before  him  and  his  colleagues  for  decisive  settlement. 
But  not  one  of  the  clerical  combatants  in  the  thick  of 
the  fight  knew  its  meaning,  historical  and  spiritual, 
better  than  the  missionary.  His  youth  had  been  over- 
shadowed by  the  "  cloud  of  witnesses."  His  heroes 
had  ever  been  the  men  of  the  Covenant.  His  hatred 
was  that  of  the  patriot  rather  than  of  the  priest,  to 
the  Stewarts  who,  down  to  the  last  act  in  Queen 
Anne's  time,  had  robbed  the  Kirk  and  its  people  of 
spiritual  freedom.  He  waited  only  for  the  right  time, 
the  time  of  duty  to  the  Mission  as  well  as  to  his 
principles,  to  declare  himself  with  an  energy  and  an 
uncompromising  thoroughness,  hardly  equalled  by  the 
ecclesiastical  leaders  who  headed  the  host  of  disrup- 
tion heroes  on  the  memorable  eighteenth  day  of  May, 
1843. 

But  not  only  had  the  education  of  the  Highland  boy, 
under  such  a  father  and  teacher  as  his,  early  fed  his 
young  life  with  the  history  of  his  Kirk,  which  is  that 
of  his  country.  In  his  three  years'  wanderings  over 
every  presbytery  and  almost  every  parish  of  Scotland, 
from  the  Shetland  Isles  to  the  Solway,  he  had  become 
acquainted  with  the  actual  state  of  religious  and  social 
life  in  a  way  unknown  to  Chalmers  or  the  young 
Guthrie,  or  the  most  experienced  Lowlander  of  the 
time.  To  the  highest  test  which  can  try  a  Christian 
or  a  Church,  the  Christ-like  philanthropy  of  missions, 
he  had  jealously  brought  the  Church  of  Scotland 
from  183-i  to  1840,  its  ministers  and  people,  its  parties 
and  their  professions,  its  policy  and  aims.  He  thus 
learned,  as  no  one  else  could,  the  wrong,  religious 


4  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1843. 

and  political,  done  to  the  country  by  the  dishonest 
legislation  of  Queen  Anne's  advisers  all  through  the 
eighteenth  century,  even  to  the  Reform  Act  in  the 
State  and  the  Yeto  Law  in  the  Kirk.  And  a  happy 
experience  taught  him,  and  Chalmers  through  him, 
that  the  heart  of  the  people  was  sound  in  spite  of  the 
torpor  and  retrogression  of  a  century  and  a  quarter, 
that  the  Scotsmen  of  1834-43  were  the  true  spiritual 
descendants  of  their  fathers  of  the  first  and  the 
second  Reformation.  This  had  been  his  experience 
of  the  ministers  of  the  "  moderate  party,"  who  had 
formed  the  majority  in  the  Kirk  down  to  the  year 
1834  and  who  called  in  the  civil  courts  to  drive  out 
the  evangelical  majority  ten  years  after. 

Dr.  Duff  was  wont  to  declare  that,  personally,  he 
had  received  everywhere  at  their  hands  the  most 
courteous  and  friendly  treatment,  with  the  two  excep- 
tions of  Peebles  and  Dunbar.  Seeing  that  he  kept 
his  cause  and  himself  aloof  from  parties,  Moderates 
as  well  as  Evangelicals  invited  him  to  their  manses, 
placed  their  conveyances  at  his  disposal,  passed  him 
on  from  presbytery  to  presbytery,  and  loyally  obeyed 
the  Assembly  of  1835  in  promoting  meetings  and 
subscriptions.  The  majority  of  the  moderate  minis- 
ters he  found  to  be  farmers  and  politicians,  whose 
conversation  was  divided  between  agricultural  talk 
and  political  criticism.  "  But,"  he  once  said,  "  I  do 
not  remember  their  volunteering  any  remarks  on  the 
vastly  higher  subject  of  the  spiritual  culture  of  the 
human  mind,  or  the  Georgics  of  the  soul,  as  it  might 
be  called."  In  one  case  the  moderator  of  the 
presbytery,  having  duly  summoned  a  meeting  on  the 
market  day,  could  not  himself  be  found  to  preside 
until  it  was  reported  that  he  had  been  seen  among  the 
crowd  gazing  at  the  tricks  of  a  vagrant  mountebank. 
The  one  evangelical  member  of   that  body  charged 


/Et.  37.  REMINISCENCES    OF   THE    KIUK.  5 

him  with  tho  shameful  forgetfulness,  but  the  majority 
hushed  up  the  proceedings  at  a  time  when  the  daily 
newspaper  was  unknown.  In  another  case  Dr.  Duff 
happened  to  succeed,  in  the  guest  chamber  of  the 
manse,  a  minister  who  was  notorious  for  Unitarian 
views.  Tlie  parish  was  ringing  with  the  story,  how 
he  had  surprised  all  by  first  delivering  a  communion 
address  surcharged  with  the  evangelicalism  of  the 
Puritans,  and  then,  when  suddenly  called  to  fill  a 
vacant  place  in  the  long  services,  had  preached  a  dis- 
course of  the  most  repulsively  cold  heresy.  On 
inquiry  it  was  discovered  that  he  had  compiled  from 
the  "  Marrowmen,"  whom  he  despised,  an  address 
suited  to  evangelical  congregations,  and  which  alone 
he  was  wont  to  speak  on  such  occasions. 

But  for  reminiscences  such  as  those  of  Dr.  Duff  it 
would  be  incredible  to  what  extent  not  only  hetero- 
doxy but  profanity,  intemperance,  and  other  immo- 
rality found  a  place  among  the  moderate  ministers  in 
rural  districts,  especially  in  the  Highlands  and  islands 
to  which  public  opinion  never  penetrated.  Many  of 
them,  among  themselves,  avowed  theological  opinions 
contrary  to  the  Confession  of  Faith,  the  contract  on 
which  they  claimed  to  hold  their  livings.  At  the 
upper  end  of  a  long  strath  in  the  Highlands  lived  a 
parish  minister  who  was  scarcely  ever  known  to  be 
sober.  Business  took  him  frequently  to  the  other 
end  of  the  valley,  where  he  had  to  pass  a  distillery. 
It  was  the  frequent  sport  of  the  owner  to  tempt  the 
poor  wretch,  and  then,  placing  him  on  his  pony  with 
his  head  to  the  tail,  send  him  back  amid  the  derision  ; 
of  the  whole  people,  a  man  supporting  him  on  either 
side.  Another  parish  was  a  preserve  of  smugglers, 
whose  rendezvous  was  the  kirk,  where  the  little  barrels 
of  Highland  whisky  were  concentrated  before  despatch 
to  the  south.     The  isolated  spot  was  the  terror  of  the 


6  LIFE    OP   DR.    DUFF.  1843. 

gaugers,  for  whom  the  hardy  inhabitants,  banded  to- 
gether, were  long  more  than  a  match.  A  new  minister 
was  presented  to  the  parish,  a  man  of  great  promise 
and  considerable  scholarship.  His  one  weakness  was 
a  passion  for  the  violin.  Through  that  he  fell  so  low, 
that  when  his  parishioners  assembled  at  the  inn  they 
sent  for  the  minister  to  play  to  them,  and  even  carried 
him  off  when  well  drunk  to  a  house  of  doubtful  repute 
where  the  revelry  was  continued.  On  one  occasion  he 
fell  into  the  peat  fire,  where  his  limbs  became  so  roasted 
that  for  six  months  he  was  laid  aside  and  he  was  lamed 
for  life.  His  brethren  resented  the  scandal  only  by 
refusing  to  allow  him  to  attend  the  presbytery  dinner, 
and  by  denying  him  all  help  at  communion  seasons. 
Brooding  over  these  insults,  he  resolved  to  adopt  that 
form  of  retaliation  which  would  be  most  disagreeable 
to  colleagues  some  of  whom  differed  from  himself 
only  by  being  greater  hypocrites.  He  sent  to  the 
neighbouring  cities  for  the  most  evangelical  Gaelic 
ministers  to  assist  him  on  fast  and  sacrament  days. 
The  result  was  that  the  smuggling  parish  became  not 
only  a  new  place,  such  as  all  the  success  of  the  excise 
could  never  have  made  it,  but  the  centre  of  light  to  the 
whole  presbytery.  The  people  flocked  from  a  great 
distance  to  hear  the  grand  preaching  in  their  own 
tongue.  The  drunkard's  successor,  appointed  under  the 
Veto  Act,  was  a  godly  man,  and  when  the  disruption 
came  the  whole  parish  left  the  Established  Church. 

"When  farther  north  still,  Dr.  Duff  found  himself  the 
inhabitant  of  a  room  in  the  manse  which  was  curiously 
stained.  On  asking  an  explanation  he  was  told  that, 
as  the  most  secure  place,  the  attics  had  long  been  the 
storehouse  of  the  smugglers  of  Hollands  and  small 
sacks  of  salt.  So  soon  as  the  brig  appeared  in  the 
harbour  of  Stromness,  with  flying  colours,  the  minister 
at   the  beginning   of  the  century  promptly  went  on 


Alt.  37.  RODERT    BURNS    AND    HIS    CENSORS.  7 

board.  Even  if  the  day  were  Sunday  he  would  go 
in  the  face  of  all  the  people,  before  or  after  doing 
pulpit  duty  !  The  manse  had  been  built  for  the  pur- 
pose of  receiving  the  contraband  articles,  which  were 
hoisted  up  by  a  pulley  swung  to  a  hook  projecting 
from  a  window  in  the  high-pointed  gable.  The  plaster 
of  the  roof  below  was  saturated  with  salt,  which  ap- 
peared in  moist  weather. 

Dr.  Duff's  investigations  in  Ayrshire  found  results 
hardly  more  satisfactory  than  in  the  Highlands  and  the 
Scandinavian  islands.  His  famiharity  with  the  poems 
of  Eobert  Burns,  and  knowledge  of  the  use  which  had 
been  made  of  their  finer  strains  by  the  young  Hindoo 
reformers  of  Bengal,  led  him  to  make  very  minute  in- 
quiries of  some  of  the  older  men  who  had  had  personal 
intercourse  with  the  poet.  They  assured  him  that 
Burns  was  often  blamed  for  caricaturino:  sacred  thinofs 
when,  in  truth,  he  was  giving  a  most  vivid  description 
of  sad  reality.  A  man  of  Burns's  pious  training, 
knowledixe  of  the  Bible  and  excecdino^  acuteness,  could 
not  fail  to  be  struck  with  the  marked  contrast  between 
Christianity  as  expressed  in  the  creed  and  in  the  life 
of  a  great  body  of  the  ministers  and  people.  "Having 
thrown  ofi*the  fear  of  man,  and  alas  !  to  some  extent 
the  fear  of  God,"  remarked  Dr.  Dufi',  "  Robert  Burns 
satirised  this  state  of  things  in  their  gross  literality 
with  all  faithfulness.  Hence  not  a  few  who  were 
godly  men  declared  to  me  their  conviction  that  the 
description  given  in  *  The  Holy  Fair '  of  scenes  at  the 
administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper  was  not  exagger- 
ated ;  and  the  same  was  asserted  of  some  of  what 
were  reckoned  his  more  objectionable  minor  poems. 
Oh !  what  these  ministers  have  to  answer  for  at  the 
Day  of  Judgment.  The  mischief  they  did  by  lapsing 
into  gross  errors  in  doctrine,  and  more  than  loose 
practices  in  life,  is  incredible."     To  the  end  of  his  life 


8  LIFE    OP    DR.    DUrP.  1843. 

Dr.  Duff  held  this  to  be  the  true  explanation,  founding 
alike  on  his  own  recollections  in  the  present  cen- 
tury, and  on  those  of  older  men  as  to  that  which 
preceded  it. 

The  mass  of  the  common  people,  who  did  not  turn 
for  spiritual  life  to  the  seceding  churclies  which  now 
form  the  vigorous  United  Presbjterian  Church,  found 
it  in  tlie  study  of  the  Bible  and  of  writers  like  Ruther- 
ford and  Boston,  Bunyan  and  Doddridge.  But  this 
degeneracy  of  the  Kirk  had  affected  the  upper  classes 
of  society  in  a  wa-y  incredible  in  these  days  of  a 
healthy  public  opinion.  The  literature  of  the  time, 
scanty  though  it  be,  reveals  not  a  little  of  the  truth. 
Dr.  Duff  met  with  this  typical  illustration  of  one 
form  of  the  evil  on  a  journey  from  Perth  to  Pit- 
lochrie  by  the  Inverness  coach.  In  the  darkness  he 
could  not  see  them,  but  he  could  not  help  hearing 
the  conversation  of  the  three  occupants  whom  he 
joined.  The  talk  was  of  the  Peninsular  War,  led  by 
a  Highland  officer  who  had  passed  through  its 
campaigns.  The  interest  of  the  really  striking  infor- 
mation given  by  him  was,  however,  marred  by  his 
habit  of  adding  an  oatli  to  every  two  or  three  words, 
and  not  unfrequently  by  expressions  of  licentiousness 
as  well  as  profanity.  Should  he  interpose  ?  was  a 
question  long  debated  by  Dr.  Duff.  Ignorant  who  his 
companions  might  be,  and  whether  in  a  stage  coacli 
the  end  might  not  be  worse  than  the  beginning,  he 
resolved  to  wait  till  daylight  and  the  first  stoppage. 
On  arriving  at  Pitlochrie  the  young  missionary  asked 
the  officer  to  speak  to  him  privately  for  a  moment  on 
the  road.  Dr.  Duff  began  by  saying  that  he  had  been 
profoundly  interested  by  many  of  the  remarkable  state- 
ments respecting  the  Peninsular  War,  a  confession 
which  seemed  to  gratify  his  companion.  He  could 
not,  moreover,  from  the  tone  and  tenor  of  their  con- 


^t.  37.    RKPUOVES  AND  CUBES  PROFANE  SWEARING.     9 

versatiou  all  the  niglit,  but  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  person  who  had  given  so  much  novel  in- 
formation was,  beyond  question,  a  born  gentleman. 
As  a  gentleman  he  must  know  that  it  was  contrary 
to  the  ordinary  rules  of  courtesy  to  say  anything 
which,  even  unintentionally,  might  be  very  offensive 
to  another.  He,  the  officer,  might  have  formed,  in 
his  youth,  habits  which  were  now  contrary  to  the 
usages  of  poUte  society.  One  of  these  was  what  is 
ordinarily  called  profane  swearing,  which  was  at  one 
time  considered  to  give  zest  to  earnest  conversation. 
Dr.  Duff,  being  an  ordained  minister  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  was  sure  that  the  officer  would  excuse  him 
for  remarking  that  many  of  the  words  interspersed  in 
the  narratives  of  the  war  grated  with  something  more 
than  harshness  on  his  ear,  and  for  thus  unburJcning 
his  own  mind  and  conscience  privately  to  him  who  had 
thoughtlessly  used  them.  On  this  the  officer  took  him 
by  the  hand,  warmly  thanked  him  for  his  delicacy  and 
faithfulness,  admitted  that  he  had  never  looked  on 
swearing  in  that  light,  and  regretted  that  no  one  had 
before  spoken  to  him  in  that  way.  Without  commit- 
ting himself  to  a  pledge  on  the  subject  he  promised 
to  ponder  the  gentle  reproof.  When,  some  time  after- 
wards. Dr.  Duff  was  at  Kingussie  manse  on  the  way 
south  from  Inverness,  he  learned  that  his  companion 
of  that  nio-ht  was  a  well-known  landholder  of  the 
neighbourhood,  and  that  a  somewhat  sudden  change  in 
his  habits  of  speech  and  church-going  had  attracted 
attention.  We  may  add  to  this  another  illustration, 
of  even  greater  boldness,  on  the  part  of  the  young  assis- 
tant surgeon  from  Aberdeen,  who  was  on  Sir  Charles 
Napier's  staff  in  Sindh.  His  at  first  timid  remonstrance 
with  the  Commander-in-Chief,  whose  constant  com- 
panion he  was  officially  forced  to  be  for  many  weeks, 
led  the  veteran  to  overwhelm   him  with   a   torrent  of 


lO  LIPK    OP    DR.    DUFF.  1 843. 

renewed  oaths,  followed  by  a  most  touching  apology, 
though  not,  we  fear,  by  any  permanent  reform. 

Nor  were  the  southern  visitors  to  the  Highlands  in 
these  early  days  any  better  than  the  moderate  minis- 
ters whose  kirks  they  rarely  entered.  Sir  Robert  Peel 
and  a  party  of  his  friends  had  leased  the  shootings 
around  Kingussie.  To  most  of  them  all  days  were  alike 
for  sport.  The  peasantry,  finding  themselves  in  a  sore 
strait  between  their  duty  to  their  conscience  and  the 
temptations  held  out  by  the  Sunday  sportsmen,  waited 
on  their  minister  with  entreaties  for  advice.  He  at 
once  wrote  to  Sir  Robert  Peel  a  letter,  read  by  Dr. 
Duff,  which  acknowledged  all  the  kindness  of  the  great 
statesman  to  the  people,  and  asked  him  to  respect  their 
conscientious  convictions.  A  week  passed  and  no 
reply  came.  But  on  the  next  Sabbath  the  practical 
answer  was  given  when,  somewhat  late,  Sir  Robert 
and  his  whole  party  took  possession  of  the  great  pew 
belonging  to  the  estate  they  had  leased.  On  the  next 
day  the  minister  received  a  long  and  kindly  letter  from 
the  Premier,  declaring  that  it  was  he  who  should 
apologise  for  not  ascertaining  his  duty  to  the  people, 
and  expressing  a  wish  that  all  clergymen  would  act 
with  similar  faithfulness. 

Such  reminiscences  of  his  study  of  the  inner  life  of 
the  Church  of  Scotland,  bad  and  good,  lighting  up  his 
intimate  knowledge  of  its  history  and  his  sympathy 
with  the  spiritual  and  civil  patriotism  of  its  people, 
made  the  disruption  when  it  came  a  very  real  and 
joyous  event  to  Dr.  Duff,  though  far  away  from  all  its 
controversies  and  its  triumphs.  His  enthusiasm  burst 
forth  the  more  impetuously  that,  for  three  years  in 
India  as  during  the  five  which  he  had  spent  in  Europe, 
he  had  maintained  an  unbroken  silence  on  the  great 
spiritual-independence  controversy.  The  chivalrous 
honour  of  the  man  prevented  him  from  making  any 


^t.  37-  THE    SHADOW    OF   TlIK    DISiilTPTlON.  II 

allusion  to  it  in  his  official  correspondence.  Nor  was 
Dr.  Brunton,  on  the  other  side,  less  thoughtful.  Neither 
could  arrest  the  issue ;  so  long  as  that  was  doubtful 
or  had  not  been  precipitated  by  Providence,  it  might 
have  been  perilous  for  either  to  link  to  a  temporary 
struggle,  however  great,  the  abiding  principles  of 
catholic  missions  to  the  non-Christian  world.  They 
would  have  been  less  than  men  if,  in  the  intimacy  of 
private  correspondence,  such  sentences  as  the  following 
had  not  occurred.  But  from  first  to  last,  and  in  every 
detail  save  the  very  serious  questions  of  rights  of 
property,  legal  and  equitable  as  between  Christian 
brethren,  no  controversy  in  all  church  history  has  ever 
been  conducted  so  free  from  the  spirit  condemned  by 
Christ  and  His  Apostles,  as  the  missionary  side  of  the 
Disruption  of  1843.  After  Dr.  Duff's  return  to  Cal- 
cutta in  1840  Dr.  Brunton  thus  confidentially  wrote  to 
him  on  the  2nd  April :  "  Your  clerical  friends  are  well ; 
as  well,  at  least,  as  Non-Intrusion  fever  will  allow. 
The  excitation  and  the  embitterment  are  by  no  means 
abating.  Government  declines  to  attempt  any  legisla- 
tive measure.  Lord  Aberdeen  has  given  notice  of  one 
without  saying  what  it  is  to  be.  Matters  are  getting 
more  and  more  embroiled.  Oh  that  peace  were 
breathed  into  the  troubled  elements  by  Him  who  *  still- 
eth  the  noise  of  the  seas,  the  noise  of  their  waves  and 
the  tumult  of  the  people.'  Amidst  the  other  lament- 
able consequences  of  this  turmoil  it  swallows  up  every 
other  interest  in  some  of  our  fairest  and  purest  minds, 
and  the  sweet  call  to  missionary  enterprise  is  too 
passionless  to  gain  a  hearing,  where  once  it  was  plea- 
sant music.  Send  us  better  tidings  from  the  lands  of 
the  South  than  we  can  transmit  to  you  from  this 
dwelling  of  storms."  By  28th  January,  1843,  Dr. 
Brunton  wrote  of  "  the  really  appalling  schism  in  the 
Church  which  seems  now   inevitable,  and  which  may 


12  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1 843. 

most  lamentably  affect  all  her  great  and  glorious 
'  schemes.'  May  God  avert  it !  In  man  there  is  now 
no  help  or  hope." 

So  rigorously  did  Dr.  Duff  carry  out  his  official  duty 
to  the  committee  and  his  sense  of  what  was  best  for 
the  Mission,  that  when  his  most  intimate  friends  pri- 
vately pressed  him  to  say  how  he  would  act  in  the 
event  of  an  actual  disruption,  he  told  them  why  he 
could  not  reply  to  such  a  question.  What  Lord  Cock- 
burn  calls  "  the  heroism  "  of  the  18th  May,  which  made 
Francis  Jeffrey  declare  that  he  was  "  proud  of  his 
country,"  was  not  officially  intimated  to  the  fourteen 
Indian  missionaries  till  October.  Not  till  the  end  of 
July  had  the  preliminary  letters  from  Dr.  Brunton,  and 
from  Dr.  Charles  J.  Brown  representing  the  Free 
Church,  reached  them,  declaring  that  each  Church  was 
determined  to  carry  on  the  Foreign  and  Jewish  Missions. 
Dr.  Brunton  wrote  :  "  We  are  most  anxious  to  retain 
the  co-operation  of  those  whom  we  have  found  experi- 
mentally so  thoroughly  qualified  for  their  work  and  so 
devoted  to  its  prosecution.  We  earnestly  hope,  there- 
fore, that  you  will  see  it  to  be  consistent  with  your 
sense  of  duty  to  remain  in  that  connection  with  us, 
which  to  us,  in  the  past,  has  been  a  source  of  so  much 
satisfaction  and  thankfulness.  I  write  to  you  collec- 
tively, not  individually,  because  we  have  no  wish  that 
personal  considerations  should  influence  your  deci- 
sion." Dr.  Chalmers  was  not  present  at  the  meeting 
of  the  provisional  committee  of  the  Free  Church,  for 
which  Dr.  C.  J.  Brown  wrote  the  letter,  which  thus 
delicately  concluded :  "  The  committee  do  not  of 
course  presume  to  enter  into  discussion  with  you  on 
the  subject,  or  to  say  one  word  as  to  the  course  which 
you  may  feel  it  right  to  follow."  To  that  Chalmers 
added  this  postscript,  "  1  state  my  confident  belief 
that,  notwithstanding  the  engrossment  of  our  affairs  at 


^t.  37.     ALL  THK  MISSIONARIES  JOIN  THE  FREE  CHURCH.       1 3 

home,  the  cansc  of  all  our  missions  will  prove  as  dear, 
and  be  as  liberally  supported  as  ever  by  the  people  of 
Scotland."  "With  such  faith,  in  such  a  spirit,  did  the 
second  Knox  and  his  band  of  470,  soon  increased  to 
730  and  now  to  some  1,100  ministers,  commit  their 
Church  to  extension  abroad  no  less  than  at  home.  In 
this  respect  the  third  Reformation  was  more  truly 
Christ's  than  the  second  or  the  first. 

The  joyful  adherence  of  all  the  Eastern  and  Jewish 
missionaries  and  their  converts,  in  contrast  to  the  East 
India  Company's  Presbyterian  chaplains, — the  eager 
response  of  every  one  of  the  fourteen  sent  to  the 
peoples  of  India,  from  Dr.  Wilson  then  in  Jerusalem, 
to  Mr.  Anderson  in  Madras,  and  Dr.  Duff  in  Bengal, 
was  added  to  complete  the  spiritual  sacrifice,  as 
well  as  the  moral  heroism,  and  to  give  a  new  stim- 
ulus to  what  Lord  Cockburn  called  "  the  mao-nificent 
sacrifices  which,  year  after  year,  showed  the  strong 
sincerity  and  genuine  Scotticism  of  the  principles  on 
which  the  movement  had  depended."  The  words,  in 
1834,  of  Dr.  Inglis,  the  founder  of  the  Kirk's  India 
Mission,  were  lighted  up  with  a  new  and  universal 
meaning,  in  the  far  East  as  in  little  Scotland.  "  The 
kingdom  of  Christ  is  not  only  spiritual  but  indepen- 
dent ;  no  earthly  government  has  a  right  to  overrule 
or  control  it." 

For  himself  alone.  Dr.  Daff  published  an  "  Explan- 
atory Statement,  addressed  to  the  friends  of  the  India 
Mission  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  as  it  existed  pre- 
vious to  the  Disruption  in  May,  1843."  This  passage 
takes  up  the  narrative  at  the  reception  of  the  official 
appeals  from  Dr.  Brunton  and  Dr.  Charles^  Brown. 

"  We  were  now  laid  under  a  double  necessity  openly 
to  avow  our  sentiments.  Was  there  any  hesitation 
when  the  hour  of  trial  came  ?  J^one  whatsoever.  So 
far  as  concerned   my  own   mind,  the   simple  truth  is, 


14  LIFE    OF    DH.    DUFF.  1843 

tliat  as  regards  the  great  principles  contended  for 
by  the  friends  and  champions  of  the  Free  Church,  I 
never  was  troubled  with  the  crossing  of  a  doubt  or 
the  shadow  of  a  suspicion.  In  earliest  youth  these 
principles  were  imbibed  from  the  '  Cloud  of  Witnesses,' 
and  other  kindred  works.  And  time  and  mature 
reflection,  wholly  undisturbed  by  the  heats  and  col- 
lisions of  party  warfare,  only  tended  to  strengthen  my 
conviction  of  their  scriptural  character,  and  to  rivet 
the  persuasion  of  their  paramount  importance  to  the 
spiritual  interests  of  man.  But  though  there  was  not 
a  moment's  hesitation  as  to  tlie  rectitude  of  the  prin- 
ciples, and  consequent  obligation  in  determining  the 
path  of  duty,  there  was  a  sore  conflict  of  natural 
feeling, — a  desperate  struggle  of  opposing  natural 
interests.  Many  of  my  dearest  and  most  devoted 
personal  friends  still  adhered  to  the  Establishment ; 
and  I  could  not  but  foresee  how  ecclesiastical  separation 
might  lead  to  coolness,  coolness  to  indifference,  and 
indifference  to  eventual  alienation ;  and  that  heart 
must  be  colder  and  deader  than  mine,  that  could, 
without  a  thought  and  without  an  emotion,  contem- 
plate such  an  issue.  All  the  most  vivid  associations 
connected  with  my  original  appointment, — the  ardours 
and  imaginings  of  inexj)erienced  youth, — the  exciting 
hopes  and  fears  inseparable  from  an  untried  and 
hazardous  enterprise, — anxieties  felt  and  removed, — 
trials  encountered,  difficulties  overcome,  and  success 
attained, — were  all  indissolubly  linked  with  the  Estab- 
lished Church  of  Scotland.  The  revered  projector  of 
the  Mission,  Dr.  Inglis,  and  his  respected  successor, 
Dr.  Brunton^  had,  each  in  his  turn,  throughout  the 
long  period  of  fourteen  years,  treated  me  rather  with 
the  consideration,  the  tenderness,  and  the  confidence 
of  a  father  towards  his  son,  than  with  the  formal  but 
polite  courtesies  of  a  mere  ofiicial  relationship.     When 


JEt.  37.  UIS    "  EXPLAiNATOEY    STATEMENT."  1 5 

I  looked  at  the  noble  fabric  of  tlie  General  Assembly's 
Institution,  so  very  spacious  and  commodious,  and 
so  richly  provided  with  library,  apparatus,  and  all 
other  needful  furniture ;  and  recalled  to  remembrance 
the  former  days,  when  we  had  to  toil  and  labour  in 
close,  confined,  and  unhealthy  localities,  without  the 
aid  of  library  or  apparatus,  and  with  but  a  scanty  and 
ill-favoured  assortment  even  of  the  necessary  class- 
books,  and  thought  of  the  reiterated  statements  and 
explanations,  appeals  and  pleadings,  disappointments 
and  long  delays,  ere  such  a  fabric  had  reared  its  head 
as  an  additional  architectural  ornament  to  the  metro- 
polis of  British  India ;  and  when,  along  with  all  this, 
I  reflected  on  the  high  probability,  or  rather  moral 
certainty,  that  separation  from  the  Establishment  must 
be  followed  by  an  evacuation  of  the  present  Mission 
premises,  I  could  not  help  feeling  a  pang  somewhat 
akin  to  that  of  parting  with  a  favourite  child.  Again, 
when  I  looked  at  the  still  nobler  fabric  within, — a 
fabric,  of  which  the  other  was  but  the  material  tene- 
ment,— the  living  fabric,  consisting  of  so  many  hun- 
dreds of  the  finest  and  most  promising  of  India's 
sons,  beaming  with  the  smiles  of  awakening  intelli- 
gence, and  sparkling  with  the  buoyancy  of  virgin 
hopes ;  when  I  considered  this  fabric,  so  closely  com- 
pacted through  the  varied  gradations  of  an  all-compre- 
hending system,  that  embraced  the  extremes  of  the 
lowest  rudimental  elements  and  the  highest  collegiate 
erudition, — a  system  so  intricate,  and  yet  so  orderly, 
— so  multifarious  in  its  details,  and  yet  so  harmonious 
in  its  workings,  scope,  and  ends, — a  system,  whose 
organization,  discipline,  and  progressive  development, 
it  had  required  thirteen  years  of  combined  and  inces- 
sant labour  to  bring  to  the  present  point  of  maturity 
and  perfectness ;  and  when  I  thought  how,  in  the 
present  cri;iis  of  things,  separation  from  the  Establish- 


1 6  LIFli    OP    DR.    DUFF.  1843. 

ment  miglit  prove  the  dissolution  and  breaking  up  of 
the  whole  into  scattered  fragments  ;  I  could  not  help 
experiencing  a  sensation  somewhat  equivalent  to  that 
of  beholding  a  numerous  and  beloved  family  engulphed 
in  the  deep,  or  swallowed  up  by  an  earthquake.  Once 
more,  when  I  thought  of  the  doubtful  and  inadequate 
prospect  of  our  support  in  the  new  relationship  of  a 
Free  Church  Mission,  the  anxious  doubts  and  fears 
expressed  on  that  head  in  private  communications 
from  home,  owing  to  the  tremendous  pressure  on  the 
liberalities  of  the  Christian  people,  for  the  urgencies 
of  their  own  immediate  wants, — the  loss  and  alienation 
of  many  of  the  great  and  the  mighty,  who  hitherto 
had  smiled  propitious  on  our  labours, — the  disadvan- 
tage and  disparagement  to  our  credit,  cause,  and  good 
name,  which  might  accrue  from  our  abandonment  of 
premises  with  which  had  been  associated  so  much  of 
what  was  reputable  and  successful  in  our  past  pro- 
ceediDgs, — the  certainty  that,  by  numbers  of  the  more 
bigoted  natives,  such  forced  abandonment  would  be 
construed  as  a  retributive  visitation  from  the  gods,  on 
account  of  our  persevering  attacks  on  their  faith  and 
worship, — the  confusion  and  disgrace  which  might 
thus,  in  their  estimation,  redound  to  Christianity  itself, 
and  the  corresponding  triumph  to  an  exulting  heathen- 
ism,— the  dread  of  anticipated  rivalries  and  collisions 
between  the  agents  of  Churches  so  violently  wrenched 
asunder,  and  the  scandal  and  stumbling-block  which 
these  might  occasion  or  throw  in  the  way  of  the 
struggling  cause  of  a  yet  infantile  evangelization; 
— when  I  thought  of  all  this,  and  much  more  of  a 
similar  character,  it  seemed  as  if  a  thousand  voices 
kept  ringing  in  my  ears,  saying,  '  Pause,  pause ;  cling 
to  the  Establishment,  and  if  you  do  so,  you  will 
advance,  without  interruption,  in  the  gorgeous  vessel 
of  Church  and  State,  which   so  majestically  ploughs 


^t.  37.  CONSCIENCE    HIS    GUIDE.  1 7 

the  waves  over  a  sea  of  troubles.'  In  opposition  to 
such  a  muster  and  array  of  antagonist  influences,  what 
had  I  to  confront?  Nought  but  the  blazing  appre- 
hension of  the  truth  and  reality  of  the  principles  at 
issue, — their  truth  and  reality  in  Jehovah's  infallible 
oracles, — their  truth  and  reality  in  the  standards, 
constitution,  and  history  of  the  Church  of  Scotland, — 
nought  but  the  burning  monitions  of  conscience,  rela- 
tive to  the  morally  compulsive  obligation  of  walking 
in  the  path  of  apprehended  duty.  It  seemed  as  if 
a  thousand  counter-voices  kept  pealing  in  my  ears, 
loud  as  the  sound  of  great  thunders,  or  the  noise  of 
many  waters,  saying,  '  Let  pride  or  prejudice,  self- 
interest  or  natural  feeling,  be  allowed  to  obscure  the 
apprehension  of  truth,  or  stifle  the  directive  energy  of 
conscience  ;  and  then,  though  your  dwelling  be  in  the 
palaces  of  state,  and  your  refuge  the  munition  of  rocks, 
there  will  be  inward  misgivings,  that  ever  and  anon 
shall  cause  the  heart  to  melt,  the  hands  to  be  feeble, 
the  spirit  to  faint,  and  the  knees  to  be  weak  as  water. 
But,  be  fully  persuaded  in  your  own  mind.  Let  no 
sinister  influences  be  suffered  to  interfere.  Let  the 
apprehension  of  truth,  derived  from  the  Fount  of 
Kevelation,  be  steadfast  and  unclouded,  and  the  beckon - 
ings  of  conscience,  illumined  by  the  Word,  meditation, 
and  prayer  be  unreluctantly  recognised  and  implicitly 
followed;  and  then  may  you  stand  erect  in  your 
integrity,  undaunted  and  unmoved,  though  the  earth 
should  rend  underneath  your  feet,  and  the  rolling 
heavens  overhead  should  rush  into  annihilation.' 
"With  views  and  sentiments  like  these,  however  power- 
ful might  be  the  counter-inducements,  how  could  I 
decide  otherwise  than  I  have  done  ?  though,  certainly, 
the  existence  of  such  powerful  counter-inducements 
ought  to  stamp  the  decision  with  the  unmistakeable 
cliaractcr  of  honesty  and  conscientiousness. 
VOL.  n.  c 


l8  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1843. 

"  Doubtless,  Lad  I  yielded  to  those  alluring  worldly 
temptations,  which  were  chiefly  on  one  side ;  or  had  I 
allowed  carnal  considerations  of  any  kind  to  prevail 
against  the  sense  of  duty  and  the  clear  dictates  of 
conscience,  there  were  many  plausible  ready-made 
pretexts  on  which  I  might  fall  back, — many  open- 
gated  refuges  into  which  I  might  retire,  in  order  to 
palliate  my  tergiversation,  screen  my  inconsistency 
from  public  view,  conceal  from  others,  and  perhaps 
from  myself,  the  secret  actuating  motives,  and  operate 
as  a  soporific  on  the  troublesome  mementoes  of  the 
inward  monitor.  But  however  convenient  such  a 
course  might  be  for  a  season, — however  soothing  and 
flattering  to  the  cravings  of  the  natural  man,  how 
could  it  elude  the  piercing  scrutiny  of  the  all-seeing 
eye,  or  stand  in  arrest  of  judgment  at  the  bar  of  the 
Great  Assize  ?  " 

On  the  10th  August,  the  five  Bengal  missionaries  of 
the  Church  of  Scotland  united  in  a  despatch  to  both 
Dr.  Brunton  and  Dr.  Gordon,  forwarding  eight  reso- 
lutions in  which  they  declared  their  reasons  for  adher- 
ing to  "  the  Free  Protesting  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Scotland,"  as  Christian  men  and  ministers.  The  reso- 
lutions were  drawn  up,  we  believe,  by  the  youngest 
of  their  number,  Dr.  T.  Smith.  They  issued  to  the 
public  of  India  a  joint  "  explanatory  statement,"  clear, 
judicial  and  full  of  Christian  charity  without  com- 
promise. Denied  by  Dr.  Charles  their  right,  before 
disruption,  to  meet  in  kirk-session  of  which  three 
missionaries  were  members  and  were  the  majority, 
they  formed  a  provisional  church  committee,  which 
held  the  first  public  service  of  the  Free  Church  in  Cal- 
cutta, in  Freemasons'  Hall,  on  the  13th  August.  Dr. 
Duff  preached  the  sermon,  afterwards  published,  and 
announced  that  the  Rev.  Jolm  Macdonald  would,  in 
addition  to  his  daily  missionary  duties,  act  as  minister 


JEl  37.       Oil.    SIMON    NIGOLSON    AND    ME.    HAWKINS.  1 9 

till  the  congregation  could  call  a  pastor  from  Scotland. 
A  missionary  cliaracter  was  given  to  the  congregation 
from  the  first  by  the  baptism  of  the  convert  Behari 
Lai  Singh. 

Up  to  this  day  the  five  missionaries  stood  alone.  But 
the  Christian  society  of  the  metropolis  and  of  many 
an  isolated  station  in  the  interior  was  being  profoundly 
moved.  The  earliest  sign  of  the  movement — which  only 
repeated  that  in  Scotland  on  a  proportionate  scale  but 
in  a  far  more  catholic  manner  than  was  possible  there — 
was  a  letter  to  Dr.  Duff  from  the  first  physician  in 
India.  Who  that  knew  him — what  young  official  or 
merchant  who  was  friendless  and  tempted,  especially, 
did  not  love  Simon  Nicolson  ?  "I  have  been  silent 
about  your  Ciiurch  disruption  till  now,  but  I  have 
watched  it  and  you,  and,  with  my  wife  and  daughter,  I 
cast  in  my  lot  with  you.  Your  ordinary  supplies  will  be 
stopped,  but  you  must  not  let  one  of  your  operations 
collapse.  Here  is  a  cheque  for  Rs.  5,000,  and  more  will 
follow  when  you  give  me  a  hint."  Such  was  the  sub- 
stance of  the  first  communication,  and  from  a  country- 
man. The  next  came  from  Mr.  Justice  Hawkins,  of 
the  supreme  court  of  appeal,  then  known  as  the  Sudder 
Dewanny  Adawlut,  but  since  amalgamated  with  the 
High  Court  of  Judicature.  He  offered  not  only  other 
aid  but  himself.  The  ten  years'  conflict  had  led  him 
to  see  the  necessity  of  spiritual  independence  and 
equality  in  the  priesthood  of  all  believing  members  of 
Christ's  Church,  lay  and  teaching,  and  so  he  left  the 
Church  of  England.  Another  English  judge,  Mr. 
Macleod  Wylie,  not  only  accompanied  him  but  pub- 
lished a  treatise  to  justify  his  action,  under  the  title, 
"Can  I  Continue  a  Member  of  the  Church  of  England?" 
which  was  answered  by  a  scholarly  chaplain,  Mr. 
Quartley,  to  whose  pamphlet  Dr.  T.  Smith  published 
a  rejoinder.      When,  on  Thursday,  the  2-ith  August,  a 


20  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1843. 

public  meeting  of  the  adherents  of  the  Free  Church 
was  called,  it  was  found  that  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
elders  and  a  majority  of  the  members  of  St.  Andrew's 
Kirk,  representing  all  classes  in  the  English  and 
Eurasian  communities,  had  thrown  in  their  lot  with 
the  houseless  missionaries.  To  them  and  the  physician 
and  judges  already  mentioned  there  were  added  as  the 
executive  or  financial  committee,  Mr.  A.  B.  Mackin- 
tosh, who  still  plans  generous  things  for  the  Free 
Church ;  Messrs.  James  Calder  Stewart,  Robert  Rose, 
D.  Maccallum,  W.  Nichol,  and  M.  Macleod. 

But  where  was  a  church  to  be  found  ?  Dr.  Duff 
went  so  far  as  to  apply  to  Lord  Bllenborough's 
government  for  the  temporary  use  of  a  hall  belonging 
to  it,  and  used  very  frequently  for  dancing  assemblies, 
but  the  authorities  evaded  the  request  by  professing 
inability  to  understand  the  nature  of  the  case.  Then 
it  was  that  the  Eurasian  committee  offered  the  hall 
of  their  Doveton  College  to  a  man  who  had  done  so 
much  for  them.  vSix  lay  elders  and  six  deacons  were 
duly  elected  by  the  congregation,  who  at  once  prepared 
for  the  erection  of  a  proper  ecclesiastical  building. 
After  some  five  thousand  pounds  had  been  spent  in 
rearing  that  designed  by  Captain  Goodwyn,  of  the 
Engineers,  it  fell  down  the  night  before  it  was  to  be 
entered  for  worship.  Undismayed  the  members  erected, 
at  a  total  cost  of  some  twelve  thousand  pounds,  the 
present  church,  which  so  good  an  authority  as  the  late 
Bishop  Cotton  pronounced  the  prettiest  in  Calcutta. 
Closely  allied  with  the  Mission,  feeding  it  with  money 
and  fed  by  it  with  men,  the  Calcutta  Free  Church  has 
in  the  past  thirty-five  years  enjoyed  the  ministratioon 
of  the  Revs.  Mr.  Mackail,  Mr.  J.  Milne  (of  Perth), 
Mr.  Pourie,  Mr.  Don  (now  of  King  AVilliamstown), 
and  Mr.  W.  Milne  (of  Auchterarder).  The  members, 
averaging  a  hundred  in   number,  have  raised,  in  that 


.^t-  37-  ^    VOICE    I'UOM    THK    GANGES.  21 

period  £106,500,  an  example  of  the  Christian  power  of 
a  practical  voluntaryism  in  its  way  even  more  remark- 
able than  that  of  Free  St.  George's,  Edinburgh,  with  its 
ten  thousand  a  year. 

This  church  laid  on  Dr.  Duff,  as  senior  missionary, 
the  congenial  duty  of  giving  "  some  public  exposition 
of  the  principles  and  grounds  of  separation  from  the 
Established  Church  of  Scotland  and  of  adherence  to  the 
Free  Church  of  Scotland."  To  hear  his  four  lectures 
on  the  sole  and  supreme  headship  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  over  His  own  Church,  the  town-hall  w^as  filled. 
Under  the  title  of  "A  Voice  from  the  Ganges,"  the 
published  lectures  attracted  great  attention,  and  the 
volume  has  recently  been  cited,  on  both  sides  of  the 
patronage  controversy,  by  Sir  Henry  Moncreiff  and 
others.  In  the  light  of  the  legislation  of  1874,  the 
latest  of  the  blind  steps  of  a  party  majority  in  Parlia- 
ment towards  a  reconstructed  Kirk  of  Scotland,  these 
introductory  words  of  Dr.  Duff  read  like  prediction  : 

"The  *  powers  that  be,^  quitting  their  own  proper  functions 
and  province,  have,  with  what  looks  like  the  infatuation  of 
judicial  blindness^  confederated  against  'the  Lord  and  His 
anointed.^  They  have  gained  a  temporary  triumph.  They 
have  filled  the  land  with  their  paeans  and  their  songs.  They 
securely  calculated  on  a  permanent  ascendency.  Though  there 
be  signs  enough  in  the  heaven  above  and  on  the  earth  below  to 
rebuke  their  temerity,  they  still  dream  of  empty  visions.  .  De- 
spite all  reminiscences  of  the  past,  all  monitions  of  the  present, 
all  ominous  presages  of  the  future,  they  still  cling  with  doating 
fondness  to  the  delusive  hope  that  they  have  set  and  fastened 
the  very  key-stone  of  conservative  policy,  while  they  have  only 
effectually  sapped  and  undermined  one  of  the  main  pillars  on 
which  it  ought  to  rest.  They  meant,  honestly  perhaps,  to  up- 
hold, whereas  they  have  only  successfully  destroyed  ; — and  not 
only  destroyed,  but  succeeded  in  laying  a  combustible  train 
which  shall  issue  in  results  as  much  above  their  power  to 
arrest  as  it  was  beyond  their  forecasting  sagacity  to  foresee. 
Already  has  the   influence  of  their  great   exploit  extended  to 


2  2  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1843. 

other  and  far  distant  lands.  Already  lias  it  begun  to  be  felt 
on  tbe  banks  of  tbe  Ganges.  Nor  is  it  likely  to  pause  in  its 
onward  career  till,  with  the  prints  and  footsteps  of  its  presence, 
it  has  permeated  the  globe. 

"  Such  being  the  momentous  nature  of  the  recent  struggle 
between  Church  and  State  in  Scotland,  and  such  the  magnitude 
of  its  present  and  prospective  consequences,  is  it  not  incum- 
bent on  every  reflecting  mind  to  inquire  more  minutely  into  the 
nature  and  character  of  the  'principles  on  account  of  which  the 
unequal  contest  has  so  long  been  maintained  ?  These  prin- 
ciples, it  will  be  found,  ai*e  not  of  mushroom  growth,  neither 
are  they  of  yesterday.  They  are  not  of  local,  provincial,  or 
national  import  merely  ;  neither  are  they  of  fleeting,  ephemeral, 
perishable  concern.  No  :  they  have  been  of  old  from  the 
beginning ;  the  range  of  their  op(;ration  is  coextensive  with 
the  globe;  and  the  period  of  their  duration  runs  parallel  with 
eternity.  Neither  let  it  be  supposed  that  the  intrinsic  value 
or  grandeur  of  the  principles  is  to  be  estimated  by  the  appa- 
rent insignificance  of  the  chosen  battle-field.  It  is  not  the 
remoteness,  the  narrowness,  or  the  barrenness  of  local  territory 
that  constitutes  the  criterion  of  greatness  in  respect  to  high- 
toned  principle,  or  moral  force,  or  spiritual  truth.  On  the 
arid  plain  of  Marathon,  and  beneath  the  rugged  cliffs  of  Ther- 
mopylge,  the  heroic  patriotism  of  one  or  two  petty  principalities 
of  Greece  earned  for  itself  laurels,  which  have  since  inflamed  the 
hearts  of  thousands,  wherever  the  march  of  civilization  has 
reached.  On  the  isolated  and  bleak  shores  of  lona,  was  achieved 
a  conquest  over  ignorance  and  barbarism,  which  diffused  its 
quickening  influence  over  neighbouring  states  and  far  distant 
realms.  In  the  obscure  village  of  Wittemberg  was  fought 
'the  good  fight,^  which  silenced  the  thunders  of  the  Vatican, 
shook  the  sceptre  from  the  right  arm  of  civil  and  religious 
tyranny,  liberated  the  human  mind  from  the  prison-house  of 
ages,  and  lighted  a  flame  in  the  citadel  and  temple  of  truth 
which  shall  yet  illumine  the  world.  And  has  not  this  earth — 
the  globe  itself  which  we  inhabit — whose  comparative  unim- 
portance in  the  high  scale  of  the  Almighty's  workmanship  is 
such  that,  by  its  annihilation,  '  the  universe  at  large  would 
suffer  as  little,  in  its  splendour  and  variety,  as  the  verdure  and 
sublime  magnitude  of  a  forest  would  suffer  by  the  fall  of  a 
single  leaf' — has  not  this  little  speck,  amid  the  statelier  worlds 


iEt  37.  Scotland's  fight  for  spiritual  independrnce.  23 

that  bestrew  the  fields  of  immensity,  been  selected  as  the 
scene  of  the  most  stu[)endous  of  all  connicts — the  conflict  be- 
tween the  Prince  of  Light  and  the  potentates  of  darkness — 
the  conflict  in  whose  miglity  issues  the  flag  of  mercy  was 
hung  from  the  cross  of  satisfied  justice,  and  the  horrors  of 
perdition  exchanged  for  the  hallelujahs  of  eternal  joy  ? 

"  Nor  has  Scotland  been  heretofore  unhonoured  as  the  field 
for  determining  the  strength  of  antagonist  principles  fraught 
with  the  weal  or  the  woe  of  nations.  There,  the  ambition  of  all- 
graspiogRome  first  fairly  grappled  with  the  passion  of  patriot- 
ism ;  and  there  was  she  first  most  efl'ectually  taught  that  the 
'  love  of  hearth  and  home '  could  inspire  the  poorest  pos- 
sessors of  the  sternest  and  wildest  of  lands,  with  a  spirit  and 
energy  that  were  more  than  a  match  for  her  invincible  legions. 
There  was  her  lordly  aristocratic  neighbour  of  the  South  at 
length  constrained  to  learn,  that  the  genuine  spirit  of  liberty 
and  independence  could  outlive  the  wear  and  tear  of  whole  cen- 
turies of  oppression ;  and,  ever  and  anon,  rallying  into  fresh 
vigour,  could  humble  in  the  dust  the  pride  and  flower  of  all  her 
chivalry.  Thus  roughly  cradled  amid  the  storms,  and  nurtured 
amid  the  tempests  of  troubled  life,  the  character  of  the 
Scottish  people  grew  up  into  a  robustness  and  hardihood,  and 
their  principles  of  action  into  a  tenacity  of  sinewy  strength, 
that  could  not  brook  the  touch  of  foreign  tyranny." 

From  the  spiritual  kingsliip  of  Christ  over  the  soul 
of  every  individual  believer,  tlirougli  Bible  revelatiou, 
Church  annals  and  Scottish  history,  Dr.  Duff  traced 
the  conflict  between  Erastian  Cgesarism  and  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  spiritual  man  or  church  in  purely  spiri- 
tual things.  He  did  not  spare  either  the  learning  or 
the  law  of  Lord  Brougham,  whose  antecedents  he 
thus  showed  to  have  coloured  the  decision  which  he 
gave  against  the  liberties  of  the  people,  in  the  highest 
appeal  court : — "  Truth  requires  that  it  should  be  told, 
that  it  is  to  the  bitter,  rancorous,  and  inveterate 
hostility  of  the  eccentric  and  not  very  consistent 
ex-Chancellor  Brougliam,  that  the  new,  unheard  of 
and  adverse  decisions  of  the  House  of   Lords  aijainst 


24  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1843. 

the  claims  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  are  mainly  to  be 
attributed.  With  him  aversion  and  opposition  to  the 
Evangelical  party  in  the  Church  and  their  Non-intru- 
sion principles  would  appear  to  be  natural  and  heredi- 
tary. His  own  grandfather,  by  the  mother's  side,  (a 
Mr.  Sym)  was  a  minister  of  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
forcibly  intruded  on  a  reluctant  people  by  the  bayonets 
of  the  soldiery,  amid  confusion,  riot  and  bloodshed. 
The  entire  population  of  the  parish  deserted  the 
church  in  a  body.  Poor  Mr.  Sym  became  merely  the 
'  stipend-lifter '  of  the  parish,  having  secured  the 
fleece  but  scarcely  one  of  the  flock.  Officiating,  as  he 
was  legally  obliged  to  do,  every  Sabbath,  but  finding 
nothing  except  bare  walls  and  empty  benches,  and 
being  apparently  after  all  a  man  of  some  sensibility, 
he  died,  after  a  year  or  two,  of  a  broken  heart.  At 
the  time  of  his  forcible  ordination  by  a  few  wild 
men,  imported  for  that  worthy  purpose,  as  a  special 
commission,  from  the  '  holy  land '  of  Moderatism, 
Aberdeenshire,  there  was  only  one  friend  present  to 
countenance  the  lawless  scene — designated  in  the 
record  of  the  day's  proceedings  '  a  Mr.  William 
Robertson,  minister  of  Gladsmuir.'  This  was  the 
gentleman  who  afterwards  became  Principal  Robert- 
son, the  celebrated  historian  and  leader  of  the 
Modei'ate  party.  Mr.  Sym,  soon  after  his  forced 
settlement,  married  Mr.  Robertson's  sister.  When 
he,  shortly  after,  died,  he  left  a  widow  and  infant 
daughter.  This  only  child  and  niece  of  Principal 
Robertson  subsequently  married  Mr.  Brougham,  and 
thus  became  the  mother  of  Lord  Brougham.  No 
wonder  thousfh  he  should  be  so  enamoured  of  a  cause 
so  dear  to  his  grand-uncle  and  grandfather  !  No 
wonder  though  he  should  manifest  such  repugnance  to 
a  cause  which  so  preyed  on  the  spii'its  of  the  latter  as 
to  cost  him  his  life  !  " 


^t.  37.  BROUGUAM,    U0EERT30N    AND    GIBDON.  25 

The  radical  Westminster  Review,  of  all  periodicals, 
when  vindicating  the  Free  Church  in  those  contro- 
versial days,  thus  completes  the  story : — "  The  morn- 
ing of  the  30tli  of  ]\Iay,  1751,  saw  the  churchyard  of 
the  parish  of  Torphichcn  thronged  witli  rustics  in 
their  Sabbath  clothes.  With  sorrow  and  indisfnation 
they  were  to  witness  the  settlement  of  a  pastor  over 
them  in  the  teeth  of  their  continued  and  universal 
opposition.  A  cavalcade  of  merry  clergymen  came 
riding  up  headed  by  Mr.  William  Robertson,  the 
minister  of  Gladsmuir.  He  was  a  man  about  thirty, 
with  a  countenance  which  he  has  transmitted  to  his 
descendant  Lord  Brouo-ham — altoo^ether  an  active, 
keen,  bright  look.  The  cavalcade  of  clergymen  were 
flanked  and  surrounded  by  a  troop  of  dragoons.  As 
the  troopers  and  parsons  dashed  among  the  people, 
tradition  says,  Captain  Hamilton,  of  Westport,  drew 
his  sword,  and  shouted,  '  What !  won't  ye  receive  the 
gospel  ?  I'll  swap  off  the  head  o'  ony  man  that  '11  no 
(receive  the  gospel).'  Thus  did  WiUiam  Robertson 
proceed  to  bestow  the  spiritual  office.  Many  years 
elapse.  He  is  the  chief  of  the  Kirk.  He  has  won  the 
crown  of  history.  Writing  to  Gibbon  in  his  days  of 
celebrity,  he  gives  the  clue  to  liis  conduct  when  the 
dragoon-heading  intruder  at  Torphichen.  We  find 
Principal  Robertson  the  chief  of  the  Kirk,  congratu- 
lating the  historian  of  the  '  Decline  and  Fall '  on  his 
skilful  management  of  superstition  and  bigotry  in  his 
chapters  on  Christianity.  He  thus  gives  us  a  glimpse 
of  the  moral  theory  of  which  the  Torphichen  intrusion 
was  the  application.  The  congratulation  to  Gibbon, 
and  the  dragoon  ordination,  were  only  the  abstract 
and  the  concrete  of  the  same  thing." 

There  have  been  more  descriptions  than  one  of  the 
great  day  in  the  history  of  Scotkmd,  by  eyewitnesses, 
from  opposite  points  of  view,  like  Dr.  Norman  Macleod, 


26  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1843. 

Dr.  Buchanan  and  Lord  Jeffrey.     Tliis  is  Dr.  Duff's, 
in  tlie  town-hall  of  Calcutta  : 

"At  length,  the  memorable  day — the  ISth  of  May,  1843, — a 
day  mucli  to  be  remembered  in  the  annals  of  Scotland,  arrived. 
For  days  before,  tliere  was  a  mustering  and  a  gathering  of 
forces  to  the  metropolis.  The  general  outward  aspect  of  things 
is  changed.  A  strange  and  ominous  foreboding  seizes  and 
occupies  tlie  minds  of  men.  All  look  grave,  solemn,  austerely 
meditative.  Eiot  is  banished  fi'om  the  streets;  mirtb  is  silent 
at  the  festive  board;  tbe  voice  of  music  and  of  song  is  touched 
with  an  air  of  plaintive  melody.  Everything  betokens  the  ap- 
proach of  some  mighty  movement,  the  awful  hour  of  some  grand 
catastrophe.  The  church  of  St.  Andrews — the  national  saint  of 
Scotland  in  days  of  popish  idolatry — is  specially  fitted  up  for  the 
occasion.  Thither  the  marshalled  forces  resort.  There  they 
assemble  in  battle  array.  The  antagonist  principles,  which  con- 
vulsed the  nation,  and  were  now  to  rend  the  Church  asunder, 
were  there,  embodied  in  the  appropriate  forms  of  the  servants 
of  Christ  and  the  servants  of  Cassar.  The  house  is  divided  into 
two.  Look  first  at  the  side  of  worldly  dignity  and  honour. 
Behold  that  brilliant  spectacle  with  its  dazzling  throng.  A 
visible  throne  is  there,  with  its  purple  canopy.  The  Royal 
Commissioner  is  there — the  visible  representative  of  British 
majesty.  The  nobles  of  the  land,  the  proud  wearers  of  stars, 
swords,  and  coronets,  ai*e  there,  with  their  faithful  satellites, 
joyously  basking  in  borrowed  radiance,  and  eager  to  do 
homage  to  the  rising  star  and  sensible  symbol  of  earthly 
royalty.  All  things  are  there,  fitted  to  allure  the  carnal  eye, 
and  fill  and  satisfy  the  carnal  heart.  Then  turn  to  the  other 
side.  No  visible  throne  is  there ;  no  marks  or  signs  of  earthly 
royalty  are  there;  no  gorgeous  drapery  is  there;  no  obtrusive 
display  of  armorial  devices  is  there  ;  no  shining  emblems  of  the 
ancient  lineage  and  feudal  pedigree  are  there ; — nought  is 
there,  fitted  to  attract  the  carnal  eye  or  fill  and  satisfy  the 
carnal  heart.  But,  to  the  eye  of  faith,  before  which  the  in- 
visible is  revealed  and  the  distant  realized  as  present,  there 
are  transcendent  glories  manifested  there.  There,  is  He  Who 
holdeth  the  seven  stars  in  His  right  hand,  and  Who  walketh  in 
the  midst  of  the  seven  golden  candlesticks.  Faith  at  once 
"■^cognises  Him,  Who  is  fairer  than  the  sons  of  men — the  chief 


^t.  37.  DESCRIBES    TUE    DISRUPTION.  27 

among  teu  thousand  and  altogether  lovely.  Faith  at  once 
hails  and  proclaims  Him  King  of  Zion,  King  of  glory,  King 
of  saints.  His  servants  are  there,  His  chosen  servants  who 
fought  the  good  fight,  and,  in  many  a  battle-field,  were  ready 
to  die  rather  than  suffer  the  lustre  of  His  crown  to  be  tar- 
nished or  the  glory  of  His  sovereignty  to  be  eclipsed.  And 
all  the  faithful  of  the  land  are  there, — in  winged  prayers  that 
have  sped  to  heaven  and  returned,  swifter  than  the  sunbeam, 
laden  with  blessing.  And  holy  angels  are  there,  as  minister- 
ing spirits,  hovering  over  the  scene  with  outstretched  wings, 
in  admiring  complacency.  All  things  are  ready.  The  time, 
the  hour,  the  decisive  moment  is  come.  To  the  National 
Established  Church  of  Scotland,  in  the  persons  of  her  chosen 
delegates,  the  final  question  is  substantially  put — pat,  in  the 
face  of  the  nation,  in  the  face  of  Christendom,  in  the  face  of 
the  world ; — Which  of  the  two  great  antagonist  principles  is  to 
prevail  ? — the  power  of  faith,  or  the  power  of  sense — the  love 
of  heaven,  or  the  love  of  earth — fealty  to  Christ,  or  fealty  to 
Caesar — the  honour  and  prerogative  of  Zion's  King,  or  the 
exaltation  of  Zion's  sacrilegious  spoilei' — the  freedom  and  inde- 
pendence of  the  Church,  the  Redeemer's  immaculate  spouse, 
or  its  unconditional  surrender  and  submission,  at  the  lordly 
dictation  of  a  usurping  foreign  power  ? 

"  A  deep  and  thrilling  pause  ensues.  At  length,  the  repre- 
sentative voice  of  the  faithful,  through  their  appointed  organ, 
is  heard  in  accents  that  bespeak  the  majesty  of  principle  and 
of  truth  : — Faith  hath  triumphed  over  sense ;  heaven  over 
earth ;  Christ  over  Caesar.  From  this  hour  we  sever  our  con- 
nection with  the  State,  as  that  connection  can  no  longer  be 
maintained  without  a  sui'render  of  the  prerogatives  of  our 
Great  Head,  and  all  the  blood-bought  rights  and  liberties  of 
His  ministers  and  people.  But  these  we  cannot,  we  dare  not 
surrender.  They  are  not  ours  to  give ;  but  His,  whose  they  are 
by  inalienable  right  of  eternal  covenant.  In  order  to  maintain 
these  sacredly  inviolate,  we  hereby  renounce  our  status,  our 
honours,  and  other  civil  advantages — our  homes,  and  incomes, 
and  earthly  all.  In  order  to  maintain  these  inviolate,  we  now 
separate  oui'selves, — not  from  the  Church  of  Scotland  as  a  true 
Church  of  Christ, — for  her  sound  scriptural  standards  we  still 
revere,  and  her  simple  and  noble  scriptural  constitution  we  still 
admire, — but  from  the  Ecclesiastical  Establishment  of  Scotlaudj 


28  LIFE    OF   DR.    DCFF.  1843. 

as  now  degraded  and  enslaved  by  the  State.  And  from  this 
house,  in  which  the  prerogatives  of  our  Great  Head,  and  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  His  membei-s  have  been  ignominiously 
trodden  in  the  dustj  we  go  forth  as  freemen  of  the  Lord — free 
citizens  of  the  freest  Commonwealth  on  earth — joyfully  to  do 
homage  to  our  glorious  King,  seated,  in  unrivalled  supremacy, 
on  the  ancient  throne  of  His  own  kingdom  and  free  dominion. 
So  saying,  forth  proceeded,  amid  the  solemn  silence  and  un- 
broken stillness,  that  indicate  the  mighty  throb  and  swell  of 
inward  emotion,  too  big  for  utterance  ; — forth  proceeded,  from 
the  desecrated  and  desolated  sanctuary  of  an  Establishment, 
once  the  nation's  chiefest  glory  and  renown  ; — forth  proceeded, 
the  representatives  of  Scotland's  piety  and  Scotland's  patriot- 
ism— the  representatives  of  Scotland's  covenanted  faith  and 
Scotland's  moral  worth — the  representatives  of  Scotland's 
unshaken  loyalty  to  Zion's  King,  and  Scotland's  undying 
attachment  to  Zion's  cause ; — forth  they  proceeded,  amid  the 
brightest  gleams  and  sunshine  of  heavenly  favour  and  the 
richest  showers  of  heavenly  blessing  ; — forth  they  proceeded, 
to  lay  the  foundation — firm  and  indestructible  as  the  Rock  of 
Ages  on  which  it  is  based — the  foundation  of  one  of  the  noblest 
edifices  of  any  age  or  nation — the  foundation  of  the  Free 
Peotesting  Church  of  Scotland." 

The  effect  of  the  Disruption  on  the  India  Mission 
was,  from  the  very  first,  to  more  than  double  its  effi- 
ciency, and  the  reaction  of  the  Mission  on  the  Church 
of  Scotland  Free  was  most  blessed.  As  the  first  con- 
vener, Dr.  Gordon,  reported,  the  new  yet  old  Mission 
started  with  only  £327  in  its  treasury,  but  full  of  faith 
and  power.  Dr.  Candlish,  in  May,  1843,  declared,  when 
moving  the  appointment  of  the  new  committee,  "  I 
trust  that  the  foreign  scheme  of  our  protesting  Church 
will  be  upheld  and  maintained  with  even  increased 
efficiency  notwithstanding  the  demand  for  funds  for 
our  home  operations,  and  that  we  will  give  proof  to 
the  Christian  world,  and  even  to  the  ungodly  world, 
of  the  soundness  of  that  maxim  referred  to  by  our 
Moderator,  that  home  and  foreign  missionary  associa- 


^t.  37.     THE    FREE    CHUliCH    A    MISSIONARY    CHUliCH.  29 

tions  mutually  act  and  react  on  one  another ;  and  that 
the  very  increase  of  the  sum  received  for  our  home 
operations  will  be  the  pledge  of  a  large  increase  in  the 
fund  available  for  foreign  missions.  It  would  ill  be- 
come me  to  bestow  any  panegyric  on  the  godly  men 
whom  the  Lord  has  shut  up  in  that  field  of  foreign 
missions.  I  believe  that  I  may  very  safely  concur 
in  the  expressions  of  confidence  which  fell  from  my 
friend  and  brother  Mr.  Guthrie,  that  we  may  reckon 
on  having  all  the  missionaries  adhering  to  our  pro- 
testing Church.  At  all  events,  it  will  be  our  duty 
to  record,  in  reference  to  the  missionaries  in  India, 
substantially  what  we  have  recorded  in  reference  to 
the  missionaries  to  the  Jews,  that  the  Assembly  con- 
tinue to  keep  in  their  present  offices  all  the  mission- 
aries who  shall  adhere  to  the  protesting  Church  of 
Scotland.  .  .  We  shall  thus,  I  trust,  if  we  cannot 
serve  ourselves  heirs  to  the  accumulated  wealth  of 
the  committee  of  the  old  Establishment,  serve  our- 
selves heirs  to  what  is  far  more  valuable  than  their 
wealth, — to  the  men  whom  God  has  raised  up  for  this 
holy  work,  to  the  means  of  prosecuting  that  work,  so 
far  as  these  depend  on  the  liberality  which  God  puts 
into  the  heart  of  His  people,  and  to  the  instrumentality 
by  which  the  zeal  of  our  people  has  mainly  kept  up  the 
regular  periodical  issue  of  information  on  this  subject." 
Dr.  P.  Macfarlan,  seconding  Dr.  Candlish,  stated 
that  "  there  was  not  one  of  the  schemes  of  the  Church 
which  had  awakened  more  interest  than  this,  an  interest 
which  had  been  to  a  great  extent  produced  by  the  ardour 
and  devotedness  of  Dr.  Duff.  Indeed  it  was  singular,  in 
the  course  of  the  doings  of  Divine  providence,  that  the 
circumstance  which  rendered  Dr.  Duff's  presence  neces- 
sary in  this  country,  viz.,  the  efi'ects  of  the  hot  climate 
upon  his  constitution,  should  have  been  the  means  of 
producing  such  an  incalculable  amount  of  good." 


30  LIFE    OP   DE.    DUFF.  1 843. 

Not  only  did  tlie  fourteen  missionaries  announce 
their  personal  devotion  to  tlie  Free  Church,  but, 
knowing  the  demands  on  the  home  resources,  they  de- 
clared their  conviction  that  funds  might  be  raised  in 
India  for  the  three  new  colleges.  This  led  the  Church 
at  home  to  announce,  in  the  first  annual  appeal  for 
congregational  collections  :  "  We  concur  with  them  in 
thinking  that  much  will  probably  be  done,  by  generous 
officers  and  civilians,  whose  Christian  zeal  and  devoted- 
ness  will  only  lead  them  to  feel  a  deeper  interest  in 
the  cause  when  its  former  supports  may  seem  to  be 
weakened;  for,  thank  God  !  there  has  been  a  revival  of 
pure  religion  among  not  a  few  of  the  European  resi- 
dents, and  we  should  have  little  fear  of  the  result,  were 
the  care  of  our  present  institutions  devolved  on  the 
army  alone.  But  when  we  consider  that  these  Insti- 
tutions require  to  be  indefinitely  extended,  if  they  are 
to  exert  any  influence  on  the  general  mind  of  India, 
and  that  probably  the  buildings,  which  have  hitherto 
afforded  at  once  a  suitable  residence  and  a  commodious 
scene  of  labour  to  our  missionaries,  may  be  alienated 
to  other  parties,  we  feel  that  redoubled  energy  is 
necessary  at  home,  in  addition  to  all  the  aid  which  can 
reasonably  be  expected  from  abroad,  if  we  would  main- 
tain and  carry  on  the  great  work  which  has  been  so 
auspiciously  begun." 

The  result  was  a  sum  of  £6,402  that  year,  which 
steadily  rose  to  £32,000  in  Scotland  alone  thirty 
years  after,  and,  on  Dr.  Duff's  death,  reached  the  total 
sum  of  £535,000,  or  about  three  quarters  of  a  million 
sterling,  if  the  revenue  abroad,  in  India,  Africa,  and 
the  South  Pacific,  be  added.  The  Free  Church  of 
Scotland  would  have  been  unworthy  of  her  principles 
and  of  the  men  who,  in  the  far  East,  loyally  sacrificed 
themselves  for  her,  if  she  had  not  started  and  ad- 
vanced as  a  Missionary  Church,  however  far  short  of 


/Et.  37-  THE    PBOPEUTy    WllONG.  3I 

a  high  ideal  she  may  be  conscious  that  she  still  falls. 
For,  after  all,  it  is  rather  a  humiliatiog  fact  that 
the  whole  sum  of  £560,000  given  bj  her  for  foreign 
missions  in  thirty-six  years  does  not  equal  that  raised 
by  her  for  all  purposes  every  year. 

With  the  consent  of  both  parties  the  Calcutta  mis- 
sionaries continued  their  work  in  the  Institution  and 
mission-house  built  and  furnished  by  themselves,  to 
the  close  of  the  session  of  1843.  But  what  then? 
There  were  two  easy  solutions  of  the  difficulty. 
Morally,  equitably,  the  whole  belonged  to  Dr.  Duff 
and  his  colleagues,  who  had  called  it  into  existence. 
The  college,  its  library  and  scientific  apparatus, 
were  the  fruit  of  personal  legacies  and  gifts  made  to 
Dr.  Duff  himself  chiefly,  and  on  the  express  under- 
standing that  he  was  to  use  the  funds  as  he  pleased. 
His  letters  to  Dr.  Ewart  and  Mrs.  Briggs,  and  the 
account  of  the  funds  raised  by  himself  or  pressed  on 
his  acceptance  at  home,  illustrate  this.*  The  Christian, 
the  honourable,  the  gentlemanly  solution  was  that  first 
proposed  by  Dr.  Duff,  Dr.  Wilson  and  the  Free  Church 
committee,  that  the  old  missionaries  should  continue 
their  work,  purchasing  back  from  the  Established 
Church  the  premises  which  were  morally  their  own,  if 
required;  and  that  that  Church,  desiring  to  begin 
a  new  mission,  should  break  fresh  ground  in  the 
neglected  cities  of  Upper  India,  whence  it  would  have 
been  ready  to  take  possession  for  Christ  of  Sindh,  the 
Punjab,  and  Central  Asia.  In  his  first  official  com- 
munication to  Dr.  Brunton,  Dr.  Gordon  thus  wrote  of 
the  buildings  in  Bengal ;  the  same  was  true  of  Bom- 
bay. In  Madras  there  was  no  difficulty,  for  the  mis- 
sionaries there  only  rented  college  rooms  : — 

"  Those  at  Calcutta  we  believe  to  be  legally  at  the 


•  Vol.  i.,  pp.  371,  381,465. 


32  LIFE    OP    DR.    DUFF.  1843. 

disposal  of  tlie  General  Assembly  of  tlieEstablisliment, 
but  equity  and  a  general  regard  to  the  interests  of 
Christianity  require  that  tliey  should  not  be  wrested 
from  their  present  possessors.  Should  it  be  found 
that  any  of  the  contributors  to  their  erection  object  to 
this  arrangement,  a  pecuniary  compensation  could  be 
made  to  the  Establishment  for  the  amount  of  their  con- 
tributions. Any  difficulty  of  this  kind  would  be  re- 
moved by  the  mode  of  settlement  proposed  by  Dr.  Duff, 
who  thus  writes  to  our  committee  on  the  subject : — 
*  Every  consideration  leads  us  strongly  to  urge,  through 
you,  the  propriety  of  purchasing,  at  a  fair  equivalent, 
the  whole  of  the  present  premises.  The  Foreign  Mis- 
sion committee  of  the  Establishment  would  find  ample 
unoccupied  territory  elsewhere.  The  once  imperial 
cities  of  Agra  and  Delhi  have  for  years  been  pleading 
for  an  extended  branch  of  our  Mission.  Wliat  a  grand 
field  would  these  present  for  missionary  operations  ! 
For  new  men  coming  out,  it  must  be  all  one  whether 
they  proceed  to  one  place  or  another.  They  have 
languages,  etc.,  to  learn;  and  the  acquisition  of  these, 
whether  in  Calcutta,  or  Agra,  or  elsewhere,  must  be 
attended  with  the  same  difficulty.  It  is  altogether 
different  with  those  who  have  a  local  experience,  and 
an  acquaintance  with  local  dialects,  etc.  Besides,  it 
would  wear  the  aspect  of  magnanimity  were  those  who 
may  plead  legal  rights  to  this  property  to  dispose  of  it 
on  friendly  and  equitable  terms,  for  the  sake  of  more 
widely  diffusing  the  treasures  of  knowledge  and  the 
glad  tidings  of  salvation  over  this  vast  and  super- 
stition-ridden land.'  " 

Time,  which  has  brought  not  only  the  forgetfulness, 
by  a  new  generation,  of  the  animosities  inseparable 
from  the  events  of'  1843,  but  the  public  and  legislative 
confession  by  the  Established  Church  in  1874  that  it 
was  wrong  in  upholding   the   proximate   cause  of  the 


^•Et.  37.  EQUITY    versus    LEGALITY.  33 

Disruption,  has  developed  such  co-operation  by  the 
two  Churches  in  India  and  Africa  at  least,  tliat  we 
may  be  sure  the  men  of  this  day  would  have  gladly 
conceded  the  equitable  settlement,  the  denial  of  which 
created  a  painful  scandal  then.  For  were  not  these  the 
days  of  church-site  refusals,  of  congregations  forced 
to  worship  below  high-water  mark  and  under  winter 
snows,  of  social  and  personal  persecution,  of  lawsuits 
and  dissensions,  which  would  be  incredible  now  were 
they  not  the  too  well  attested  evidence  of  the  fact  that 
of  all  hatreds  the  odium  ecclesiasticum  is  the  worst  ? 

The  Established  Church  committee,  in  an  evil  mo- 
ment for  themselves  and  the  cause  of  truth  and  charity, 
put  forward  a  "  Mr.  Thomas  Scott,  auditor  of  ac- 
eouilts,  etc.,"  to  answer  Dr.  Duff's  statement  as  to  the 
funds  given  to  the  missionary  personally  and  used  by 
him,  at  his  own  discretion,  for  site,  buildings,  library, 
and  apparatus.  On  the  lowest  ground  the  case  was 
one  in  which  no  one  could  know  so  much  as  Dr.  Duff 
himself.  All  the  figures  were  on  record,  and  the  re- 
sult was  seen  in  the  whole  Mission  property ;  but  Mr. 
Thomas  Scott  had  not  even  been  the  treasurer  who 
worked  with  Dr.  Duff  in  the  financial  statement.  Yet 
from  sheer  weakness  and  ignorance  the  Established 
committee  allowed  Mr.  Thomas  Scott,  in  their  name, 
to  attack  the  first  missionary  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land, in  the  September  number  (1844)  of  its  official 
Record.  The  refusal  of  the  committee  to  act  equit- 
ably had,  in  truth,  raised  such  an  outcry  of  remon- 
strance from  all  the  Evangelical  Churches  that  it  felt 
bound  to  make  some  defence.  Save  for  the  miserable 
controversy  thus  forced  on  the  Church,  which  had  at 
once  retired  from  even  the  ground  of  Christian  equity 
when  it  saw  insult  added  to  injur}'-,  we  do  not  regret  a 
circumstance  which  called  forth  Dr.  Duff's  reply.  In 
eighty  octp/.  0  pages,  "  put  in  type  in  order  to  facilitate 

VOL.    II.  D 


34  lilFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1844. 

the  transmissiou  of  copies  by  post,  but  not  published," 
he  disposed  of  Mr.  Thomas  Scott  and  his  ignorances 
or  misrepresentations,  in  a  style  which  makes  the 
pamphlet  a  rare  contribution  to  cryptic  literature. 
Rare,  not  merely  for  the  moral  and  logical  extinc- 
tion of  the  official  assailant,  nor  even  for  the  gleams  of 
autobiographic  fact  and  humour  in  the  history  of  the 
different  funds,  but  for  the  magnanimous  charity  which 
robbed  the  whole  of  every  sting,  while  a  righteous  re- 
sentment and  holy  indignation  for  his  cause  burned  high. 
Apart  from  legacies  and  sums  pressed  on  Dr.  Duff  for 
his  private  or  family  use,  all  of  which  he  had  poured 
into  the  Mission  treasury,  we  may  give  this  one  case  as 
an  illustration  of  the  nature  of  the  funds  in  dispute: — 

"  With  Colonel  Wilson  and  his  excellent  sisters  I  happened 
to  be  on  terms  of  intimate  friendship.  Individuals  of  more 
kindly  disposition  and  more  benevolent  hearts  it  has  seldom 
been  my  lot  to  meet  with.  The  Colonel  had  much  to  keep  him 
in  vivid  remembrance  of  India.  He  was  one  of  the  British 
officers,  who,  under  the  mandate  of  the  celebrated  Hyder  Ali, 
for  upwards  of  two  years  lay  in  chains  in  the  dungeons  of 
Seringapatam.  There  were,  moreover,  other  ties  which  still 
continued  strongly  to  bind  him  to  that  distant  land.  He  had 
repeatedly  spoken  to  me  about  a  special  private  commission, 
which  he  had  set  his  heart  on  my  executing  for  him  on  my 
return  thither.  As  the  period  of  my  departure  approached,  he 
forwarded  to  me  the  requisite  materials  for  its  execution ;  and, 
at  or  about  the  same  time,  he  sent  me  the  larger  of  the  two 
donations — giving  me  to  understand  that  his  placing  such  a 
sum  entirely  at  my  disposal  was  intended  not  merely  as  a  mark 
of  personal  respect  and  esteem,  but  also  as  a  slight  token  of 
gratitude  for  what  I  had  so  cheerfully  undertaken  (and  what 
in  point  of  fact  I  was  subsequently  enabled)  to  accomplish  on 
his  account. 

•5{-  *  *  *  *  * 

"Again,  as  to  the  argument  for  retaining  certain  funds  on 
the  ground  that  they  had  been  '  gi-anted  by  the  people  of 
Scotland  to  the  earnest  personal  pleadings '  of  the  justly  vene- 
rated Dr.  Inglis, — if  it  be  at  all  valid  on  the  one  side,  it  must 


A-A.  38.  CHlllSTIAN    CHAKITY.  35 

be  equally  vulid  nn  tlio  other.  If  it  be  really  valid  for  retainiiif^ 
funds  granted  to  the  personal  pleadings  of  one  individual,  repre- 
senting one  class  of  sentiments,  it  must  be  equally  valid  for  re- 
storing funds  that  wei'e  granted  to  the  personal  pleadings  of 
other  individuals,  representing  another  and  totally  different  class 
of  sentiments.  On  a  matter  of  this  kind  delicacy  forbids  one  to 
speak  out;  otherwise,  how  easy  would  it  be  to  show  that  the  funds 
granted,  directly  or  indirectly,  by  the  people  of  Scotland,  to  the 
earnest  personal  pleadings  of  the  writer  of  these  remarks, 
were,  to  say  the  least,  not  inferior  in  amount  to  those  granted  to 
the  earnest  personal  pleadings  of  his  revered  father  and  friend. 
"  But  I  am  done  with  the  painful  subject,  I  hope  for  ever 
What  I  have  written  has  been  extorted  from  me  in  self -vindi- 
cation and  self-defence.  My  sole  object  has  been  to  set  myself 
right  with  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  even  with  the  reasonable 
portion  of  the  world  at  large,  respecting  matters  of  fact  that 
affect  character  and  integrity.  Rather  than  provoke  a  quari-el 
or  prolong  a  controversy  on  the  subject,  I  at  once,  freely  and 
for  ever,  relinquish  all  claim  to  any  portion  of  the  library  and 
apparatus  attached  to  the  General  Assembly's  Institution, — 
however  strong  in  moral  equity  I  may  still  feel,  and  continue 
to  feel,  that  claim  to  be.  Indeed,  could  I  have  anticipated  the 
manner  in  which  the  claim  has  been  met,  it  never  would  have 
been  advanced  at  all.  But  such  was  my  estimate  of  the  char- 
acter of  the  managing  body  at  home,  that  I  fondly  hoped  that 
a  gentle  hint  as  tq  the  nature  of  the  claim  would  have  sufEced 
to  have  led  to  a  reasonable  and  voluntary  concession  on  their 
part — founded  on  a  broad  catholic,  generous  and  magnani- 
mous view  of  the  entire  circumstances  of  the  case.  That  the 
result  has  proved  so  contrary  deeply  grieves  me — not  so  much 
on  account  of  the  loss  which  we  incur,  as  on  account  of  the 
loss  which  the  cause  of  Christ  is  apt  to  sustain  by  the  exhibi- 
tion of  such  a  controversy  in  the  sight  of  the  heathen.  May 
the  Lord  in  His  great  mercy  overrule  the  entire  occurrence  for 
good  !  As  to  our  immediate  loss,  I  am  much  mistaken  if  there 
is  not  a  spirit  of  life  and  liberality  abroad  among  the  Christian 
people  of  India,  Scotland,  England,  and  Ireland  that  shall  very 
soon  repair  it — yea,  perhaps,  repair  it  so  thoroughly,  that  our 
latter  end,  like  that  of  the  patient  sufferer  in  the  laud  of  Uz, 
shall  be  better  than  the  bcgiuuiug.     Time  will  show. 

•j*  ^  5jC  S|C  ^  ^t 


36  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1844. 

"In  many  things,  heretofoi'O,  I  may  have  erred  and  come 
short.  I  may  have  ei-red  in  feeling;  I  may  have  erred  in 
motive;  I  may  have  erred  in  judgment ;  I  may  have  erred  in 
over-zeal,  not  in  regard  to  the  great  cause  itself  for  which  I 
pled — for  who  could  be  over-zealous  in  pleading  for  the  tem- 
poral and  eternal  interests  of  a  hundred  and  thirty  millions  of 
perishing  idolaters  ? — but  I  may  have  erred  in  over-zeal  for 
particular  modes  and  methods  of  promoting  the  cause,  or  for 
the  independent  possession  of  particular  means  and  instrumen- 
talities towards  its  more  effective  and  successful  promotion. 
And  if  in  these,  or  such-like,  or  in  any  other  respects  I  may 
have  erred,  either  through  ignorance  or  otherwise,  I  again  cast 
myself,  without  qualification  or  reserve,  on  the  sovereign  mercy 
of  my  God,  in  the  atoning  sacrifice  and  justifying  righteousness 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  sanctifying  influences  of  the 
almighty  Spirit  of  all  grace  ; — praying  the  Lord  most  fervently 
to  forgive  me  freely  these  and  all  other  sins  and  shortcomings 
whatsoever, — yea,  and,  in  the  plenitude  of  His  '  unsearchable 
riches  of  grace,'  so  to  illume  the  understanding,  renew  the 
heart,  and  strengthen  every  power  and  faculty  of  the  regene- 
rated soul,  that  I  may  so  err,  so  sin  and  so  come  short  no  more  ! 

"I  do  feel  humbled  and  confounded  to  think  that  I  should 
have  been  necessitated  to  devote  so  much  of  all  valuable  time 
to  the  elucidation  of  a  theme  so  sterile  and  so  profitless.  Sur- 
rounded as  I  am  by  millions  of  poor  blinded  idolaters,  to  whom, 
as  to  all  others,  life  is  so  short  and  uncertain  and  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  soul  so  inestimably  precious,  it  is  with  shame  and 
unfeigned  sorrow  that,  for  a  cause  so  intrinsically  worthless, 
I  have  found  myself  called  on,  more  especially  by  the  agent  of 
a  missionary  committee,  to  divert  so  much  of  time  and  thought 
and  exertion  from  any  of  my  evangelistic  labours  amongst 
them.  Were  any  one  at  this  moment  to  offer  me,  in  free  gift, 
a  library  and  appai-atus,  of  ten  times  or  tenfold  ten  times  the 
extent  of  those  now  in  debate,  under  the  contingent  condition 
of  its  possibly  entailing,  some  years  hence,  half  the  loss  of 
time  and  vexation  of  spirit  which,  from  first  to  last,  has  been 
incurred  by  the  present  wretched  and  unedifying  discussion,  I 
would  fling  the  offer  with  loathing  indignation  away  from  me. 
Perish,  would  I  say,  perish  for  ever  your  librai'y  and  apparatus, 
rutlier  than  that  the  Arch-enemy  of  souls  should  again  have  it 
m  bis  power  to  convert  them  into  an  enginery  for  wasting  the 


^t.  38.  MAGNANIMITY    FOR    CHRIST  S    SAKE.  37 

season  of  a  cloonied  sinner's  probation,  fomenting  the  spirit  of 
acrimony  and  unkinJness,  and  kindling  the  flames  of  unhal- 
lowed controversy  and  strife — and  that,  too,  in  the  very  sight 
of  the  heathen  whom  we  profess  to  pity  and  long  to  save.  If, 
unrestrained  by  the  miracles  of  grace  and  unawed  by  the 
grandeur  of  eternity,  we  desist  not  speedily — with  what  con- 
temptuous scorn  may  these  hurl  back  upon  us  our  arguments 
against  the  hatreds,  the  antipathies,  and  the  discords  which 
constitute  the  very  soil  of  an  ever-divided  and  ever-diverging 
heathenism  ?  With  what  ineffable  disdain  may  they  resent 
our  most  pathetical  exhortations  to  mutual  forbearance  and 
heavenly  charity  ?  And,  oh,  what  a  cutting,  harrowing  re- 
flection is  this — that,  under  the  influence  of  a  blindfold  zeal 
for  the  possession  of  a  few  paltry  instrumentalities,  which,  if 
accumulated  to  infinity,  could  never  of  themselves  save  a  single 
soul,  any  of  us  should  be  tempted  to  enact  a  part  calculated 
to  repel  numbers  of  the  dying  multitude  around  us  from  the 
tree  of  life,  the  leaves  of  which  are  for  the  healing  of  the 
nations,  and  fitted  only  to  impel  them  to  rush  with  more  frantic 
speed  into  the  embrace  of  an  ever-yawning  perdition  !  May 
the  Lord  have  mercy  on  any  who,  without  being  overborne  by 
an  imperative  overmastering  necessity,  may  directly  or  indi- 
rectly contribute  towards  such  a  fatal  consummation  ;  and  may 
we  be  endowed  with  the  spirit  that  would  prompt  us  to  ex- 
claim, in  words  of  tenderness  more  touching  than  ever  dropped 
from  merely  Imman  lips  :  '  Father  forgive  them,  for  they  know 
not  what  they  do/  " 

The  other  easy  solution  of  the  question,  where  shall 
the  five  missionaries,  their  staff,  and  their  converts 
and  students  obtain  a  building  large  enough  in  all 
native  Calcutta  ?  was  this.  Colonel  Dundas  and  some 
Indian  friends,  in  Scotland,  had  presented  Dr.  Duff  with 
about  four  hundred  pounds  as  "  a  mark  of  respect " 
and  for  personal  uses.  This  too  he  devoted  to  the  Mis- 
sion. Adjoining  the  Institution  in  Cornwallis  Square 
were  three  acres  of  unoccupied  ground  belonging  to 
Government,  but  not  enclosed  and  therefore  the  noi- 
some abode  of   all  foulness.     In  vain  b.ad  he  asked  the 


38  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1844. 

local  financial  board  to  purchase  it  in  order  to  meet 
the  wants  of  the  increasing  number  of  students  and 
converts.  The  price  was  £3,500.  On  receiving  a 
legacy  of  £1,000  he  added  this  to  the  Dundas  gift, 
and  solicited  the  consent  of  Lord  Auckland  himself  to 
the  sale  of  the  land  for  that  sum,  but  the  proposal 
had  first  to  be  sanctioned  by  the  Court  of  Directors. 
By  the  time  that  the  deed  of  conveyance  was  ready, 
the  Disruption  controversy  was  approaching  a  close. 
Mr.  Macleod  Wylie,  the  barrister,  who  wrote  a  pam- 
phlet on  "  The  Scotch  Law  of  Patronage  and  the 
recent  Secession,"  proving  the  Free  Church  right 
in  law  as  in  Scripture,  advised  Dr.  Duff  to  keep  the 
deed  in  his  own  name,  the  property  being  his  own, 
until  the  issue  of  the  conflict  became  clear.  This  he 
had  done,  and  on  this  spacious  open  ground  he  might, 
naturally  and  most  conveniently,  have  erected  the  new 
college.  But  he  was  too  much  of  a  Christian  and  a 
gentleman  to  do  what  might  even  seem,  to  Hindoo 
and  Christian,  a  violation  of  that  law  of  love  which  the 
'  residuary '  committee,  as  it  was  called,  had  scorned. 
In  the  very  reply  to  Mr.  Thomas  Scott  he  heaped  coals 
of  fire  on  its  head  by  volunteering  the  explanation — 
"  It  is  not  intended  to  have  any  portion  of  this  ground 
occupied  for  carrying  on  the  missionary  operations  of 
the  Free  Church.  Sufficiently  ample  it  is,  and  most 
healthfully  and  favourably  situated  for  the  erection  of 
a  new  Institution  and  Mission-house.  But  its  proxi- 
mity to  the  old  Mission  premises  has  determined  us 
not  so  to  appropriate  it ;  that  we  may  thereby  prove 
to  the  world  that,  on  our  part  at  least,  we  are  not 
actuated  by  vindictive  or  retaliatory  motives,  or  ani- 
mated by  a  spirit  of  hostile  rivalry.  It  will  either  be 
let  or  resold,  and  the  proceeds,  either  way,  will  be 
wholly  and  exclusively  applied  to  missionary  purposes." 
The  new  Mission-house  was  erected  there  long  after, 


^t.  38.         SYMPATUY    OF    EVANGELICAL    CHURCHES.  39 

and  its  very  proximity  to  the  old  house  enabled  Dr. 
Duff  to  hold  most  friendly  intercourse  with  so  gentle 
and  earnest  a  missionary  as  Dr.  Ogilvie,  whom  the 
Church  of  Scotland  sent  up  from  Madras  there  to 
represent  it.  Thus  was  the  controversial  bitterness  of 
the  Western  Kirk  deprived  of  its  evil  results  in  the 
eyes  of  the  young  converts  and  the  watchful  heathen. 

The  whole  college  vacation  of  1843-44,  extended  to 
two  months,  was  spent  by  the  missionaries  in  exploring 
every  nook  and  corner  of  the  native  city  for  a  site  and 
a  temporary  home.  The  renown  of  the  Disruption 
sacrifice,  which  had  gone  out  through  all  lands,  had 
in  India  been  increased  by  the  decision  to  evict  the 
missionaries  from  their  college,  even  though  they 
offered  to  purchase  their  own,  very  much  as  Carey  and 
the  Serampore  brethren  had  been  compelled  to  do  in 
similarly  indefensible  circumstances.  From  all  sides, 
Hindoo  as  well  ^as  Christian,  Anglican  and  Congrega- 
tionalist  as  well  as  Presbyterian,  in  America  no  less 
than  in  Asia  and  Europe,  came  expressions  and  proofs 
of  indignant  sympatliy.  This  refers  to  the  assistance 
of  "  W.  Muir,  Esq.,  Futtehpore,"  now  Sir  William  Muir, 
K.C.S.I.  : 

"  Calcutta,  4^/^  October,  184S. 

"  My  Dear  Sik, — I  beg  most  gratefully  to  acknow- 
ledge your  very  handsome  boon  to  our  Free  Church. 
Your  note  accompanying  it,  though  short,  was  sweet 
and  refreshing.  One  pregnant  expression  dropped 
from  the  lips  of  one  of  God's  own  children,  has  in  it  a 
consolation  beyond  all  gold  and  silver.  I  know  that 
your  heart  is  with  every  good  cause ;  and  I  really 
believe  that,  however  unworthy  we  may  be,  ours  is  one 
of  the  best  of  causes.  It  is  the  cause  of  Christ — the 
sole  and  supreme  head  of  His  Church — redeemed  and 
ransomed  by  His  precious  blood.  In  case  you  might 
desire   further   information    as    to    our    movement,   I 


40  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1844. 

send  you  two  or  tliree  pamplilets.  We  have  many 
difficulties  to  contend  with,  but  many  friends  to  lend 
a  helpiiio'  hand;  and,  above  all,  many  comforts  of 
God's  Holy  S[)irit  to  animate  and  sustain  us.  Our 
duty  is  to  persevere  in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  and 
leave  all  results  with  Him.  The  day  of  India's  illumi- 
nation lulll  yet  dawn,  and  the  light  shall  be  glorious. 
That  is  enough  for  ns,  whether  we  are  privileged  to 
see  it  or  not. — Yours  very  gratefully, 

Alexander  Dqfp." 

•The  year  1844  opened  with  spontaneous  gifts 
amounting  to  £3,400.  The  Protestant  missionaries  of 
Calcutta  united  in  this  catholic  address. 

"To  the  Rev.  A.  Duff,  D.D.,  W.  S.  Mackay,  D.  Ewarfc,  J. 
Macdonald  and  T.  Smith,  Missionaries  of  the  Scottish  Mis- 
sion in  Calcutta. 

"Deak  Bkethren, — We,  the  undersigned  members  of  the 
missionary  body  in  Calcutta,  owing  to  events  which  have  oc- 
curred in  Scotland,  and  the  decision  at  which  you  have  felt  it 
your  duty  to  ari'ive  on  the  matters  in  debate,  are  apprehensive 
that  your  connection  with  missionary  operations  in  Calcutta 
generally,  and  especially  your  connection  with  the  Institution 
founded  by  one  of  your  number,  and  matured  and  presided 
over  by  you  all,  may  be  matei'ially  affected, — and  desire  to  ex- 
press our  sympathy  with  you  under  the  peculiar  circumstances 
in  which  you  are  placed,  and  our  hope  that  your  labours  may 
be  still  continued  in  a  sphere  in  which  they  have  been  so  emi- 
nently useful. 

"  While,  as  a  missionary  body,  attached  to  different  sections 
of  the  Church,  and  conscientiously  differing  as  to  the  principles 
which  have  led  to  those  events,  we  refrain  from  offering  any 
opinion  upon  them,  we  yet  can  and  do  reiterate  the  expression 
of  our  conviction  as  to  the  expediency  and  desirableness  of  the 
continuance  of  your  labours  in  Calcutta  and  in  the  sphere  which 
you  have  hitherto  occupied. 

*'  We  feel  that  it  is  both  natural  and  equitable,  that  the 
harvest  should  be  reaped  and  enjoyed  by  those  who  have  broken 
up  the  fallow  ground,  and  according  to  their  views  of  Chris- 


^t.  38.      ADDKE,SS    FROM    THE    CALCDTTA    MISSION  VUIES.        4 1 

tiau  duty  have  diligently  and  faithfully  sowed  the  seed  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  for  so  many  years.  Nor  are  we  unapprehensive 
that,  should  others,  however  well  qualified,  enter  into  your 
labours,  the  harvest,  owing  to  their  lack  of  experience  and 
their  necessary  want  of  acquaintance  with  the  language  and 
habits  of  the  people,  would  be  considerably  diminished,  and 
the  affections  of  many  whoso  minds  have  by  you  been  made 
familiar  with  the  nature,  doctrines,  and  precepts  of  Christi- 
anity, materially  alienated  from  Christian  influence, — a  con- 
summation which  we  are  confident  no  Christian,  whatever 
might  be  his  views  on  other  subjects,  can  contemplate  with 
indifference. 

"  Irrespective  of  your  labours  in  connection  with  the  Insti- 
tution and  other  direct  operations  of  the  Scottish  Mission,  we 
should  exceedingly  regret  anything  that  might  remove  you 
from  a  sphere  in  which  your  influence  and  co-operation  with 
others,  under  the  blessing  of  Christ,  have  so  eminently  sub- 
served the  catholic  purposes  of  our  holy  faith,  both  in  Calcutta 
and  India  generally. 

''  With  regard  to  the  momentous  subject  which  has  occa- 
sioned this  communication,  our  prayer  is,  that  all  parties  may 
be  led  to  adopt  the  measures  most  conducive  to  the  glory  of 
our  blessed  Lord,  and  the  extension  of  His  kingdom. — We  ax-e, 
dear  brethren,  yours  in  the  bond  of  the  Gospel, 
"(Signed)  W.  Yates,  Baptist  Missionary. 

A.  Leslie,  Do. 

J.  Thomas,  Do. 

J.  Brooks,  General  Baptist  Missionary. 

Wm.  Morton,  London  Missionary  Society. 

G.  Pearce,  Baptist  Missionary  Society. 

James  Paterson,  London  Missionary  Society. 

W.  W.  Evans,  Baptist  Missionary  Society. 

G.  Small,  Do. 

James  Innes,  Church  Missionary  Society. 

James  Long,  Do. 

J.  F.  OsBORN,  Do. 

Jno.  Campbell,  London  Missionary  Society. 

Tnos.  Boaz,  Do. 

R.  De  Rodt,  Do. 

J.  "Wk.ngek,  Baptist  Missionary  Society. 

C.  C.  Aratoon,  Do." 


42  LIFE    OP    DR.    DUFF.  1844. 

Arclideacon  Dealtrj,  about  to  become  the  second 
Bishop  of  Madras,  though  a  dignitary  of  the  other 
Established  Church,  was  even  more  emphatic,  on  the 
higher  ground  of  a  wrong  done  to  the  whole  Catholic 
Church. 

The  hunt  for  a  college  building,  aided  and  sym- 
pathised in  by  good  men  of  all  creeds,  concentrated 
itself  on  one  place.  In  obtainiug  that  Dr.  Duff  was 
helped  by  an  orthodox  Hindoo,  the  father  of  the  most 
distinguished  medical  Bengalee,  Rai  Kanye  Lai  Dey 
Bahadoor,  who  has  given  us  this  account  of  it : 
"  There  was  one  house  in  ISTeemtollah  street  which  was 
sufficiently  commodious  for  the  accommodation  of  an 
institution  like  the  Free  Church  Institution,  but  it 
was  in  an  untenantable  condition,  the  joint  owners 
thereof  were  not  agreed  among  themselves  and  they 
had  no  mind  to  let  the  house  for  the  use  of  a  college. 
He  knew  a  native  gentleman,  Rai  Radhanath  Dey 
Bahadoor,  a  man  of  note  in  his  time  as  a  deputy  col- 
lector. Dr.  Duff,  if  he  liked,  could  have  sent  for  him 
in  order  to  confer  with  him  on  the  subject  of  the  house 
with  the  owners  of  which  he  was  in  relationship.  But 
no ;  he  personally  waited  upon  the  Baboo  from  day  to 
day  in  order  to  prevail  upon  him  to  use  his  interest 
with  the  proprietors  to  let  the  house  on  a  long  lease. 
The  gentleman  in  question  was  himself  a  public-spirited 
man,  and  though  an  orthodox  Hindoo  he  felt  that  in 
employing  his  humble  services  in  this  case  he  would  be 
serving  his  country.  He  therefore  heartily  responded 
to  the  great  missionary's  desire,  and  succeeded  in  his 
intercession  with  the  proprietors.  Baboo  Pran  Kissen 
Sen  and  Brothers,  to  let  the  house,  well  known  as  that 
of  the  late  Baboo  Mothur  Mohun  Sen,  to  the  Free 
Church  missionaries.  The  terms  offered  were  rather 
favourable  to  both  the  parties,  which  were  the  payment 
of  a  rent  of  Rs.  200  per  month,  and  the  defrayal  of 


^t.  38,  LIGHT   ARISING    IN    DARKNESS.  43 

the  whole  expense  of  a  thorough  repair  at  a  heavy 
outlay  involving  additions  and  alterations.'* 

Here  on  the  4th  March,  1844,  the  General  Assembly's 
Institution  of  the  Free  Cliurch  of  Scotland  met  for  the 
first  time,  and  here  it  grew  till  on  an  adjoining  site 
the  present  fine  college  was  reared.  There  were  the 
same  missionaries,  the  same  staff  of  teachers  and 
monitors,  the  same  converts  to  begin  with,  and  more 
than  a  thousand  students  and  pupils.  The  spacious 
hall,  erst  devoted  to  idol  revelries,  became  the  common 
place  of  worship  of  the  living  God  in  Christ.  The 
shrine  of  the  family  image  received  the  gallery  class 
of  children,  who  there  learned  to  spell  out  the  words  of 
the  Divine  Teacher.  From  all  parts  of  Eastern  India 
and  Scotland  friends  sent  supplies  of  books  for  the 
new  librar3^  Dr.  Mackay,  who  had  built  his  usual 
observatory  on  the  roof,  was  gladdened  by  the  dona- 
tion of  a  Herschel  ten-foot  telescope  from  the  son  of 
Dr.  Stewart,  of  Moulin  memory. 

Dr.  Duff's  letters  to  Dr.  Gordon,  after  reporting 
the  tedious  search  and  protracted  negotiations  which 
ended  in  success,  thus  broke  forth  on  the  17th  Feb- 
ruary, 1844,  as  he,  doubtless,  remembered  the  flash  of 
the  torch  in  the  Tummel:  "Never  was  there  a  happier 
or  truer  key-note  struck  than  that  with  which  Dr. 
Chalmers  ushered  in  the  ever  memorable  convocation, 
when  he  started  with  the  text,  *  Unto  the  upright  there 
ariseth  light  in  darkness.'"  Even  when  in  the  depths 
of  the  darkness,  he  had  faith  and  genius  to  form  the 
scheme  of  a  new  chair  of  missions  and  education  in 
the  Free  Church,  of  which  he  lived  to  procure  the 
endowment  and  to  be  himself  the  first  Professor : 

"  Calcutta,  January  20th,  1844. 

"My  Dear  Dr.  Gordon, — Your  truly  welcome  letter 
of   October   last  was   received   in   time  last  mouth  to 


44  Lli'i!^    OF    DU.    DUFF.  1844. 

acknowledge  its  receipt  by  the  Government  express. 
As  I  expected,  it  diffused  great  joy  and  gladness  among 
all  our  friends.  The  promptitude,  hearty  goodwill 
and  animating  cheerfulness, — the  unwavering  faith  in 
a  covenant-keeping  God,  and  the  humble  reliance  on  a 
gracious  Providence  indicated  by  its  contents,  tended 
mightily  to  invigorate  our  own  spirits,  and  strengthen 
our  hands,  amid  the  changes,  the  discomforts  and  the 
inconveniences  to  which  the  recent  disruption  neces- 
sarily subjected  us.  We  do  render  praise  and  thanks 
unto  the  Lord,  for  having  put  it  into  the  hearts  of  our 
brethren  and  fathers  at  home  to  take  up  our  cause, — 
the  cause  of  poor,  degraded,  heathen  India, — the  cause 
of  a  hundred  and  thirty  millions  of  perishing  idolaters, 
■ — the  cause  of  the  Redeemer  Himself,  Who  yet  '  shall 
see  of  the  travail  of  His  soul '  among  these  benighted 
millions,  and  be  satisfied, — to  take  up  this  great  and 
glorious  cause,  with  such  warmth  and  energy  and 
holy  zeal.  It  is  a  refreshing  token  for  good ;  yea,  it 
is  a  pledge  and  earnest  of  prosperity  and  ultimate  suc- 
cess. When,  during  the  spring  of  last  year,  I  received 
many  letters  from  friends  on  both  sides  of  the  Church, 
all  to  the  effect  that,  in  the  event  of  a  disruption,  those 
who  seceded  would  have  so  much  to  do  in  making 
provision  for  their  own  spiritual  wants  that  it  would 
no(  be  possible  for  them  to  take  up  the  cause  of  foreign 
missions,  I  could  not  but  feel  alarmed  at  the  bare 
possibility  of  such  an  issue.  That  it  would  be  so  I 
could  not  bring  myself  to  believe.  Still,  the  declara- 
tions made  to  me  on  this  head  were  very  strong  and 
very  baffling.  In  spite  of  the  most  positive  assurances 
to  the  contrary,  I  had  a  secret,  instinctive,  irresistible 
persuasion  that  the  thing  was  morally  impossible. 
Thanks  be  to  God  that  the  event  has  so  triumphantly 
proved  it  to  be  so  !  The  prominence  given  to  the 
missionary  cause  at   home  and  abroad,   and  the  bold 


^t.  38.  PLANS    A    rilOFESSORSHIP    OF    MISSIONS.  45 

trumpet  note  with  "which  its  claims  have  been  sounded 
forth,  prochiim  that  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  has 
started  for  the  right  goal,  and  in  the  right  direction; 
and  that  having  done  so,  she  is  destined  to  advance, 
with  accelcrativo  force,  in  the  vigorous  discharge  of 
all  the  functions  and  duties  of  a  true  Church  of  Christ. 
May  the  Lord  Hmiself  watch  over  and  guide  her 
onward  career ! 

"  Connected  with  this  subject,  allow  mo  to  hint  that 
a  new  professorship  in  the  Free  Church  College,  of 
missions  and  education,  would  tend  mightily  to  im- 
part life,  energy,  wisdom  and  consistency  to  all  her 
missionary  and  educational  schemes,  domestic  and 
foreign.  So  far  as  I  know,  it  would  be  the  first  pro- 
fessorship of  the  kind  that  has  ever  been  established, 
and  would  tend  more  than  anything  else  to  stamp  the 
Free  Church  as  the  introducer  of  a  new  era  in  the 
history  of  this  world's  christianization.  I  have  pur- 
posely conjoined  *  missions  and  education,'  as  both 
united  would  comprehend  a  discussion  of  the  best 
modes  of  imparting  all  useful  knowledge,  human  and 
divine,  to  old  and  young,  of  all  classes  and  of  all  climes, 
founded  on  the  constitution  of  the  human  mind,  history 
and  experience,  and,  above  all,  the  Word  of  God. 

"  We  also  desire  to  acknowledge  the  overruling 
providence  of  God,  in  the  circumstance  that  our  dear 
friend  and  brother,  and  fellow-labourer  in  the  Lord, 
Dr.  Wilson  of  Bombay,  was  enabled  to  be  present  to 
address  the  second  General  Assembly  of  the  Free 
Church.  And  we  desire  to  bless  God  for  the  strength 
vouchsafed  to  him  on  that  occasion.'* 


CHAPTER  XYII. 

1844-1848. 

CONTINUITY  OF  THE  WOBK. 

The  Rural  Stations. — The  Story  of  Bansberia. — Missionary  Brother- 
hood.— Sir  James  Outram  and  the  Sindh  Prize-money. — Sir 
Henry  Lawrence. — Reorganization  of  the  Mission  Completed. — • 
Conversions  and  their  Relative  Value  in  Christianizing  different 
Classes. — The  Seven  Baptisms. — The  Native  City  again  moved. 
Rival  Hindoo  College  taught  by  Jesuits. — The  True  Zanana 
Teaching. — The  "  Pilgrim's  Progress"  in  Bengalee. — Successful 
Vindication  of  the  Rights  of  Conscience. — The  Cry  of  "  Hindooism 
in  Danger  "  Renewed.—  The  Government  Propagating  Secularism. 
— Intolerance  of  the  Hindoo  Priestly  and  Wealthy  Families. — 
More  Baptisms. — Dr.  Duff's  Life  Threatened. — His  Intrepid  Re- 
ply "to  the  ]S"ative  Gentlemen  of  Calcutta." — Necessity  for  a 
Home,  Church,  and  Manse  for  the  Converts. — Life  in  Dr.  Dufi"s 
Family. — Charge  to  the  Four  Free  Church  Catechists. — Mrs. 
Colin  Mackenzie  and  the  Rev.  Golulc  Nath. — Mercantile  Failures 
in  Calcutta. — Epistle  from  the  General  Assembly  to  the  Converts. 
— Dr.  Duff's  Share  in  the  First  Jubilee  of  the  Chui'ch  Missionary 
Society. 

Having  thus  founded  and  organized  lais  second  college, 
the  Free  Church  General  Assembly's  Institution,  Dr. 
Duff's  next  care  was  for  the  branch  schools  by  which 
the  educated  catechists  and  converts  were  evangelizing 
the  rural  districts.  Takee,  the  first,  was  the  property 
of  the  Chowdery  clan  of  Hindoo  landholders.  They 
too  remained  faithful  to  their  alliance  with  Dr.  Duff. 
To  secure  a  healthier  position  in  which  European  mis- 
sionaries like  Mr.  Fyfe  could  live  without  serious  risk, 
they  removed  the  school  from  the  somewhat  inaccessible 
rice  swamps  to  their  town  residence  in  Baranuggur,  a 
northern  suburb  of  Calcutta,  now  known  for  its  jnte 
factories  and  industrial  prosperity.     The  Establi.'^hed 


^t.  38.  THE    STOEY    OF    BANSBERIA.  47 

Church  claimed  the  new  station  of  Ghospara  for  the 
congregation  of  St.  Stephen's,  Edinburgh,  who  had 
supported  Mahendra  and  Kailas,  the  native  missionaries 
there.  But  Culna,  being  in  a  different  position,  was 
retained  by  Dr.  DufF  and  his  colleagues  as  their  second 
rural  station.  In  succession,  as  the  Mission  grew  in 
resources  and  ordained  converts,  Bansberia,  Chinsurah, 
and  Mahanad  were  added  in  Tvower  Bengal,  while, 
long  after,  the  south-eastern  districts  of  the  Sautal 
country  were  taken  possession  of  as  a  base  from  which 
to  evangelize  the  non-Aryan  and  aboriginal  tribes. 

The  story  of  Bansberia  illustrates  the  enthusiasm 
with  which,  not  only  in  Calcutta,  but  to  the  farthest 
confines  of  India,  good  men,  in  the  army  and  the  civil 
service,  sought  to  mark  their  sympathy  with  the  Free 
Church  Mission.  On  being  driven  from  Ghospara, 
where  the  two  ablest  converts  had  begun  a  mission 
among  the  new  sect  of  the  Kharta-bhajas,  or  worship- 
pers of  the  Creator,  with  such  promise.  Dr.  Dulf*  re- 
solved to  seek  for  a  settlement  in  another  county. 
Not  even  the  natural  irritation  caused  by  the  discussion 
of  questions  of  property,  in  which  equity  was  set  at 
defiance,  tempted  him  for  one  moment  to  dream  of 
rivalry  in  a  field  so  vast  as  that  covered  by  the  sixty 
millions  of  rural  Bengal.  He  crossed  the  river  Hooghly 
to  its  right  bank,  leaving  the  whole  country  on  the  left 
to  the  Established  Church.  A  few  miles  to  the  north 
of  the  county  town  of  Hooghly  district,  between  that 
and  Culna,  he  discovered  the  school-house  of  the 
Brumho  Somaj,  of  Calcutta,  closed  and  for  sale. 
Dwarkanath  Tagore,  the  successor  of  Rammohun  Roy, 
had  died  in  England,  and  his  son  was  unable  to  maintain 
the  educational  work  of  the  sect.  The  perpetual  lease 
of  the  grounds  as  well  as  the  large  bungalow  was  pur- 
chased by  Dr.  Duff,  whose  first  object  it  was  to  erect  sub- 
stantial buildings  for  a  Christian  high  school.    For  this 


48  LIFE    OP    BR.    DUFF.  1 844. 

there  were  no  funds  since  the  expenditure  at  Ghospara. 
Attracted  by  the  self-sacrifice  of  the  missionaries  on 
the  Disruption,  Mr.  Lennox,  of  New  York,  and  his 
two  sisters,  had  sent  £500  to  Dr.  Duff,  who  at  once 
distributed  it  proportionately  among  Bombay,  Madras 
and  Calcutta.  Mr.  Anderson  and  his  colleagues  re- 
fused the  share  allotted  to  them,  on  the  ground  of  "  the 
peculiar  exigency  and  the  local  circumstances  of  the 
Calcutta  Mission.  Give  us  your  prayers  and  keep  the 
money;  we  have  enough,  my  brother, — what  is  that 
between  thee  and  us  ?  "  Such  loving  renunciation 
called  forth  this  remark  from  Dr.  Duff  in  a  letter  to 
Dr.  Gordon : 

"A  finer  exemplification  of  the  genuiue  spirit  that 
constitutes  the  bond  of  Christian  brotherhood  cannot 
well  be  conceived.  How  true  it  is  that,  in  the  spiritual 
body  of  Christ,  if  one  of  the  members  sufi"er  all  the 
other  members  suffer  or  sympathize  with  it.  Distance 
of  'Space  and  diversities  of  local  interests  are  annihil- 
ated. The  losses  and  difficulties  of  the  Calcutta  mis- 
sionaries touched  a  chord  in  the  hearts  of  three  noble- 
minded  Christians  in  the  city  of  New  York — in  '  the 
far  west.'  Now,  across  the  Atlantic  and  the  interven- 
ing continents  of  Europe,  Africa,  and  part  of  Asia, 
their  seasonable  bounty  reached  us.  We  at  once 
resolved  to  share  it  in  equal  proportion  with  our 
brethren  in  Madras  and  Bombay.  The  former  having 
not  suffered  in  temporalities  as  we  had,  return  their 
share,  with  their  blessings  and  their  prayers.  Blessed 
reciprocation  and  interchange  of  Christian  good  offices, 
and  Christian  love  !  Shall  we  not  magnify  the  name 
of  the  Lord,  and  pray  more  earnestly  than  ever  for 
the  spread  and  superabounding  of  a  spirit  such  as  this 
— not  between  members  of  the  Free  Churcli  only,  but 
between  the  true  children  of  the  living  God  in  all 
Churches." 


^t.  38.   SIR  JAMES  OUTRAM  AND  THE  SINDH  BLOOD-MONEY.    49 

Soon  the  present  fine  college  building  of  their  own 
was  to  take  the  place  of  the  hired  house  in  Calcutta, 
and  that  would  exhaust  this  and  many  other  re- 
sources. There  could  be  nothing  for  a  new  rural 
station  like  Bansberia  till  the  central  Institution  was 
efficient. 

It  was  Sir  James,  then  Major,  Outram  who  came  to 
the  rescue.  The  first  Afghan  war  had  been  succeeded 
by  the  even  greater  mistake  of  the  policy  of  Sir  Charles 
Napier  in  Sindh.  The  man  who  had  written,  "  We 
have  no  right  to  seize  Sindh,  yet  we  shall  do  so, 
and  a  very  advantageous,  useful  and  humane  piece  of 
rascality  it  will  be,"  received  six  thousand  pounds  as 
the  General's  portion  of  the  prize-money.  The  Bom- 
bay officer  who  had  protested  against  the  '  rascality,' 
whose  splendid  administration  of  Sindh  would  have 
prevented  war  and  secured  a  reformed  country,  had 
assigned  to  him  three  thousand  pounds  as  his  share. 
What  was  he  to  do  with  it?  Though  a  Derbyshire 
man,  three  years  older  than  Duff,  as  a  great-grandson 
of  Lord  Pitmcdden  and  a  successful  student  of  Marischal 
College,  Aberdeen,  Outram  had  watched  the  Scottish 
missionary's  career  with  admiration.  The  puzzled 
officer  turned  to  him  for  counsel  as  to  the  disposal 
of  the  money  ;  begging  him  in  particular  to  ascertain 
privately  if  the  Calcutta  authorities  would  keep  the 
three  thousand  pounds  for  the  benefit  of  the  injured 
Ameers.  We  may  imagine  the  amazement,  and  indig- 
nation, of  Lord  Ellenborough  at  a  proposal  so  simple, 
but  so  worthy  of  "  the  Bayard  of  India  "  and  of  the 
single-eyed  missionary  whom  he  had  selected  as  his 
agent  in  so  unique  a  transaction.  The  reply  was,  of 
course,  a  refusal,  on  the  ground  that  the  Ameers  had 
been  well  provided  for,  and  that  the  offer,  if  it  becan;e 
public,  would  have  the  worst  political  effect.  The  fact, 
accordingly,  we  learn  now  for  the  first  time  from  Dr. 

VOL.    II.  E 


50  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUiT.  1845. 

Duff's  papers.*  When  he  communicated  the  refusal, 
Outram  replied:  "Very  well,  it  cannot  be  helped;  I 
regard  this  prize  simply  as  blood-money,  and  will  not 
touch  a  farthing  of  it  for  my  own  personal  use,  but 
will  distribute  it  among  the  philanthropic  and  religious 
charities  of  Bombay."  Soon  after  this  Sir  James 
wrote  to  Dr.  Duff  saying  that,  after  a  wide  distribution 
of  what  he  called  blood-money,  there  still  remained 
Rs.  6,000,  and  he  asked,  "  Have  you  any  object  on  the 
banks  of  the  Ganges  to  which  this  can  profitably  be 
applied?"  Instantly  Dr.  Duff  replied,  "Oh,  yes!  I 
want  an  educational  institution  in  a  populous  locality 
on  the  banks  of  the  river  in  an  excellent  situation,  and 
have  been  waiting  a  considerable  time  to  secure  the 
means  of  erecting  a  suitable  building.  Now  singularly 
enough  the  minimum  sum  fixed  on  in  my  own  mind 
was  exactly  Rs.  6,000,  and  if  you  approve  the  idea  you 
may  send  that  sum  to  me,  and  we  shall  commence  at 
once  the  erection  of  the  building."  The  Mission-house 
was  erected,  and  has  been  a  source  of  numberless  bless- 
ings to  the  neighbourhood;  from  its  pupils  a  goodly 
number  of  conversions  have  sprung  with  a  wide  dif- 
fusion of  Christian  knowledge.  The  building  still  per- 
petuates the  political  purity  and  English  uprightness 
of  Outram,  who  replied,  "  What  a  pity  I  did  not  know 
about  this  earlier,  otherwise  for  such  objects,  of  which 
I  highly  approve,  you  might  have  got  the  whole  of 
the  money."  When  next  he  visited  Calcutta,  where 
Lord  Dalhousie  saw  in  him  a  kindred  spirit,  he 
spent  a  Saturday  in  the  Institution.  The  man  whose 
courage  as  a  soldier  and  a  statesman  rose  almost  to 
madness,  stipulated  that  he  should  not  be  asked  to 
make   a   speech.      The  resting-place  in  Westminster 

*   Sir    Francis   Outram  lias  arranged   for    the    preparation  of  a 
Memoir  of  his  great  I'atliei',  bj  Sir  Frederic  Goldsmid. 


^t.  39.  SIB    HENRY    LAWEENOE.  5 1 

Abbey,  and  the  equestrian  statues  by  Foley  on  the 
Thames  Embankment  and  fronting  the  Calcutta  Clubs, 
commemorate  his  victories  in  Persia  and  the  relief  of 
Lucknow.  But  let  not  the  Sindh  blood-money  and 
Duff's  Bansberia  school  be  forgotten,  though  recorded 
not  on  living  marble  or  enduring  brass. 

A  greater  man  than  even  Outram,  however,  vp'as 
from  the  first  a  generous  ally  of  Dr.  Duflf.  Sir  Henry 
Lawrence,  who  had  found  Christ  when  a  young  lieu- 
tenant of  artillery  at  Dum  Dam, and  who  had  established 
at  Ferozepore  the  American  Presbyterian  Mission 
from  which  the  invitation  to  united  prayer  first 
sounded  forth  in  1860  among  all  English-speaking 
races,  used  to  spend  his  whole  income,  beyond  a  bare 
sustenance,  on  Christian  philanthropy  in  India.  Every 
year  from  1844  till  he  concentrated  his  energies  on  the 
Hill  Asylums  for  soldiers'  children,  he  sent  four  hun- 
dred pounds  to  Mr.  Marshman  for  distribution  among 
Dr.  Duff's,  the  Serampore,  the  Church  Missionary  and 
other  societies.  At  the  same  time  others,  such  as  Dr.  T. 
Smith  and  the  writer,  were  his  frequent  almoners  down 
to  the  day  of  his  heroic  death.  On  his  way  home,  in 
1847,  he  took  part  in  the  public  examination  of  the 
Institution,  a  fact  to  which  we  find  Dr.  Duff  thus  refer- 
ring at  the  time:  "  The  Colonel  Lawrence  who  assisted 
at  the  public  examination  is  the  same  gentleman 
whose  measures  have  been  so  wonderfully  successful 
in  pacifying  the  Punjab.  He  is  to  accompany  Lord 
Hardinge  to  England.  For  years  past  he  has  taken 
a  warm  interest  in  our  Institution  and  its  success,  and 
has  been  a  liberal  contributor  to  its  funds.  In  this 
and  in  other  ways  God  is  raising  us  up  friends,  even 
in  high  places ;  and  to  Him  we  desire  to  ascribe  all 
the  praise  and  the  glory." 

On  his  final  return  to  India  the  year  after,  he  and 
Outram,  then  seeking  rest,  hurriedly  met  in  the  dim- 


52  LIFE   OP    DE.    DUFF.  1845. 

ness  of  night  in  tlie  desert  of  Suez,  with  impressions 
which  Lady  Lawrence  thus  recorded  for  her  eldest 
son:  "Our  vans  stopped;  papa  got  out,  and  in  the 
twihsfht  had  ten  minutes'  talk  with  Colonel  Outram. 
There  is  much  alike  in  their  characters,  but  Colonel 
Outram  has  had  peculiar  opportunities  of  protesting 
against  tyranny,  and  he  has  refused  to  enrich  himself 
by  ill-gotten  gains.  You  cannot,  my  boy,  understand 
the  question  about  the  conquest  of  Sindh  by  Sir 
Charles  Napier ;  but  I  wish  you  to  know  that  your 
parents  consider  it  most  unjust.  Prize-money  has 
been  distributed  to  those  concerned  in  the  war. 
Colonel  Outram,  though  a  very  poor  man,  would  not 
take  money  which  he  did  not  think  rightfully  his,  and 
distributed  all  his  share  in  charity,  giving  £800  to  the 
Hill  Asylum  at  Kussowlie.  I  was  glad,  even  in  the 
dark,  to  shake  hands  with  one  whom  I  esteemed  so 
highly." 

Thus  Dr.  Duff  and  his  colleao-ues  oro^anized  the 
second  Mission  in  and  around  Calcutta,  and  among 
the  most  densely  peopled  portions  of  rural  Asia — the 
counties  of  Hooghly  and  Burdwan  to  the  north-west. 
"  Oh,"  he  wrote  to  Dr.  Gordon,  "  that  Ave  had  the 
resources,  in  qualified  agents  and  pecuniary  means, 
with  large,  prayerful,  faithful  hearts,  to  wait  on  the 
Lord  for  His  blessing,  and  then  under  the  present 
impulse  might  we,  in  every  considerable  village  and 
district  of  Bengal,  establish  vernacular  and  English 
seminaries,  that  might  sow  the  seeds  of  divine  truth 
in  myriads  of  minds,  and  thus  preoccupy  them  with 
principles  hostile  to  ruinous  error  and  favourable  for 
the  reception  of  saving  knowledge.  But  to  this  end 
we  would  require  not  five  hundred  but  fifty  thousand 
for  this  Presidency  alone.  It  looks  like  something 
utterly  unattainable,  yet  the  cost  of  one  British  vice 
for    a    single    year — the    annual    sum    expended    on 


^t.  39.   CONVERSIONS  AND  TUKIR  EELATIVK  IMPORTANCE.        53 

ardent  spirits,  which  destroy  the  bodies  and  the  souls 
of  thousands — would  secure  to  us  over  fifty  thousand 
schools!"  Nearly  thirty  years  were  to  pass  before, 
in  Bengal  proper,  the  Government  did  its  duty  on  the 
secular  side,  and  the  Mutiny  cailed  the  Vernacular 
Christian  Education  Society  into  existence  to  supply 
Bible  schools,  trained  teachers  and  a  pure  literature, 
all  on  too  small  a  scale. 

And  now,  as  ever.  Dr.  Duff  and  all  the  Free  Church 
of  Scotland's  missionaries  in  its  three  colleges  and 
many  schools,  laboured  and  prayed  for  immediate 
conversions  as  the  sign  and  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit's 
blessing  on  their  patient  sapping  of  the  whole  spiritual 
and  social  system  of  Brahmanism.  Eeferring  to  the 
baptism  of  a  student,  which  had  temporarily  emptied 
the  college  in  Madras,  Dr.  Duff  wrote :  "  It  must 
never  be  forgotten,  that,  while  the  salvation  of  one 
soul  may  not  in  itself  be  more  precious  than  that  of 
another,  there  is  a  prodigious  difference  in  the  relative 
amount  of  practical  value  possessed  by  the  conversion 
of  individuals  of  different  classes,  as  regards  its  effect 
on  societij  at  large.  It  is  this  consideration,  duly 
weighed,  which  explains  the  immense  relative  import- 
ance of  the  conversions  that  have  taken  place  in 
connection  with  our  several  Institutions  at  Calcutta, 
Madras  and  Bombay.  The  number  has  been  compa- 
ratively small.  But  tlie  amount  of  general  influence 
excited  thereby  must  not  be  estimated  according  to 
the  number.  The  individuals  converted  have  be- 
longed to  such  classes  and  castes  that  the  positive 
influence  of  their  conversion  in  shaking:  Hindooism  and 
convulsing  Hindoo  society  has  been  vastly  greater  than 
it  might  have  been  if  hundreds  or  even  thousands  of 
a  different  class  or  caste  had  been  added  to  the  Church 
of  Christ.  While  therefore  it  is  our  duty  to  pray  for 
immediate  results,  if  the   Lord  will — to  '  attempt  and 


54  LIL^E    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1845. 

expect  great  things '  at  His  hands, — let  us  beware  of 
being  impatient.  The  Lord  is  working  silently  in  the 
midst  of  us ;  and  when  His  time  cometh  He  will  make 
bare  His  holy  arm  for  the  salvation  of  multitudes. 
Meanwhile  those  occasional  upheavings  and  convul- 
sions which  apparently  retard  the  progress  of  His 
cause  He  sovereignly  overrules  for  its  ultimate  further- 
ance." That  was  written  in  April,  1844.  In  July 
there  came  to  Dr.  Duff's  house  one  Gobindo  Chunder 
Das,  who  had  been  removed  from  the  old  Institution 
during  a  panic  caused  by  the  baptisms  of  1839.  For 
six  years  the  truth  wrestled  with  the  lad,  overthrew 
now  his  timidity  and  now  his  pride,  and  sent  him  to 
Dr.  Duff  under  strong  convictions  of  sin  and  a  firm 
resolution  to  sacrifice  all  for  Christ.  After  the  usual 
persecution  by  his  family  and  clan  he  was  received 
into  the  church  and  became  a  useful  teacher  in  the 
college.  He  was  the  first-fruit  of  the  Free  Church  Mis- 
sion as  to  his  baptism,  yet  the  change  had  been  really 
originated  in  the  old  General  Assembly's  Institution. 
Every  convert  as  well  as  every  missionary  thus  main- 
tained the  continuity  of  the  work  which  had  begun  in 
July,  1830,  in  the  Chitpore  road. 

The  conversion  and  baptism  of  young  men  of 
marked  ability  and  high  social  or  caste  position  now 
followed  so  fast  on  Gobindo' s  that,  once  again,  the 
Brahmanical  community  of  Calcutta  was  moved  to  its 
depths.  The  year  1845  opened  with  the  public  confession 
and  admission  of  Gooroo  Das  Maitra,  whom  Dr.  Duff 
gladly  made  over  to  the  American  Presbyterian  Mis- 
sion at  Lahore,  when  the  Punjab  became  a  British 
province  soon  after.  There  the  Bengalee  was  ordained 
as  a  missionary  minister.  Thence  he  was  long  after 
"  called,"  after  the  simple  custom  and  ecclesiastical 
law  of  the  spiritually  independent  Free  Church,  by 
the  Bengalee  Presbyterian  Church  in  Calcutta,  to  be 


^t.  39.   BUNYAN  S  DREAM  IN  THE  INDIAN   VEKNACULARS.        55 

their  minister.  To  them,  largely  supporting  him,  he 
still  devotes  his  life  as  preacher  and  pastor.  At  the 
same  time  Umesh  Chunder  Sirkar  sought  baptism. 
For  two  years  the  Bible  teaching  in  the  college 
had  disturbed  him,  and  had  so  drawn  him  towards 
Christ  that  his  alarmed  friends  urged  him  to  study 
Paine's  writings.  These  completed  his  conviction  of 
the  divine  truth  of  Christianity,  and  of  his  duty  to 
profess  that  conviction  openly  by  obeying  Christ's 
command.  But  he  was  young,  only  sixteen.  He 
longed  to  instruct  and  take  over  with  him  his  child- 
wife  of  ten,  and  his  father  was  a  stern  bigot,  of  great 
authority  and  influence  as  treasurer  to  the  millionnaive 
Mullik  family.  For  two  years,  therefore,  the  boy- 
husband  and  his  wife  searched  the  Scriptures  dili- 
gently in  the  midnight  hours  snatched  from  sleep, 
when  alone,  in  the  crowd  of  a  great  Bengalee  house- 
hold, they  could  count  on  secrecy,  though  ever  sus- 
pected. After  much  reading  of  the  Bengalee  Bible, 
Umesh  Chunder  tauQ-ht  her  the  Beng:alee  translation 
of  the  "  Pilo-rim's  Proo-ress."  *  Here  was  the  true 
zanana  teaching,  the  best  form  of  female  education, 
that  which  has  rendered  all  subsequent  progress  under 
Euglish-speaking  ladies  possible.  When  the  wife  of 
twelve  read  the  opening  description  of  Christian's 
flight  from  the  City  of  Destruction,  she  exclaimed,  "  Is 

*  The  greatest  of  human  allegories  has  been  translated  into  everj 
princip;il  Indian  Vernacular.  It  has,  in  the  East  as  in  the  West, 
proved  to  be  tbe  most  popular  Christian  book  next  to  the  Bible. 
Mrs.  Sherwood,  -wife  of  an  Indian  officer,  and  the  weil-known  story- 
writer  of  the  last  generation,  wrote,  in  English,  a  curious  adaptation 
of  it  for  the  use  of  the  natives,  called  "The  Indian  Pihjrim;  or,  the 
Progress  of  the  Pilgrim  Niizareenee  from  the  City  of  the  Wrath  of 
God  to  the  City  of  Mount  Zion."  But  tbat  tin.-  genius  of  Bunyan 
has  made  his  Dream  as  suitable  to  the  Oriental  as  to  the  Western, 
without  such  tampering  with  it,  is  shown  by  the  popularity  of  the 
"  Piltriiin's  Progress  "  even  with  nou-Christian  Asiatics. 


56  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1845. 

not  tliis  exactly  our  coDdition  ?  Are  not  we  now 
lingering  in  tlie  City  of  Destruction  ?  Is  it  not  our 
duty  to  act  like  Christian — to  arise,  forsake  all,  and 
flee  for  our  lives  ?"  On  the  next  idol  festival,  when 
even  Hindoo  married  women  are  allowed  liberty 
enough  to  visit  their  female  caste  friends  in  neigh- 
bouring houses  in  closed  palankeens,  Umesh  conducted 
his  true-hearted  little  wife  to  Dr.  Duff's  house.  The 
then  deceased  Mahendra  had  supplied  the  copy  of 
Bunyan's  "Pilgrim"  which  had  thus  been  blessed,  and 
the  more  recent  convert,  Jugadishwar,  had  assisted 
Umesh  in  the  flight.  They  came  to  the  missionary's 
house  on  the  Sabbath  afternoon,  on  the  close  of  a 
prayer  meeting  which  one  of  the  elders  of  the  Free 
Church  congregation,  Mr.  J.  C.  Stewart,  son  of  Dr. 
Stewart  of  Moulin,  used  to  hold  with  the  converts. 
"  While  meditating  in  my  own  closet  on  the  ways  of 
God,"  Dr.  Duff  wrote  afterwards,  "  and  wondering 
whether  and  in  what  way  He  might  graciously  inter- 
pose to  deliver  us  from  our  distresses,  suddenly 
Umesh,  his  wife  and  Jugadishwar  appeared  before 
me.  It  looked  like  the  realization  of  a  remarkable 
dream.  '  The  Lord  be  praised,'  said  I.  What  could 
I  say  less  ?  His  mercy  endureth  for  ever.  He  had 
visited  and  holpen  His  servants." 

Now  began  a  tumult  such  as  no  previous  case,  not 
even  Gopeenath's,  had  excited.  Dr.  Duff's  house  was 
literally  besieged.  The  MuUiks  as  well  as  the  Sirkars, 
both  families  or  clans,  and  their  Brahmans,  beset  the 
young  man.  They  attempted  violence,  so  that  the  gate 
was  shut  next  day  to  all  but  the  father,  the  brother, 
and  the  wealthy  chief  of  the  Mulliks.  For  days  this 
went  on,  for  the  missionary  would  not  deny  to  the 
new  convert's  family  that  which  was  the  only  weapon 
he  claimed  for  Christ — persuasion.  At  last  the  scene 
changed  to  the  Supreme  Court.      Choosing  his   time 


.^t.  39.   SHi    L.WVllENCE    PKKL    VINDICATES    TOLERATION.         57 

when  tlie  court  was  rising  for  the  day,  the  father's 
counsel  moved  for  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  to  be 
directed  to  Dr.  Duff  to  produce  Umesh  Chunder,  on 
the  affidavit  that  the  youth  was  only  a  little  more  than 
fourteen  3^ears  of  age,  and  was  kept  in  illegal  restraint. 
The  Chief  Justice  himself  was  on  the  bench,  and  Mr. 
Macleod  Wylie  happened  not  to  have  left  the  court. 
Sir  Lawrence  Peel,  worthy  to  be  the  cousin  of  a  states- 
man like  Sir  Robert,  knew  that  Dr.  Duff  would  not 
exercise  restraint  of  any  kind.  Suspecting  the  truth 
of  the  affidavit,  he  investigated  the  case  at  once,  and 
the  writ  was  refused.  The  youth  was  really  above 
eighteen  years  of  age.  There  was  no  question  raised 
as  to  his  wife.  Both  were  baptized,  while  a  crowd  of 
the  Mulliks'  followers  raged  outside,  and  their  chief 
and  the  convert's  father  declined  to  be  witnesses  of  the 
solemn  service.  In  Beno^al  at  least  this  was  "  the 
first  instance  of  a  respectable  Hindoo  and  his  wife 
being  both  admitted  at  the  same  time,  on  a  profession 
of  their  own  faith,  into  the  Church  of  Christ  by  bap- 
tism." And  the  husband  had  brought  the  wife  into 
the  one  fold.  So,  after  the  presentation  by  Gopeenath 
and  his  wife  of  their  boy  for  baptism,  the  creation 
of  the  Christian  family  in  the  very  heart  of  Brah- 
manism  became  complete.  Silently  is  the  little  leaven 
leavening  the  whole  lump. 

A  week  after,  the  tumult  was  repeated  in  the  case 
of  one  who  had  been  a  student  for  eight  years,  and 
is  now  the  Rev.  Baikunta  Nath  Day,  of  Culna.  He 
found  refuge  with  Dr.  Thomas  Smith,  then  residing 
in  the  suburbs  of  Calcutta.  Thence,  in  the  missionary's 
absence,  he  was  forcibly  abducted,  and  was  imprisoned, 
in  chains,  in  a  distant  relative's  house.  Mr.  Wylie 
obtained  a  writ  of  habeas  coipus,  but  it  was  found  im- 
possible to  execute  that,  as  happened  about  the  same 
time   in  Dr.   Wilson's  case  in   Bombay.      Meanwhila 


58  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1845 

against  Christ  and  the  chains  Baikiinta's  family  set 
all  the  sensual  pleasures  in  which  idolatry  is  so  fertile. 
As  Dr.  Duff  reported  the  case,  "  every  attempt  was 
made  not  only  to  pervert  the  mind,  but  corrupt  the 
very  morals  of  the  young  man — in  order,  if  possible, 
to  unfit  him  for  becoming  a  member  of  the  visible 
Church  of  Christ.  What  a  testimony  to  the  purity 
of  Christianity  ! — the  very  heathen  practically  confess- 
ing that  impurity  and  uncleanness  are  incompatible 
with  an  honest  or  consistent  profession  !  and  that  one 
of  the  surest  ways  of  preventing  a  person  from  becom- 
ing a  Christian,  is  to  debase  his  moral  feeling,  and 
brinof  the  stain  of  vice  on  his  character  !  What  a 
testimony,  on  the  other  hand,  against  heathenism  !  It 
can  tolerate  any  enormity — theft,  drunkenness,  hypo- 
crisy, debauchery — these,  and  such  like  violations  of 
the  moral  law,  it  can  wink  at,  palliate,  or  even  vindi- 
cate ;  but  to  seek  for  the  pardon  of  sin,  and  the 
sanctification  of  a  polluted  heart,  by  faith  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  the  open  profession  of  His  name — • 
this,  this  it  cannot  and  will  not  endure,  but  must  visit 
with  reproach,  ignominy,  and  persecution  even  unto 
death  !  Happily,  however,  the  young  man  was  en- 
abled to  resist  all  temptations  and  allurements ;  and 
happily,  too,  he  was  not  overcome,  so  as  to  deny  or 
be  ashamed  of  the  name  of  Jesus."  The  place  of  his 
captivity  was  discovered,  the  writ  compelled  his  sur- 
render, and  he  has  since  been  an  earnest  teacher  and 
accredited  preacher  of  the  truth  of  which  he  thus 
witnessed  a  good  confession. 

The  record,  in  their  own  language,  of  the  doubts  and 
fears,  the  aspirations  and  convictions,  the  turning 
and  the  triumph  of  the  converts  from  Brahmanism 
and  Muhammadanism,  in  India,  influenced  by  all  the 
Churches  but  especially  by  the  Scottish  system  of 
evaugeliziug,  would    form  a   volume  precious  to  the 


ALt  39.  THE    SEVEN    FAITHFUL    ONES.  59 

history  oi  Christiariity,  early  and  later.  The  Clemen- 
tines and  the  Confessions  of  Augustine  would  have 
many  a  parallel.  We  do  not  doubt  that  coming 
generations  of  the  Churcli  of  India  will,  in  their 
own  tongue,  thus  tell  the  wonderful  works  of  God. 
But  it  would  be  well  if  the  detailed  experiences  of 
the  first  converts  in  Calcutta  and  Bombay,  in  Madras 
and  Nagpore,  in  Allahabad  and  Agra,  in  Lahore  and 
Peshawur,  were  collected  before  it  is  too  late.  We  need 
do  no  more  tlian  mention  the  names  of  the  ^hree  other 
converts  who  made  up  the  seven  faithful  ones  whom 
Dr.  Duff's  Free  Church  College  at  the  opening  of  the 
second  year  of  its  existence  sent  to  the  baptismal 
font.  These  were  Banka  Beliari  Bose,  Harish  Chunder 
Mitter,  and  Beni  Madhub  Kur.  Nor  were  Hindoos  the 
only  converts.  Five  Jews,  headed  by  Rabbi  Isaac,  and 
forming  an  almost  patriarchal  household,  were  led  by 
an  English  officer,  whom  the  Disruption  had  attracted 
to  the  Free  Church,  to  seek  instruction  from  Dr.  Duff 
and  baptism  into  the  name  of  Jesus  the  Messiah. 

Again  was  there  raised  the  cry  of  "  Hindooism  in 
danger."  The  Institution,  which  in  its  college  and 
school  departments  had  risen  to  above  a  thousand  in 
daily  attendance,  and  thirteen  hundred  on  tlie  roll,  lost 
three  hundred  youths  in  one  week.  In  his  first  cam- 
paign of  1830-34,  Dr.  Duff  had  found  himself  fronted 
by  the  orthodox  Brahmanical  families  only.  But  now 
these  were  reinforced  by  the  wealthy  clans  of  MuUiks 
and  Seels,  by  men  of  low  but  respectable  castes  who, 
under  the  previous  half-century  of  British  rule,  had 
risen  from  the  bu3ang  and  selling  of  empty  beer  bottles 
and  other  European  refuse,  to  become  landholders  with 
a  capital  reckoned  literally  by  crores  of  rupees  or  mil- 
lions sterliag.  The  poverty  and  greed  of  the  Brahman- 
ical priesthood,  allied  with  the  wealth  of  the  socially 
ambitious    nouveaux   riches^  on  whom  it  conferred  a 


6o  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1845. 

sanctified  respectability,  became  apparently  a  far  more 
formidable  opposition  than  any  which  the  Scottish 
Missions  had  yet  been  called  to  encounter.  Nor  was 
this  all.  Jesuits  had  invaded  the  diocese  of  the  Irish 
Roman  Catholic  bishop,  and  he  was  long  in  getting 
them  driven  out,  only,  however,  to  see  them  return 
in  that  greater  force  which  has  of  late  injured  the 
true  interests  of  the  Papacy  in  the  East.  While  the 
Brahmans  cursed  Dr.  Duff,  their  low  caste  allies,  the 
Seels  and  Mulliks,  resolved  to  establish  a  rival  college. 
They  turned  to  the  Jesuits,  and  to  an  Irish  adventurer 
named  Tuite,  as  the  only  so-called  Christians  who 
would  consent  to  teach  English  and  "Western  science  on 
purely  secular  lines.  Thus  was  established  Seel's  Free 
College,  of  which  a  Mullik  is  still  the  secretary,  and  is 
now  so  fair  as  to  write  in  the  last  report  we  have  seen  : 
"  I  must  acknowledge  the  great  benefit  which  has  been 
derived  by  our  children  from  the  efforts  of  Christian 
missionaries."  Similarly  one  Gourmohun  Addy  estab- 
lished the  Oriental  Seminary  as  an  adventure  school. 

Apart  from  the  intolerance  and  bigotry  of  the  move- 
ment it  is  deeply  to  be  regretted,  and  most  of  all  by 
the  missionaries,  that  the  natives  of  India,  of  all  creeds, 
have  not  thus  independently  sought  to  supply  educa- 
tion to  their  children  after  their  own  fashion.  They 
began  to  do  this  in  1818  in  the  Hindoo  College.  But 
they  always  childishly  fell  back  on  Government  for 
public  instruction  as  for  political  and  administrative 
development.  As  between  them  and  the  missionaries 
a  fair  grant-in-aid  system  would  have  brought  out 
the  self-reliant  natives,  and  men  of  Dr.  Duff's  stamp 
at  least  had  no  fear  of  the  issue  in  so  fair  a  field. 
But  as  between  Government  and  the  missionaries — 
a  Government  necessarily  neutral  in  principles  and 
secular  or  antichristian  in  practice — the  Churches  and 
the  Parliament  of  the  governing  country  see  all  tliat  is 


^Et.  39.  HINDOO] SM    FIGHTING    CHEISTIANITY.  6i 

good  in  Tlindooisra  destroyed,  ■while  that  alone  which 
can  fill  the  moral  void  and  supply  the  spiritual  motive 
power  is  officially  discouraged.  It  is  orthodox  Hin- 
doos, in  each  generation,  who  are  the  present  victims, 
as  they  bitterly  complain.  But  it  is  the  public  security 
and  contentment,  the  national  progress  and  peace, 
which  are  threatened,  as  Lord  Northbrook  and  even 
Lord  Lytton  have  lately  confessed.  The  Churches  and 
their  agents  are  meanwhile  injuriously  checked  by  the 
unparalleled  patronage,  by  the  Indian  Government,  of 
a  system  of  purely  secular  public  instruction,  in  de- 
fiance of  the  Despatch  of  1854,  which  Dr.  Duff,  as  we 
shall  see,  devised  as  a  remedy  fair  to  all.  He  himself 
must  now  picture  the  scene  : — 

"Calcutta,  July  2,  1845. 

"My  Dear  Dr.  Gordon, — Our  Institution  is  still  standing — 
standing  out  bravely  auhd  the  incessant  peltings  of  a  storm 
which  has  continued  to  rage  for  two  months  with  scarcely  a 
single  lull.  Thanks  be  to  God  for  the  i-esult !  Shaken  it  has 
been — severely  shaken  ;  how  could  it  be  otherwise  ?  But  the 
real  wonder  is,  that  it  has  not  been  toi'n  up,  root  and  branch. 
The  combination  against  it  has  been  all  but  universal,  includ- 
ing nearly  the  whole  rank,  wealth  and  power  of  the  native 
community,  of  all  classes,  sects  and  castes. 

"  Were  it  not  for  the  adhesive  force  of  the  attachment  of 
our  pupils  to  ourselves  and  our  system,  the  Institution,  as  a 
living  one,  would  undoubtedly  have  been  clean  swept  away. 
Whence,  then,  this  attachment?  Solely  from  the  considerate 
kindness  with  which  love  to  their  souls  ever  prompts  us  to  treat 
them ;  and  from  the  nature  of  the  instruction  received,  both  as 
regards  its  substance  and  the  mode  of  its  conveyance.  Only 
let  us  become  cold,  lukewarm,  or  inattentive  in  our  personal 
exertions  and  intercourse  with  the  pupils;  and  let  the  fulness 
and  efificiency  of  our  course  of  instruction  suffer  any  material 
diminution  or  abatement;  and  then,  however  the  Institution 
may  rear  up  its  head  amid  the  sunshine  and  the  calm,  the  very 
first  gust  of  a  tempest,  like  that  which  has  recently  swept  over 
it,  would  blow   it  all   away.      There  is  no  medium   between 


62  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUIT.  1845. 

doing  our  work  thoroughly  and  not  doing  it  at  all.  No  exer- 
tioUj  therefore^  and  no  reasonable  expense,  should  ever  be 
spared  in  maintaining  unimpaired  the  vigour  and  effectiveness 
of  the  entire  machinery — physical,  intellectual,  moral  and 
religious.  On  this,  humanly  speaking,  depends  the  whole 
dynamic  force  of  our  well-doing  in  connection  with  its  vital 
bearings  on  the  mightiest  interest  of  time  and  eternity. 

*'  Recent  events  have  also  tended  strikingly  to  exhibit  the 
weakness  and  helplessness  of  Hindooism.  Its  whole  strength, 
in  the  metropolis  of  India,  has  been  mustered  in  hostile  array 
against  Christianity  and  its  missionaries.  Rajas  and  Zemin- 
dars, Baboos  and  Bralimans,  have  all  combined,  counselled,  and 
plotted  together.  An  eye-witness,  at  one  of  the  great  Sabbath 
meetings  at  which  not  fewer  than  two  thousand  were  present, 
assured  me  that  several  hundreds  consisted  of  Bralimans,  who, 
at  times,  literally  wept  and  sobbed,  and  audibly  cried  out, 
saying  '  that  the  religion  of  Brahma  was  threatened  with  de- 
struction, and  that,  unless  energetic  measures  were  instantly 
adopted,  their  vocation  would  soon  be  at  an  end  !  '  In  such 
a  desperate  crisis  of  affairs,  what  plans  might  naturally  suggest 
themselves  to  men  upborne  by  a  penetrating  consciousness  of 
the  rectitude  of  their  own  cause  ?  Would  it  not  be  the  insti- 
tuting of  a  public  lectui-eship,  or  some  other  engine  for  ex- 
posing the  claims  and  pretensions  of  the  so  much  dreaded 
Christianity? — the  contemporaneous  establishing  of  lecture- 
ships, professorships,  or  other  appropriate  means  for  expound- 
ing, inculcating,  and  upholding  the  tenets  and  peculiarities  of 
the  Hindoo  religion  and  ritual  ?  But  no;  the  pt^e vailing  taste 
is  not  found,  after  all,  to  lie  in  this  way;  a  new  current  is  dis- 
covered setting  in  a  contrary  direction.  The  grand  object  is 
to  crush  Christianity  and  perpetuate  Hindooism.  And  how  is 
this  end  to  be  compassed  by  the  united  wisdom  of  Hindoo 
princes,  nobles,  and  sages  ?  By  founding  an  English  college 
for  the  teaching  of  European  literature  and  science  !  They  have 
done  the  worst  which  they  could  against  us ;  and  this  is  the 
worst !  In  other  words,  the  most  effective  measure  which,  in 
the  present  state  of  things  in  the  metropolis  of  British  India, 
the  confederated  votaries  of  Hindooism  have  been  able  to  con- 
trive against  Christianity — its  encroachments  and  threatened 
successes — has  been  to  originate  a  new  scheme  of  English 
education  ! — a  scheme  which,  from  its  exclusion  of  Christianity 


JEt.  39.  LEAGUE    AGAINST    DR.    DUFF's    COLLKGE.  6^ 

may,  in  the  first  instance,  be,  or  appear  to  be,  hostile  to  it ; 
but  which,  in  the  long  run,  will  by  no  means  be  found  neces- 
sarily hostile,  and  often  positively  friendly ;  while,  in  the  end, 
it  is  sure  to  prove  absolutely  ruinous  and  suicidal  as  regards 
Hindooism  !  In  briefer  and  plainer  words  still — the  only  way 
at  present  in  Calcutta  for  upholding  Hindooism,  is  to  establish 
a  system  which  must  eventually  prove  fatal  to  it !  What  a 
singular  commentary  does  this  one  fact  furnish  on  the  extra- 
ordinary peculiarity  of  the  presence,  position,  and  destiny  of 
the  British  power  in  India  !  Surely  there  are  mystei-ies  of  Pro- 
vidence here  to  call  for  the  gravest  reflection,  while  they  baffle 
all  our  efforts  adequately  to  comprehend  or  conceive  them  ! 

"  Recent  events  have  also  supplied  fresh  evidence  of  the 
importance  of  Calcutta  as  a  centre  of  operations — a  focus  of 
emanative  influences.  To  it,  as  the  emporium  of  commerce, 
and  the  seat  of  the  supreme  government  as  well  as  of  the 
supreme  courts  of  review,  natives  resort  from  all  parts  of 
Eastern  India.  These  keep  up  a  regular  and  extensive  corre- 
spondence with  their  respective  homes.  In  this  way  intelli- 
gence of  all  movements  and  occurrences  here  is  rapidly  con- 
veyed to  all  parts  of  the  country.  A  few  days  sufficed  to  make 
the  principal  stations,  and  many  of  the  obscurest  villages  in 
Bengal,  acquainted  with  the  general  drift  and  character  of 
recent  measures,  and  their  originating  causes.  Not  later  than 
yesterday,  I  happened  to  receive  a  letter  from  a  gentleman  at 
a  remote  station,  considerably  beyond  Allahabad,  in  the  upper 
provinces.  He  states  that  the  great  anti- missionary  movement, 
or  rather  Anti-Free-Church-Institution  movement  in  Calcutta, 
almost  immediately  affected  the  missionary  schools  there. 
Some  natives  of  that  place,  presently  resident  in  Calcutta,  had 
written  to  their  friends,  apprizing  them  of  all  that  had  happened, 
and  urging  them  to  sound  the  alarm  far  and  wide,  with  the 
view  of  withdrawing  all  children  from  the  missionary  schools. 
Many  took  the  alarm,  and  acted  on  the  advice;  so  that  for  a 
few  weeks  the  schools  were  seriously  affected.  The  panic, 
however,  was  gradually  abating ;  and  it  was  expected  that  ere 
long  all  would  return.  Who  may  not  perceive  in  these  suc- 
cessive waves  of  alarm  rolling  over  the  great  Gangetic  valley, 
containing  more  than  half  the  population  of  all  India — stirring 
up  the  dormant  myriads  into  something  like  wakefulness, 
originating    new    and    unwonted    inquiries,    suggesting  now 


64  LIFE    OP    DR.    DUFF.  1S45. 

thotiglits,  introducing  new  ideas,  and  leading  to  new  and 
strano-e  forebodings  of  future  change — who  may  not  perceive 
in  all  this  one  of  the  many  providential  preparations  for  the 
ultimate  and  more  effective  propagation  of  the  Gospel  itself? 
And  what  is  true  of  Calcutta  is,  in  a  corresponding  measure, 
true  of  Madras  and  Bombay. 

"  How  often  does  the  Word  of  God  assure  us  that,  sooner  or 
later,  tlie  wicked  shall  be  taken  in  their  own  craftiness,  and 
fall  into  the  pit  which,  they  have  dug  for  others  !  An  instruc- 
tive example  of  this  has  occurred  in  connection  with  the  recent 
antichristian  movement.  The  united  meeting  of  Hindoos  had 
resolved  to  draw  up  a  written  form  of  agreement,  which,  under 
the  threat  of  excommunication,  or  loss  of  caste,  was  to  be 
forced  on  the  parents  and  guardians  of  pupils  attending  our 
Institution.  In  compulsorily  signing  this  agreement,  they  were 
to  bind  themselves  to  remove  the  pupils  from  ours,  and  send 
them  to  the  new  college.  This  agreement  was  regarded  as  the 
grand  bond  of  union  and  strength  to  the  confederacy,  and  the 
surest  guarantee  of  the  success  of  its  leading  scheme.  Well, 
the  agreement  was  formally  drawn  up.  Its  principal  concocter 
happened  to  be  a  leader  of  the  Brahma  Sobha,  or  Yedant 
school  of  Hiudooism,  which  professes  to  worship  one  supreme 
something,  called  Brahma.  Now,  from  unchanging  hereditary 
usage,  every  written  document  among  the  natives,  however 
commonplace,  must  be  headed  by  the  name  or  designation  of 
one  or  other  of  the  popular  deities.  In  this  part  of  India  it  is 
usually  that  of  Ganesha,  the  god  of  wisdom,  or  one  or  other  of 
the  names  of  the  favourite  Krishna,  one  of  the  incarnations  of 
Vishnoo.  Consistently  with  their  own  professions,  the  members 
of  the  Brahma  Sobha  could  not  employ  any  of  these.  Brahma, 
or  any  one  of  his  peculiar  designations,  is  their  symbol.  On 
the  present  occasion,  however,  no  peculiar  symbol  of  the 
Brahma  Sobha  could  be  introduced,  as  that  would  offend  and 
irritate  the  members  of  the  Dharma  Sobha,  the  devoted  up- 
holders of  polytheism  in  its  grossest  forms.  It  would  also  be 
objected  to  by  the  colluvies  of  individuals  who  belong  to  neither 
of  these  Sobhas.  Accordingly,  the  author  of  the  written 
agreement  and  his  coadjutors  thought  they  had  solved  the 
difficulty  by  proposing  to  insert,  at  the  head  of  the  document, 
the  simple  term  for  '  God,'  viz.,  Ishwar.  This,  they  con- 
cluded, would  suit  all  parties,  and  each  might  then  put  what 


^t.  39.  THE    ANTI-CHRISTIAN    LEAGUE.  65 

interpretation  on  the  word  ho  pleased.  An  adherent  of  the 
Brahma  Sobha  might  suppose  it  meant  Brahma,  the  supremo 
god ;  an  adherent  of  the  Dharma  Sobha  might  suppose  ib 
meant  any  ono  of  the  gods  in  the  Hindoo  Pantheon ;  an  ad- 
herent of  neither  might  suppose  it  meant  the  god  of  his  system, 
whether  that  were  Nature,  Necessity,  Chance,  or  any  other 
equally  preposterous  phantom.  With  the  capacious  latitu- 
dinarian  superscription  of  Ishwar,  or  '  God,'  therefore,  the 
agreement  was  put  in  circulation.  Reaching  the  gooroo,  or 
Brahmanical  spiritual  guide  of  the  Raja  Rhadakant  Deb — a 
genuine  representative  of  the  uncompromising  orthodoxy  of 
the  ago  of  the  Rishis,  or  divine  sages,  and  Manu — he  at  once 
snuffed  heresy  in  the  document.  '  What  innovation  is  this  ?  ' 
exclaimed  he,  in  conservative  ire;  *what  strange  innovation  is 
this  ?  Who  ever  heard  of  the  simple  term  Islnuar  being  at  tho 
head  of  an  orthodox  document  ?  No,  no  ;  this  must  be  some 
new  symbol  of  the  Brahma  Sobha;  and  by  inserting  it  here, 
they  wish  to  entrap  us  and  commit  us  to  their  newfangled 
fancies.  No,  no ;  this  will  not  do  at  all.'  So  saying,  in  sub- 
stance, he  seized  his  genuine  calam  or  reed-pen,  blotted  out 
the  term  Ishwar,  and  substituted,  Sri  Sri  Hari,  one  of  tho 
appellations  of  Krishna.  The  document  then  proceeded  on 
its  travels.  It  soon  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  member  of  the 
Brahma  Sobha.  '  What  ! '  exclaimed  he  in  his  turn,  '  What ! 
sign  a  document  with  Sri  Sri  Hari  at  the  head  of  it  ?' — Hari, 
whose  most  notable  exploits  were  the  running  away  with 
the  clothes  of  a  poor  washerman,  and  the  playing  all  sorts  of 
fantastic  pranks  with  sixteen  thousand  milkmaids!  'No,  no; 
this  will  never  do.  To  sign  a  document  so  headed,  would  be  to 
re-coramit  me  to  a  formal  sanctioning  of  all  the  gods  and 
goddesses  whose  woi'ship,  as  a  member  of  the  Brahma  Sobha, 
I  profess  to  slight  or  despise.'  So  saying,  he  must  needs 
scratch  out  tho  obnoxious  Sri  Sri  Hari,  and  re-introduce 
Ishwar  instead.  At  length  matters  threatened  to  come  to 
an  open  rupture.  The  subject  was  fully  debated  at  a  public 
meeting.  It  was  there  so  far  compromised.  The  wound, 
however,  was  only  patched  up — not  healed.  And  though, 
from  fear  of  failure,  policy  and  other  causes,  an  outward  truce 
has  apparently  been  the  result,  it  has  left  a  fatal  sore,  that 
keeps  rankling  within,  and  may  some  day  unpleasantly  show. 
Thus  ic  has  happened  that  the  agreement  which  was  expected 
VOL.    I[.  F 


66  LIFE    or    DR.    DUIT.  1847. 

to  form  the  very  bond  of  union  and  strength,  has  been  so 
overruled  as  to  prove  a  source  of  jealousy,  rivalry  and  weak- 
ness ! " 

After  a  lull  for  two  years,  the  opposition  was  again 
fanned,  by  further  baptisms,  into  a  flame  which  threat- 
ened the  destruction  of  Dr.  Duff  himself.  Uma  Churn 
Ghose,  baptized  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Macdonald  just  before 
death  removed  that  saintly  man,  was  made  over  to 
the  Church  Missionary  Society,  for  service  at  Jubbul- 
pore.  Then  followed,  in  1847,  four  baptisms,  by  Dr. 
Duff,  of  Koolin  Brahmans — Pran  Kissen  Gangooly, 
since  employed  at  Arrah ;  Kalee  Das  Chukurbutfcy, 
sent  to  Hyderabad  as  a  teacher ;  Judoo  Nath  Ban- 
erjea,  who  became  treasurer  of  the  Small  Cause 
Court  at  Kooshtea ;  and  Shib  Chunder  Banerjea. 
The  last  has  ever  since  been  one  of  the  most  faithful 
catechists  and  preachers  yet  given  to  the  Church  of 
India.  Labouring  with  his  hands  like  Paul,  that  he 
may  be  at  no  man's  charges,  and  trusted  by  the 
Government  he  serves  in  its  treasury,  alike  at  Calcutta 
and  Simla,  the  zealous,  eloquent  Rev.  Shib  Chunder 
Banerjea  gives  all  his  leisure  to  evangelizing  his 
countrymen.  With  his  name  we  may  here  associate 
that  of  a  convert  of  1850,  who  was  baptized  after 
Soorjya  Koomar  Haldar,  head-master  of  a  school,  and 
Deena  Nath  Adhya,  a  Government  deputy  magistrate. 
Shyama  Churn  Mookerjea  showed  all  the  manly  as  well 
as  Christian  virtues  which  Macaulay  failed  to  find  in 
the  Bengalee.  Having  embraced  Christ  with  the  whole 
strength  of  his  nature,  and  being  denied  his  wife  in 
the  absence  of  the  Christian  marriage  and  divorce  law 
passed  too  late  for  his  case,  he  visited  this  country  to 
study  as  an  engineer,  shouldered  his  rifle  as  a  volunteer 
in  Agra  Fort  during  the  Mutiny,  and  has  since  been 
the  generous  friend  of  his  poorer  Christian  countrymen. 
He  started  a  native  mission  of  his  own  in  East  Bengal, 


JEt.  41.   THE    TUIRD    COVENANT    AGAINST    CIIKISTIANITY.        67 

and  be  is  now  the  popular  hymn- writer  for  and  man- 
ager of  those  'keertuns'  or  services  of  sacred  song  by 
which,  every  Sabbath  evening,  hundreds  of  Hindoos 
are  attracted  to  hear  the  gospel  in  the  Institution 
where  he  himself  found  Christ.  To  all  the  new  con- 
versions of  18-17  was  added  the  first  in  Dr.  Duff's  old 
Institution  since  it  had  been  opened  by  the  Established 
Church — the  baptism  of  one  of  his  old  students.  That 
resulted  in  the  defeat  of  the  Hindoo  application  for 
a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  the  youth  having  reached 
the  years  of  discretion.  The  old  animosity,  fed  by 
terror,  burst  out,  and  all  native  Calcutta  held  what 
the  English  daily  papers  called  "  an  antichristian 
meeting,"  a  "  Hindoo  demonstration  against  the  Mis- 
sionaries and  Christianity."  The  Hiirlcaru  thus  re- 
ported the  scene  on  Sunday  the  19th  September,  1848  : 
"  The  meeting  was  crowded  to  excess  by  a  curious 
and  motley  group  of  natives,  of  every  caste  and  creed. 
There  was  the  Gosain,  with  his  head  full  of  Jaydeva, 
and  the  amorous  feats  of  his  sylvan  deity ;  the  Tan- 
trist,  still  heated  with  the  hhacJcra  or  Bacchanalian 
carousal  of  the  preceding  night;  the  educated  Free- 
thinker, as  ignorant  of  God  as  he  was  of  the  world 
when  at  college;  the  Yedantist,  combining,  in  himself, 
the  unitarianism  of  the  Vedist  with  the  liberalism  of 
the  Freethinker — all  assembled  under  the  general 
appellation  of  Hindoo,  to  adopt  proposals  of  the  best 
means  for  the  oppression  of  the  common  enemy.  The 
proceedings  began  with  Raja  Rhadakant  Deb  taking 
the  chair.  It  was  resolved  that  a  society  be  formed, 
named  the  Hindoo  Society,  and  that,  in  the  first  in- 
stance, each  of  the  heads  of  castes,  sects,  and  parties 
at  Calcutta,  orthodojx  as  well  as  heterodox,  should,  as 
members  of  the  said  society,  sign  a  certain  covenant, 
binding  him  to  take  strenuous  measures  to  prevent 
any  person  belonging  to  his  caste,  sect,  or  party,  from 


68  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1848. 

educating  his  son  or  ward  at  any  of  the  missionary 
institutions  at  Calcutta,  on  pain  of  excommunication 
from  the  said  caste,  or  sect,  or  party.  Many  of  such 
heads  present  signed  the  covenant.  It  was  presumed 
that  the  example  will  be  soon  followed  by  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  Mofussil.  One  of  the  orthodox  party 
present  at  the  meeting  said,  after  its  dissolution, 
addressing  himself  to  the  boys  present — '  Babas,  be 
followers  of  one  Grod;  that  is,  Yedantists.  Eat 
whatever  you  like,  do  whatever  you  like,  but  be  not 
a  Christian." 

Such  of  the  British  residents  in  Calcutta  thirty  years 
ago  as  still  survive,  have  a  lively  recollection  of  the  ter- 
rorism of  that  time  in  the  native  quarter.  The  favour- 
ite and  the  familiar  mode  of  attacking  private  enemies 
and  redressing  private  wrongs,  in  defiance  of  the  law, 
was  by  hiring  latteeals,  or  club-men.  The  courts  in  the 
interior  were  then  few,  and  comparatively  powerless. 
Native  landholders  and  British  indigo-planterc  thus, 
too  often,  settled  their  differences  about  lands  and 
crops,  for  the  East  India  Company  was  too  conserva- 
tive to  keep  pace  with  administrative  and  legislative 
necessities.  But  in  Calcutta  the  Supreme  Court  had 
administered  English  criminal  and  sectarian  civil  law, 
ever  since  the  dread  days  of  Sir  Elijah  Impey,  with 
stern  impartiality.  There,  at  least,  there  was  quiet. 
Nevertheless,  so  determined  were  the  orthodox  and 
the  vicious  Hindoo  majority  to  stop  these  conversions, 
that  some  of  them  plotted  to  get  rid  of  the  great 
cause  of  them  all,  as  they  supposed.  Dr.  Duff.  Mr. 
Seton-Karr,  then  a  young  civilian,  still  recalls  to  us 
*'  the  great  stir  made  by  some  conversions,  and  the 
threats  of  a  physical  attack  by  latteeals  to  be  made 
on  Dr.  Duff,  to  which  he  replied  with  his  characteristic 
intrepidity."  Having  previously  discussed  "  the  new 
anti-missionary  movement "  in  letters  to  the  HurJiarUy 


^t.  42.  UIS   TEUI^ON    TEEEATENED.  bg 

signed  "  Iiulopliilus,"  under  the  same  name  Dr.  Daff 
addressed  this  "  statement  and  appeal,"  this  "  word 
of  faithful  and  firm,  yet  kindly  admonition,  to  some 
of  the  Calcutta  Baboos." 

"  TO  THE  NATIVE  GENTLEMEN  OF  CALCUTTA. 

"Dbar  Sirs, — For  some  days  past,  sundry  disagreeable 
rumours  have  been  afloat  among  the  native  community  of  this 
city.  At  first  I  treated  them  with  perfect  indifference ;  but 
they  have  been  reiterated  so  often,  and  have  reached  me  from  so 
many  quarters,  alike  native  and  European,  that  I  now  deem  it 
most  just  towards  all  parties  thus  publicly  to  notice  them. 
The  nature  of  these  rumours  may  best  appear  from  the  follow- 
ing extracts  from  certain  communications,  which  have  been 
addressed  to  me  by  gentlemen  of  character  and  respectability, 

"  One  writes  thus  : — 'There  is,  I  hear,  a  conspiracy  among 
the  wealtliy  Baboos  to  hire  some  ruffians  to  maltreat  you. 
If  you  treat  it  (the  report)  with  contempt,  you  will  go  on  as 
usual.  On  the  contrary,  if  you  think  the  report  to  be  true, 
you  will  avoid  going  out  at  night,  or  rather  never  go  the 
same  road  twice  together.'  Another  writes  thus  : — '  1  am  no 
alarmist;  but,  whether  with  reference  to  the  late  baptisms,  or 
other  gouLTal  causes,  I  have  been  credibly  and  seriously 
informed  this  day  that  there  is,  or  is  to  be,  a  plot,  by  which 
some  ruffians  of  the  baser  sort  are  hired  to  assault  you — when, 
or  where,  could  not  of  course  be  stated.  Weighing  the  matter 
well,  I  thought  it  right  to  communicate  this  in  common  pru- 
dence. Pray,  do  not  at  least  go  out  at  night,  nor  retuim  by 
the  same  road,'  etc, 

"  These  extracts,  from  some  of  the  communications  addressed 
to  me  by  respectable  gentlemen,  are  enough,  in  the  way  of 
sample  or  specimen,  to  indicate  the  general  character  of  the 
rumours  which  have  been  currently  prevalent  and  extensively 
believed  for  some  days  past.  And  it  is  the  strength  of  their 
prevalency,  in  connection  with  the  ci'edence  which  they  have 
so  largely  gained,  which  makes  me  feel  that  it  is  more  kind, 
more  friendly,  and  more  just  towards  those  at  whom  tho 
rumours  point,  thus  openly  and  frankly  to  appeal  to  you. 

"1.  If  that  part  of  the  rumours  be  true  which  alleges  that 
you  are  at  length  to  submit  to  sacrifices  and  self-denial  fur 


70  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1848. 

the  sake  of  being  profusely  liberal  in  tlie  cause  of  native  en- 
lightenment, no  one  can  rejoice  more  in  the  fact  than  I  do. 
The  inculcation  of  the  duty  of  liberality  in  a  worthy  cause  has 
been  one  of  the  great  objects  of  my  life  and  labours  since  I 
came  to  India.  And  were  but  a  tithe  of  what  is  now  so  lavishly 
expended  on  riotous  and  idolatrous  feasts  and  festivals,  and 
nautches,  and  marriages,  and  endless  superstitious  ceremonies, 
devoted  to  the  cause  of  English  education,  it  would  undoubtedly 
tend  to  accelerate  the  progress  of  events  towards  a  new  and 
better  era  for  this  long  benighted  land.  The  religious  societies 
in  Great  Britain  raise  anvnaUy,  by  voluntary  conti'ibutions,  at 
least  half  a  million  sterling,  or  fifty  lalchs  of  rupees,  for  the 
enlightenment  not  of  their  own  countrymen,  but  of  races  of 
men  scattered  throughout  the  world  whom  they  have  never 
seen.  And  this  they  do  because  Christianity,  Avhich  they  be- 
lieve to  be  the  only  true  and  worthy  revelation  from  God, 
enjoins  thera  to  love  all  men,  and  to  do  good  to  all,  as  they 
have  opportunity.  Now,  if  you  begin  to  set  a  similar  example 
of  liberality  in  well-doing  to  the  people  of  Asia,  and  primarily 
for  the  benefit  of  your  own  countrymen,  or  if  you  outrival 
your  fellow-subjects  in  Great  Britain,  and  thus  be  the  means 
of  stirring  them  up  to  still  greater  munificence,  I  shall  hail 
the  achievement  as  one  that  shall  gain  you  immortal  renown, 
and  for  your  country,  under  the  overruling  providence  of  God, 
an  accession  of  blessings  that  shall  enrich  and  ennoble  the 
latest  posterity. 

'^2.  As  to  the  threats  of  violence,  which,  according  to  many- 
tongued  rumour,  are  said  to  be  loweringly  suspended  over  the 
heads  of  parents  who,  in  the  free  exercise  of  their  own  parental 
rights  as  free-boi'n  citizens  of  a  free  state,  have  been  pleased, 
or  may  yet  be  pleased,  to  send  their  childi'en  to  the  Free  Church 
Institution  with  which,  for  the  last  seventeen  years,  I  have  been 
connected,  I  must,  in  the  absence  of  all  positive  proof,  and  in 
the  exercise  of  ordinaiy  charity,  believe  either  that  the  report 
is  unfounded  or  grossly  exaggerated.  That  such  rumours,  even 
if  wholly  unfounded,  should  so  readily  gain  credence  with  so 
many  of  our  fellow- citizens,  is  melancholy  enough,  as  indicative 
of  some  lingering  remnants  amongst  us  of  the  persecuting 
spirit  and  practice  of  a  bygone  age.  But  that  any  such  threats 
as  busy  rumour  insists  on  proclaiming,  should  really  have  been 
held  out  by  a  self-constituted  body  of  private  individuals,  and 


^t.  42.         HIS    APPEAL    TO    TUE    EDUCATED    NATIVES.  7 1 

hung,  in  terrorem,  over  the  heads  of  free-born  Britislx  subjects, 
their  owu  fellow-citizens,  would  bo  vastly  more  melancholy 
still.  Such  a  portentous-  phenomenon  would  prove,  beyond 
all  debate,  that  the  Calcutta  J3aboos  were  not  what  their  best 
friends  sincerely  wish  them  to  be.  Such  a  flagrant  outrage  on 
the  principles  of  toleration,  equity,  and  civil  order,  would  serve 
mournfully  to  convince  the  sincerest  advocates  of  Indian 
amelioration,  that  despite  the  multifarious  processes  of  thirty 
or  forty  years'  education,  the  Calcutta  Baboos  were  still  the 
representatives  of  antiquated  intolerance,  and  openly  repudiated 
any  genial  alliance  with  the  fraternity  of  modern  civilization. 
It  would  servo  to  transport  us  in  vision  to  the  days  of  Manu, 
or,  rather,  painfully  to  revive  amongst  us  practices  which, 
however  conformable  to  the  genius  of  the  Institutes,  would 
soon  tend  to  plunge  us  into  the  very  depths  of  a  revolting 
barbarism.  Again,  then,  for  the  sake  of  humanity,  for  the  sake 
of  the  credit  of  our  native  gentry,  I  must  suppose  that  the 
rumours  are  either  wholly  unfounded  or  grossly  exaggerated. 
Of  one  thing  I  am  sure,  and  to  their  honour  I  must  proclaim 
it,  that,  amongst  the  Calcutta  Baboos  there  are  those  whose 
kind-heartedness,  good  sense,  and  enlightened  principles, 
would  lead  them  to  shun  and  even  denounce  any  violent  and 
illegal  measures  to  coerce  their  poorer  fellow-citizens  in  the 
exercise  of  their  undoubted  rights  and  privileges,  as  men  and 
as  British  subjects. 

" 'd.  As  to  the  rumour  of  threats  respecting  myself,  I  shall 
continue  to  treat  it  as  an  'idle  tale.'  Among  the  Calcutta 
Baboos  there  are  those  whom  I  respect  and  esteem,  and  to 
whose  keeping  I  would  at  any  time  entrust  my  life,  in  the 
most  perfect  confidence  of  friendship  and  protection.  If  others, 
who  do  not  know  me  personally,  should,  in  ignorance  of  my 
principles  and  motives,  entertain  unkindly  or  hostile  feelings 
towards  me,  the  fact  would  be  in  no  way  surprising.  Even  if 
the  alleged  threats  were  real,  and  not  the  progeny  of  lying 
fiction,  I  should  not  be  in  the  least  degree  moved  by  them. 
My  trust  is  in  God;  and  to  me  that  trust  is  a  guarantee  of 
secui'ity  far  more  sure  than  a  lodgment  within  the  citadel  of 
Fort-William,  with  its  bristling  array  of  artillery.  To  this 
country  I  originally  came,  not  of  necessity,  but  by  free  choice, 
for  the  express  purpose  of  doing  what  I  could  in  diffusing 
sound  knovvledge  of  every  kind,  and  especially  the  knowledge  of 


*]2  LIPE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1848. 

that  great  salvation  whicli  is  freely  offered  in  tlie  gospel  to  all 
the  kindreds  and  tribes  of  the  fallen  family  of  man.  The  only 
means  employed  are  patient  instruction,  oral  and  written,  in 
every  variety  of  form,  accompanied  and  enforced  by  the  appli- 
ances of  moral  suasion.  Old  and  young  are  uniformly  dealt  with, 
as  endowed  with  rational  and  moral  faculties,  and,  therefore, 
accountable  for  the  proper  use  of  them.  They  are  exhorted  to 
awake,  and  arise  from  the  slumbers  of  inveterate  apathy,  incon- 
sideration,  and  indifference.  They  are  called  upon  to  acquit 
themselves  like  men,  in  thinking,  judging  and  acting  for 
themselves,  under  a  solemn  sense  of  their  responsibility  to  God, 
the  alone  Lord  of  conscience.  Of  course,  it  follows,  that  should 
any  respond  to  the  call  that  is  thus  addressed  to  them  they 
must,  in  varying  degrees,  have  eyes  open  to  discern  the  error 
and  the  evil  of  many  ancient  hereditary  beliefs,  habits,  and 
practices.  And  should  they  be  endowed  from  on  high  with 
the  necessary  fortitude  to  give  effect  to  their  new  convictions, 
the  result  is  inevitable;  they  must,  to  a  great  extent,  separate 
themselves,  in  the  present  unpropitious  and  transitionary  state 
of  things,  from  the  surrounding  mass.  That,  instead  of  admir- 
ing the  decision,  and  applauding  the  consistency  of  such  a 
course  of  conduct,  the  great  inert  mass  of  conservatism  should 
resent  the  separation  as  an  insult,  an  indignity,  an  injury  offered 
to  itself,  need  occasion  little  wonder,  however  much  the  intel- 
lectual and  moral  blindness  of  such  procedure  may  awaken 
serious  regret.  And  that  the  human  agents  or  instruments 
employed  in  effecting  such  changes,  however  pure  in  their 
motives,  benevolent  in  their  intentions,  or  disinterested  in 
their  ends  and  aims,  should  share  in  the  resentment  of  the 
thoughtless,  the  unreasonable,  the  carnally-minded,  the  selfish, 
or  the  profane,  follows  as  by  a  law  of  fatal  necessity. 

"But  we  live  by  faith,  and  not  by  sight.  Our  principles 
are  not  of  human,  but  of  divine  origination.  They  are  not 
of  mushroom  growth,  springing  up  to  serve  an  ephemeral 
purpose  to-day,  and  vanishing  to-morrow.  They  are  not  like 
the  ever-shifting  sands  of  worldly  expediency,  glancing  in  the 
sunshine  of  popular  applause  before  us  at  one  time,  and  behind 
us  at  another;  now  obedient  to  the  breeze  oa  the  right  hand, 
and  then  on  the  left.  No ;  our  principles  are,  in  their  fountain- 
head,  old  as  eternity;  and  as  they  come  streaming  forth 
athwart  the   course  oi:   time,   they    bear   upon  their  front  the 


^Et.  42.  CHIHSTIANlTy    AND    LIBEIiTY.  73 

impress  of  iminntabilifcy.  Vaia  tlien^  preposterously  vain, 
must  be  any  attempt  to  drive  us  from  the  promulgation  of 
these  ennobling  principles  by  threats  of  terror  or  of  violence. 
For,  not  only  are  they  in  their  own  nature  unchangeable,  but, 
in  their  main  scope,  purpose  and  end,  they  exhibit  an  aspect 
of  inexpressible  kindness  towards  man ;  so  much  so,  that  were 
man  not  his  own  gi'eatest  enemy  in  rejecting  them,  were  he 
only  his  own  best  friend  in  cordially  embracing  them,  his  whole 
nature  would  be  renovated,  and  the  earth  itself,  now  filled  with 
envies,  jealousies,  rivalries  and  violence,  would  be  transformed 
into  a  universal  Eden  of  blessedness.  Here  is  a  specimen  of 
the  system  of  principles  or  truths  which  we  teach  i — 

"'  In  the  beginning,  God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth.'' 
'So  God  created  man  in  His  own  image'  (or  moral  likeness). 
'And  God  saw  every  thing  He  had  made,  and  behold  it  was 
very  good.'  'God  made  man  upright,  but  they  have  sought 
out  many  inventions.'*  'By  one  man  sin  entered  into  the 
world,  and  death  by  sin;  and  so  death  passed  upon  all  men, 
for  that  all  have  sinned.'  But,  'the  Lord  is  righteous  in  all 
His  ways,  and  holy  in  all  His  works.'  He  is  'of  purer  eyes 
than  to  behold  evil,  and  cannot  look  on  iniquity.'  '  The  wrath 
of  God  is  revealed  from  heaven  against  all  unirodliness  and 
unrighteousness  of  men,  who  hold  the  truth  in  unrighteousness.* 
At  the  same  time,  the  Lord  hath  proclaimed  His  name,  saying, 
'The  Lord,  the  Lord  God  merciful  and  gracious,  longs uffering, 
and  abundant  in  goodness  and  truth  ;  keeping  mercy  for  thou- 
sands, forgiving  iniquity,  transgression  and  siti,  and  that  will 
by  no  means  clear  the  guilty.'  As  for  the  race  of  man,  'There 
is  none  righteous,  no  not  one :  there  is  none  that  understandeth, 
there  is  none  that  seeketh  after  God  :  they  are  all  gone  out  of 
the  way,  they  are  together  become  uuprolitablo ;  there  is  none 
that  doeth  good,  no,  not  one.'  But,  '  God  so  loved  the  world 
that  He  sent  His  only-begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth 
in  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  evorListing  life.'  '  God  is 
love.'  '  Herein  is  love,  not  that  we  loved  God,  but  that  He 
loved  us,  and  sent  His  Son  to  be  the  propitiation  for  our  sins.' 
'Jf  any  man  sin,  we  have  an  advocate  with  the  Father,  Jesus 
Christ  the  righteous.'  *  If  we  say  we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive 
ourselves,  and  the  truth  is  not  in  us :  if  we  confess  our  sins, 
He  is  faithful  antl  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us 
from  all  unrighLuousucbS.'      'Lot  every   one  that   nameth  the 


74  LIFE    OF   BR.    DDF  P.  1848. 

name  of  Christ  depart  from  all  iniquity/  *  Blessed  are  the 
pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God/  'Love  your  enemies; 
bless  them  that  curse  you ;  do  good  to  them  that  hate  you ; 
and  pray  for  them  which  despitefully  use  you  and  persecute 
you/  'Be  not  overcome  of  evil,  but  overcome  evil  with  good/ 
"  Such  are  somo  of  the  heavenly  principles,  which,  in  obedi- 
ence to  a  divine  command,  we  feel  ourselves  imperatively  called 
on  to  publish  and  inculcate,  for  the  temporal  and  spiritual 
improvement  of  our  fellow-creatures.  And  though  numbers 
of  the  present  genei-ation,  in  their  ignorance  and  infatuated 
blindness  to  their  own  best  interests,  should  rise  up  to  curse 
and  otherwise  maltreat  us,  through  the  appropriate  agency  of 
hired  ruffians — nevertheless,  so  far  from  being  deterrbd  from 
prosecuting  our  chosen  walk  of  truest  benevolence,  we  shall 
only  be  impelled  the  more,  by  the  pity  and  compassion  which 
such  suicidal  opposition  naust  ever  inspire,  to  persevere  with 
augmenting  diligence  and  energy  in  the  attempt  to  confer  the 
greatest  of  benefits  on  those  who  thus  blindly  resist  us ; — in 
the  full  assurance,  that,  however  they  may  misconstrue  our 
motives,  or  vilify  our  good  name,  or  thwart  our  measures,  their 
more  enlightened  descendants  shall  yet  arise  to  bless  us  for 
our  labours  of  love,  and  enshrine  our  names  in  perpetual  re- 
membrance. But  if  it  were  otherwise;  if  we  knew  for  certain, 
that  from  our  fellow-men  we  could  expect  nothing  but  hatred 
and  contempt  duriug  life,  and  the  brand  of  iufamy  attached  to 
our  names  after  death,  we  should  still  work  on,  sustained  by 
the  testimony  of  our  own  consciences  and  a  full  sense  of  the 
approbation  of  the  great  God.  In  this  world  we  never  expected 
any  adequate  return  for  our  self-denying  labours;  it  is  to  heaven 
we  have  always  looked,  in  assured  faith,  for  the  eternal  recom- 
pense of  reward.  Come  then  what  may — come  favour  or  dis- 
favour, come  weal  or  woe,  come  life  or  death — it  is  our  resolute 
purpose,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  to  persevere.  It  is  our  heart's 
desire  to  see  the  soul  of  every  son  and  daughter  of  India  truly 
regenerated  by  the  quickening  word  of  the  living  God,  accom- 
panied by  the  efficacy  of  His  almighty  Spirit ;  and  thus  to  see 
India  itself  at  length  arise  from  the  dust,  and,  through  the 
influence  of  her  regenerated  children,  become  a  pi"aise  and  a 
glory  in  the  whole  earth.  And  the  realization  of  a  consum- 
mation so  glorious,  so  far  from  beiug  retarJeJ,  can  only  be 
hastened    by    the  vigorous   execution  of   such  intolerant  and 


JEt   42.  Ills    IM'liEl'lDITY    AND    FAITH.  75 

violent  measures  as  rumour  now  so  stoutly  attributes  to  the 
short-sightedness  of  the  Calcutta  Baboos.  Truly  may  the 
Christian,  with  reference  to  the  projectors  of  such  measures, 
take  up  the  sublimely  benevolent  prayer  of  his  cruelly  perse- 
cuted and  crucified  Lord,  in  behalf  of  the  savage  murderers, 
and  say,  *  Father,  forgive  them ;  for  they  know  not  what  they 
do/  Let  the  Calcutta  Baboos,  whom  rumour  represents  as 
assembling,  on  Sundays,  in  secret  conclave  to  brood  over  dark 
plots  and  hatch  schemes  of  violence  against  their  unoffending 
fellow-citizens,  remember  that  the  actual  execution  of  such 
schemes  would  inOict  deadly  injury  on  no  one  but  themselves, 
and  irretrievably  damnge  no  cause  but  their  own; — while  the 
cause  of  those  whom  they  now  mistakenly  regard  as  adversaries, 
when  they  are  in  reality  their  best  earthly  benefactors,  would 
thence  receive  an  accelerative  impetus,  which  the  united 
friendly  patronage  of  all  the  men  of  rank  and  wealth  in  India 
could  not  impart.  In  the  eai-ly  ages  of  relentless  persecution 
by  the  emissaries  of  Pagan  Rome,  it  passed  into  a  proverb, 
that  '  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  became  the  seed  of  the  Church/ 
And  let  the  Calcutta  Baboos  rest  assured,  that  the  vital  prin- 
ciple involved  in  this  proverb  has  lost  nothing  of  its  intrinsic 
efficacy  or  subduing  power.  The  first  drop  of  missionary  blood 
that  is  violently  shed  in  the  peaceful  cause  of  Indian  evangeli- 
zation, will  pi'ove  a  prolific  seed  in  the  outspreading  garden  of 
the  ludo-Christiau  Church.  And  the  first  actual  missionary 
martyrdom  that  shall  be  encountered  in  this  heavenly  cause, 
may  do  more,  under  the  overruling  providence  of  God,  to  pi-e- 
cipitate  the  inevitable  doom  of  Hindooism,  and  speed  on  the 
chariot  of  gospel  triumph,  than  would  the  establishment  of  a 
thousand  additional  Christian  schools,  or  the  delivery  of  ten 
thousand  additional  Christian  addresses,  throughout  the  towns 
and  villages  of  this  mighty  empire. 

"  With  sincerest  wishes  for  your  temporal  and  everlasting 
welfare,  I  remain,  dear  sirs,  yours  very  truly, 

"  Indophilus.^' 

''Calcutta,  September  \ltli,  1817." 

The  increase  of  converts,  some  of  them  with  families, 
and  the  formation  of  classes  of  theology  for  the  train- 
ing of  several  of  them  as  catcchists,  then  preachers. 


76  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1848, 

and  finally  ordained  missionaries  and  pastors,  embar- 
rassed Dr.  Duff  and  liis  colleagues,  but  in  a  way  which 
rejoiced  their  hearts.  At  first,  in  Calcutta  as  in 
Bombay,  the  catechumens,  whom  the  caste  and  intoler- 
ance of  Hindooism  excluded  from  their  families  and 
society,  became  inmates  of  the  missionary's  home  and 
frequent  guests  at  his  table.  To  be  thus  associated 
with  men  of  God  and  gentlemen  of  the  highest  Chris- 
tian culture, like  the  founders  of  the  Bengal  and  Bombay 
Missions,  was  a  privilege  which  the  most  scientific 
training  in  Divinity  could  not  supply,  and  without 
which  such  training  must  have  been  one-sided  or 
spiritually  barren.  What  the  intercourse  with  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Duff  was,  and  how  they  valued  it,  one  of  the 
ordained  ministers,  the  Rev.  Lai  Behari  Day,  has  thus 
recently  told.  The  two  Brahmans,  Bhattacharjya 
and  Chatterjea,  still  working  as  ordained  missionaries, 
were  his  companions  : 

"We  three  messed  together  by  ourselves;  but  we 
joined  Dr.  Duff  and  Mrs.  Duff  (their  children  being 
away  in  Scotland)  at  family  worshij)  both  morning 
and  evening.  Duff  was  punctual  as  clockwork ;  ex- 
actly at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning — not  one  minute 
before  or  after — the  prayer-bell  rang,  and  we  all  were 
in  the  breakfast-room,  where  the  morning  worship 
used  to  be  held.  Duff  was  always  observant  of  the 
forms  of  politeness,  and  never  forgot  to  shake  hands 
with  us,  asking  us  the  usual  question,  *  How  do  you 
do  ? '  By  the  way,  Duff's  shake  of  the  hand  was 
different  from  that  of  other  people.  It  was  not  a  mere 
formal,  stiff,  languid  shake ;  but  like  everything  else 
of  him,  it  was  warm  and  earnest.  He  would  go  on 
shaking,  catching  fast  hold  of  your  hand  in  his,  and 
would  not  let  it  go  for  some  seconds.  The  salutations 
over,  we  took  our  seat.  We  always  began  with  sing- 
ing one  of  the  grand  old  Psalms  of  David,  in  Rous's 


JEt.  42.  AT    HOME    WITH    THE    CONVERTS.  77 

Doric  versification,  Mrs.  Duff  leading  the  singing. 
Dr.  Duff,  tliougli  I  believe  he  bad  a  delicate  ear  for 
music,  never  led  tbe  singing;  be,  hoMrever,  joined  in 
it.  He  generally  read  tbe  Old  Testament  in  tbe  morn- 
inof,  and  tbe  New  Testament  in  tbe  evenino;.  When  I 
joined  tbe  little  circle — and  tbere  were  only  five  of  us, 
Dufi^,  Mrs.  Duff,  Jugadisbwar,  Prosunno  and  I — be 
was  reading  tbrougb  tbe  Psalms.  He  did  not  read 
long  portions — seldom  a  wliole  psalm,  but  only  a  few 
verses.  He  seldom  made  remarks  of  bis  own,  but 
read  to  us  tbe  reflections  of  some  pious  divine  on  tbose 
verses.  Wben  going  tbrougb  tbe  Psalms  be  used  to 
read  tbe  exposition  of  Dr.  Dickson  ;  and  in  tbe  evening, 
wben  going  tbrougb  tbe  New  Testament,  be  made  use 
of  tbe  commentary,  if  my  memory  does  not  fail  me,  of 
Girdlestone.  Tbe  reading  over,  we  all  knelt  down. 
Ob,  bow  sball  I  describe  tbe  prayers  wbicb  Duff 
offered  up  botb  morning  and  evening !  They  were 
such  exquisitely  simple  and  beautiful  prayers.  Much 
as  I  admired  Duff  in  bis  public  appearances — in  tbe 
pulpit  and  on  tbe  platform — I  admired  and  loved  bira 
infinitely  more  at  tbe  family  altar,  wbere,  in  a  simple 
and  cbildlike  manner,  be  devoutly  and  earnestly  poured 
out  bis  soul  before  our  common  Father  in  heaven. 
Most  men  in  their  family  prayers  repeat,  for  the  most 
part,  tbe  same  things  both  morning  and  evening. 
Duff's  prayers  were  fresh  and  new  every  morning  and 
evening,  naturally  arising  out  of  the  verses  read  and 
carefully  meditated  over.  And  oh,  the  animation,  tbe 
earnestness,  the  fervour,  the  deep  sincerity,  the  cbild- 
like simplicity  of  those  prayers  !  They  were  fragrant 
with  the  aroma  of  heaven.  Tliey  were  prayers  wbicb 
Gabriel  or  Michael,  bad  they  been  on  earth  and  had 
they  been  human  beings,  would  have  offered  up.  I, 
at  that  time  a  young  convert,  experienced  sensations 
which  it  is   impossible   to   describe.     I  felt  as  I  had 


78  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  184b". 

never  before  felt,  I  seemed  to  breathe  the  atmosphere 
of  heaven.  I  seemed  to  be  transported  into  the  thh'd 
heaven,  standing  in  the  Holy  of  Holies  in  the  presence 
of  the  Triune  Jehovah.  Duff's  sympathies  in  prayer 
were  wide  and  catholic.  He  prayed  for  every  section 
of  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  pleaded,  morning  and 
evening,  most  fervently  on  behalf  of  the  heathen 
perishing  for  lack  of  knowledge.  In  the  mornings,  we 
came  away  immediately  after  prayers  to  our  breakfast, 
as  we  were  required  to  be  ready  for  the  Institution 
by  ten  o'clock ;  but  in  the  eveniugs,  when  the  family 
worship  began  at  nine  o'clock,  Duff  would  often  ask 
us  to  stay  after  prayers,  and  engage  in  conversation 
with  us,  not  on  any  trifling,  every-day,  ephemeral  thing, 
but  on  subjects  of  grave  import;  and  sometimes  we 
sat  with  him  for  more  than  an  hour.  How  thankful 
do  I  feel  for  those  quiet  evening  conversations,  in 
which  Duff  impressed  on  our  youthful  minds  the 
highest  truths  and  the  holiest  principles.  Those  were, 
indeed,  happy  days;  if  they  could  be  called  back,  I 
would,  if  I  could,  prolong  them  indefinitely." 

This  was  in  1843,  but  by  1845  the  resident  converts 
had  increased  to  thirteen,  and  four  of  them  were  mar- 
ried. "  We  have  been  literally  driven  to  our  wits'  end 
in  making  even  a  temporary  provision  for  them,"  wrote 
Dr.  Duff  in  1845.  No  sooner  was  the  necessity  known 
than  twelve  merchants  and  officials,  nine  of  them  of 
the  Church  of  England,  presented  him  with  a  thousand 
pounds  to  build  a  home  for  the  Christian  students,  in 
the  grounds  beside  his  own  residence,  which,  with  wise 
foresight,  he  had  long  ago  secured.  To  this,  as  the  Ben- 
galee congregation  developed,  and,  according  to  Pres- 
byterian privilege,  "called"  its  own  native  minister,  he 
added  a  church  and  manse  with  funds  entrusted  to 
him  for  his  absolute  disposal  by  the  late  Countess  of 
Effingham.      The  community  has    many   years    since 


JFA.  42.  •  CHARGE    TO   THE    FOUR    CATECHISTS.  79 

become  indepcudent  enough  to  dispense  with  the  con- 
verts' rooms.  In  the  same  year,  Mr.  Thomson,  of 
Banchory,  and  other  friends  in  Aberdeen,  unsolicited 
by  him,  sent  Dr.  Duff  ahbrary  and  scientific  apparatus 
for  the  college,  which  completed  its  machinery.  And 
then,  just  sixteen  years  after  the  young  missionary 
had  opened  his  school  for  teaching  the  English  alpha- 
bet and  the  Bengalee  Bible  side  by  side,  he  saw  the 
ripe  fruit  in  the  formal  licensing  by  the  Presbytery  of 
the  first  four  catechists,  after  strict  examination,  to 
preach  to  their  countrymen  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
the  Christ  to  Whom  they  had  themselves  been  led  by 
Western  influences  and  along  a  difficult  path.  Long 
before  indeed,  under  the  more  flexible  system  of  epis- 
copal absolutism,  Krishna  Mohun  Banerjea  had  become 
a  minister,  as  Dr.  Duff  himself  described  with  joy ;  * 
and  the  two  ripest  of  all  the  converts,  Kailas  and 
Maheudra,  had  been  removed  from  earthly  ministra- 
tion to  the  higher  service.  But  when,  with  the  double 
experience  of  nigh  twenty  years  since  he  himself  had 
been  set  apart  "  by  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the 
presbytery,"  the  fervid  missionary  delivered  the  charge 
of  the  Church  to  the  two  Brahmans,  the  Rajpoot  and 
the  middle-class  Bengalee  whom  he  had  taught  with 
Paul-like  yearning,  he  felt  that  he  too  had  seen  the 
Timothy  and  the  Titus,  the  John  Mark  and  the  Tychicus 
of  the  infant  Church  of  Iiulia.  And  so  he  spake  to 
each,  from  the  words  of  Paul,  a  torrent  of  spiritual 
eloquence  which  the  journals  of  the  day  lamented  their 
inability  to  report:  "Let  no  man  despise  thy  youth; 
but  be  thou  an  example  of  the  believers  in  word,  in 
conversation,  in  charity,  in  spirit,  in  faith,  in  purity. 
Till  I  come,  give  attendance  to  reading,  to  exhortation, 
to  doctrine."  Nor  did  these  four  stand  alone.  Another 

•  Vol.  i.  p.  444. 


8o  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1848. 

of  his  conyerfc-students  lie  had  given  to  the  American 
Presbyterian  missionaries  in  the  Punjab,  and  of  him 
he  sent  this  report  to  Dr.  Tweedie,  who  had  just 
become  convener  of  the  home  committee  : 

Calcutta,  1th  April,  1848. 

"  A  few  days  ago  an  excellent  Christian  lady,  wife  of  Captain 
Mackenzie,  who  so  greatly  distinguished  himself  at  Cabul, 
writing  to  ray  daughter  from  Loodiana,  near  the  Sutlej,  enclosed 
the  printed  prospectus  of  a  mission  about  to  be  established  in 
the  now  British  province  of  the  Jullunder  Doab.  It  is  under 
the  charge  of  the  Rev.  Goluk  Nath,  whom  the  writer  of  the 
letter  is  pleased  to  describe  in  these  terms : — '  The  minister 
of  Julhmder,  an  old  pupil  of  Dr.  Duff ^s,  of  whom  he  speaks 
with  the  greatest  affection,^  etc.  And  again :  *  I  had  nearly 
forgotten  to  beg  Dr.  Duff  to  show  the  circular  of  the  Jullunder 
Mission  to  any  one  likely  to  feel  interested  in  it.  Tell  him  that 
it  is  a  kind  of  grandchild  of  his  own,  as  Goluk  Nath  is  the 
father  of  it,*  etc.  This  young  man  was  brought  up  in  our 
Institution;  but  having  gone  to  the  northern  provinces,  he 
was  led,  in  providence,  to  unite  himself  with  our  brethren  of 
the  American  Presbyterian  Mission,  so  that  through  him  our 
Institution  is,  at  this  moment,  diffusing  the  light  of  the  gospel 
among  the  warlike  Sikhs  who  so  lately  contested  the  sovereignty 
of  India  with  Britain.  The  Lord  be  praised;  His  holy  name 
be  magnified ! 

"  The  four  native  young  men  who  were  sent,  about  three 
years  ago,  from  this  city  to  London,  to  complete  their  medical 
education,  and  graduate  there,  were  specially  selected  from 
the  students  of  our  Medical  College,  and  sent,  partly  at  the 
expense  of  the  Indian  Government  and  partly  at  that  of  private 
individuals,  under  the  charge  of  a  medical  officer  in  the  Com- 
pany's service.  In  University  College,  London,  they  greatly 
distinguished  themselves — all  carrying  off  prizes,  and  some  of 
them  the  very  highest  in  different  branches.  Last  year  one 
of  them  returned  with  the  diploma  of  surgeon  from  the  Royal 
College  of  Surgeons;  and  lately  other  two  have  returned  with 
the  degree  of  M.D.  conferred  on  them.  '^I'lie  fourth,  and  most 
distinguished  of  them  all,  is  still  in  London.  Now,  it  can 
scarcely  fail  to  interest  you  to  learn,  that  of  these  four  young 


ALt.  42.  MEUCANTILE    CRISIS    IN   CALCUTTA.  8 1 

men  one  had  received  his  preparatory  education  wholly,  and 
other  two  chiefly,  in  our  Institution.  But  what  will  intei-est 
you  most  of  all  will  be,  that  of  the  two  latter,  the  one  who  is 
still  in  London  has  lately  made  an  open  profession  of  the 
Christian  faith,  and  been  admitted  by  baptism  into  the  Church 
of  Christ.  By  last  mail  I  received  from  himself  a  letter,  which 
details  some  of  the  leading  steps  by  which  he  was  ultimately 
induced  to  devote  his  soul  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  his  only 
Saviour;  with  various  interesting  reflections  naturally  called 
forth  by  the  occasion.  Thus,  on  all  hands  are  we,  from  time 
to  time,  cheered  with  tokens  of  the  Lord's  loving-kindnesses 
towards  us. 

"  You  will  have  heard  of  the  fearful  state  of  things  among 
the  mercantile  community  of  this  place.  Their  failures  have 
also  deeply  affected  and  involved  others  who  ai'e  not  merchants. 
As  agents  or  bankers,  a  large  proportion  of  those  in  the  civil, 
military,  and  other  services  of  the  Government  had  pecuniary 
dealings  with  them.  So  that,  altogether,  Calcutta  never  was 
in  so  calamitous  a  state  as  now.  It  really  looks  to  a  bystander 
as  if  overtaken  by  a  universal  bankruptcy,  or  by  difficulties 
which  border  so  closely  on  bankruptcy  as  not  to  be  easily  dis- 
tinguished from  it.  But  why  do  I  refer  to  this  state  of  things 
at  all?  I  am  necessitated  to  do  so.  Till  towards  the  end  of 
last  year  we  found  no  difficulty  in  realizing  the  sum  of  about 
£1,200  annually,  by  local  contribution — a  sum  which  enabled 
us  to  pay  the  heavy  rent  for  the  Institution,  with  the  salaries 
of  all  the  native  teachers  and  monitors,  and  sundry  con- 
tingencies, and  thereby  relieved  the  home  fund  of  that  largo 
amount  annually.  But  since  the  latter  part  of  last  year  we 
have  been  labouring  under  exti-cme  difficulties,  from  the  causes 
now  stated.  Still  our  trust  is  in  the  Lord  Who  has  hitherto 
prospered  us." 

The  General  Assembly  of  that  year,  responding  to 
the  joy  which  Dr.  Duff,  Dr.  Wilson,  Mr.  Anderson, 
and  Mr.  Hislop,  at  Ntigpore,  felt  in  the  converts  thus 
gathered  out  of  the  ancient  faiths  of  Brahraanism, 
Parseeism,  even  Muhammadanism  and  Judaism,  and 
the  rude  demon-worship  of  the  jungle  tribes,  addressed 
an  apostolic  letter  to  them   all.     The  epistle  reached 

VOL.    TI.  G 


82  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1848. 

Calcutta  in  the  midst  of  the  great  car-festival  of 
Jugganath.  While  excited  devotees  were  hymning 
the  praises  of  the  hideous  "  lord  of  the  world,"  and 
dragging  his  still  obscene  and  cruel  chariot,  the 
heathen  students  were  dismissed  and  the  Christian 
Hindoos  met  in  an  upper  room  of  the  college  to 
receive  the  epistle  which  was  to  be  read  in  all  the 
native  churches.     Dr.  Duff  thus  described  the  scene  : 

"  After  prayer  and  sundry  introductory  remarks, 
the  letter  was  read  and  listened  to  with  the  pro- 
foundcst  attention.  Some  practical  exhortations  fol- 
lowed, and  the  meeting  closed  with  prayer.  It  was 
altogether  a  season  of  refreshment  to  our  spirits ;  and 
in  this  dry  and  parched  desert  land  we  do  stand  in 
need  of  such  occasional  cordials.  It  brought  to  our 
remembrance  the  great-hearted  world-embracing  spirit 
of  the  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  who  could  address  the 
mightiest  of  his  epistles  to  the  body  of  true  believers 
at  Rome,  whose  faces  he  had  not  seen  in  the  flesh.  It 
made  us  vividly  realize  the  unity  of  the  Christian 
brotherhood,  which,  overleaping  all  interposing  ob- 
stacles, would  assimilate  and  incorporate  into  one  all 
the  scattered  members  of  Christ's  mystical  body.  It 
left  a  savoury  impression  of  the  vitalities  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith  on  our  souls,  and  made  us  feel  that,  thougli 
cut  off"  from  the  bodily  presence  of  our  brethren  in  the 
far  west,  we  were  not  severed  from  their  sympathies 
or  their  prayers." 

The  immediate  result  was  the  formal  organizing,  on 
the  1st  October,  1848,  of  the  Bengalee  Church,  the 
members  of  which,  from  their  familiarity  with  Eng- 
lish, had  hitherto  worshipped  along  with  the  ordinary 
congregation  of  the  Free  Church  in  Wellcsley  Square. 
Dr.  Ewart  was  made  the  first  pastor  until  the  Rev. 
Lai  Behari  Day,  and  then  the  Rev.  Gooroo  Das 
Maitra  were  called.     The   Bengalee  girls  of  the  Or- 


All  42.        CUUltCH    MISSIONARY    SOClKrv's    JUUiLEE.  8 


o 


pbanage  also,  then  under  Miss  Laing,  worshipped  in 
the  new  chapel  in  their  own  vernacular,  and  Mrs. 
Ewart  established,  for  the  girls  of  the  prosperous 
Armenian  and  Jewish  communities  in  the  city,  a 
school  which  long  continued  to  supply  them  also  with 
a  pure  Christian  as  well  as  English  education.  The 
year  1848  closed,  after  a  truly  catholic  fashion,  with 
Dr.  Duff  side  by  side  with  Bishop  Wilson  in  keeping 
the  jubilee  of  the  evangelical  Church  Missionary 
Society.  "  I  came  away,"  he  wrote  officially  to  his 
committee,  "  much  refreshed  and  exhilarated,  feeling 
intensely  that,  after  all,  when  the  peculiarities  of  form 
and  ceremony  were  dropped,  and  earnest  souls  under 
the  influence  of  grace  came  to  humble  themselves 
before  the  Lord,  and  to  praise  Him  for  His  rich  and 
undeserved  mercies,  and  to  give  free  and  unfettered 
utterance  to  the  swelling  emotions  of  their  hearts, 
there  was  not,  in  reality,  a  hair's -breadth  between 
us." 


CHAPTER  XVin. 

1844-1849. 

LOBD  HABDINGE'S  ADMINISTRATION.— THE  CALCUTTA 

REVIEW. 

The  year  1844  opens  a  New  Period. — Lord  Hardinge. — Public  Ser- 
vice opened  to  Educated  Natives. — Dr.  Duff's  Anticipations  not 
realized  till  1854. — The  New  Period  one  of  Public  Discussion. — 
John  Kaye  and  John  Marshman. — Sir  Henry  Lawrence  and  Cap- 
tain ]\farsh. — Establishment  of  the  Calcutta  Review.: — Dr.  Duff's 
Recollections  of  the  Event. — His  Early  Articles. — The  Editorship 
forced  on  him. — Encourages  Bengalee  Essayists. —  Sir  John  Kaye'a 
Gratitude. — The  Fever  Epidemic  of  1844. — Calcutta  nowa  Healthy 
City. — Dr.  Duff's  Appeal  for  the  Medical  College  Hospital. — De- 
scription of  the  Dying  and  the  Dead. — The  Ten  Hospitals  of 
Calcutta  now. — Dr.  Abercrombie  and  his  Daughter. — Project  of  a 
Monument  to  John  Knox. — Relief  of  the  Highland  Famine. — Mrs. 
Ellerton. — Duel  of  Warren  Hastings  and  Philip  Francis. — Letter 
to  Mrs.  Duff. — Bishop  Wilson. — Letter  to  Principal  Cunningham. 
— Andrew  Morgan  and  the  Doveton  Colleges  of  Calcutta  and 
Madras. 

The  successive  administrations  of  Lord  Auckland  and 
Lord  Ellenborougli,  by  the  violent  contrasts  which  they 
presented,  and  the  vital  questions  which  they  raised, 
summoned  all  Anglo-Indians,  official  and  non-official, 
to  discussion.  The  civil  and  the  military  services  were 
placed,  temporarily,  in  a  heated  antagonism.  The  dis- 
asters in  Afghanistan,  followed  by  the  evacuation  of  the 
country  after  a  proposal  to  sacrifice  the  English  ladies 
and  officers  in  captivity,  and  by  the  follies  of  a  public 
triumph  and  the  Somnath  proclamation,  had  roused 
Great  Britain  as  well  as  India. 

The  annexation  of  Sindh  and  the  war  with  Gwalior 
further  stirred  the  public  conscience  in  a  way  not  again 
seen  till  the  Mutiny,   of  which  the    Auckland-Ellen- 


Ait.  38.         LOKl)    JIAUDINGE    AS    GOVERNOR-GENERAL.  85 

borougli  madness  was  tlie  prelude.  And  tlie  whole 
was  overshadowed  by  a  new  cloud  in  the  north-west, 
far  more  real,  at  that  time  at  least,  than  the  shadow 
cast  bj  the  advance  of  Russia  from  the  north.  The 
death  of  Runject  Singh,  who  from  the  Sikh  Khalsa,  or 
brotherhood,  had  raised  himself  to  be  Maharaja  of  the 
Punjab,  from  the  Sutlej  to  the  Khyber  and  the  glaciers 
of  the  Indus,  had  given  the  most  warlike  province  of 
India  six  years  of  anarchy.  It  was  time,  if  India  was 
not  to  be  lost,  that  one  who  was  at  once  a  soldier  and 
a  statesman  should  sit  in  the  seat  of  Wellesley  and 
Hastings.  The  new  Governor-General  was  found  in 
the  younger  son  of  a  rector  of  the  Church  of  England ; 
in  the  Peninsular  hero  who,  at  twenty-five,  had  won 
Albuera,  had  bled  at  Waterloo,  had  left  his  hand  on 
the  field  of  Ligny,  and  had  become  a  Cabinet  minister 
as  Secretary-at-War.  Sir  Henry  Hardinge  went  out  to 
Government  House,  Calcutta,  at  sixty,  and  he  returne(5 
in  four  years  as  Viscount  Hardinge  of  Lahore.  Before 
he  left  England  he  took  the  advice  of  Mountstuart 
Elphin stone,  never  to  interfere  in  civil  details.  All 
through  his  administration  he  consulted  Henry  Law- 
rence, and  saw  himself  four  times  victor  in  fifty-four 
days,  at  Moodkee  and  Ferozeshuhur,  at  Aliwal  and 
Sobraon.  Like  his  still  greater  successor,  his  victories 
were  those  of  peace  as  well  as  war.  He  opened  the 
public  service  to  educated  natives.  He  put  down 
suttee  and  other  crimes  in  the  feudatory  states.  He 
stopped  the  working  of  all  Government  establishments 
on  the  Christian  Sabbath,  a  prohibition  requiring 
renewal,  in  the  Public  Works  department  at  least, 
since  his  time.  He  fostered  the  early  railway  pro- 
jects, and  carried  out  the  great  Ganges  Canal.  For 
the  first  time  since,  ten  years  before.  Lord  William 
Bentinck  resigned  the  cares  of  office,  our  Eastern 
Empire  felt  that  it  was  being  wisely  governed. 


85  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1844. 

Almost  the  first  act  of  the  new  Grovernor-General, 
in  October,   1844,  was  to  publish  a  resolution  which 
delighted  the  heart  of  Dr.  DufF,  because  it  at  once 
recognised  officially  the  success  of  his  persistent  policy, 
and  Government  for  the  first  time  acknowledged  the 
value  of  colleges  and  schools,  Christian  and  indepen- 
dent, other  than  its  own.     Because  English  education 
had  made  such  progress  in  Bengal  since  the  decree  of 
1835,  the  Government  directed  that  the  public  service 
be  thrown  open  to  natives  thus  educated,  and  that  even 
for  the  lowest  offices  "  in  every  instance  a  man  who 
can  read  and  write  be  preferred  to  one  who  cannot." 
Not  only  was  the  official  department  of  public  instruc- 
tion to  submit,  every  New  Year's  Day,  the  names  of 
students    educated  in  the    state  colleges   and  fit  for 
appointments,  but  "  all  scholastic  establishments  other 
than  those  supported   out  of  the  public  funds "  were 
invited  to  furnish  similar  returns  of  meritorious  stu- 
dents for  the  same  reward.     The  order  was  received 
with  such  enthusiasm  by  both  natives  and  Europeans, 
that  even  the  bureaucratic  Council  of  Education,  which 
had  adopted  all  Dr.   Duff's    educational    plans  while 
keeping  him  and  his  Christianity  at  arm's  length,  burst 
into   the  unwonted    generosity  of   notifying  that  the 
measure   was  applicable  "  to  all  students  in  the  lower 
provinces  without  reference  to  creed  or  colour."     True 
this  was  only  interpreting  the  Hardiuge  enactment  ac- 
cording to  the  Bentinck  decree,  which  had  in  principle 
declared  all  offices,  save  the  covenanted,  open  to  natives, 
and  the  department  still  refused  to   spend  the   public 
money  on  any  but  its  own  secular  schools.     But  the 
Council's  notification,  no  less  than   the  order  of   the 
Government  of  India,   marked  a   decided  advance  to- 
wards that  measure  of  toleration  and  justice  to  native 
and  missionary  alike,  which  Dr.  Duff  fought  for  till 
Parliament  conceded  it  in  1853. 


.^t.  38.    POBLIG    SERVICE    OPENED   TO    NATIVE    STUDENTS.       87 

Unfortunately  the  laissez-faire  instincts  of  the  Eng- 
lish, and  the  nepotism  of  the  vernacular  Bengalee 
officials,  co-operated  to  neutralise  the  reform  for  a  time. 
The  Council  fixed  the  tests  of  fitness  strictly  to  suit 
its  own  colleges,  practically  excluding  the  "  private 
individuals  and  societies "  that,  in  truth,  had  made 
Government  education  what  it  had  become.  The  Court 
of  Directors  objected  to  such  a  test  as  the  English 
language  and  literature.  In  five  years  only  nine  stu- 
dents, all  from  Government  colleges,  were  appointed 
to  the  public  service.  But  when  the  leading  Hindoos 
of  Calcutta  presented  an  address  of  gratitude  to  the 
Governor-General,  and  when  Dr.  Duff  wrote  to  his 
committee  in  the  following  terms,  both  were  right 
notwithstanding.  For  this  order  of  Lord  Hardinge  was 
the  second  step,  after  Lord  W.  Bentinck's,  towards 
that  catholic  system  of  public  instruction  which  cul- 
minated in  the  establishment  of  the  three  Universities 
in  1857. 

"  Henceforward  those  who  possess  the  best  qualifi- 
cations, intellectual  and  moral,  are  invariably  and  sys- 
tematically to  be  preferred.  And  this  order  extends 
from  the  highest  situations  of  trust  down  to  the  lowest 
menial  offices.  In  the  latter  departments  alone  it  is 
calculated  that  there  are  at  least  ten  thousand  persons 
in  Government  service  in  the  Bengal  Presidency  alone, 
employed  in  serving  summonses,  etc.,  who  can  neither 
read  nor  write.  In  the  higher  departments  of  the  ser- 
vice not  above  a  dozen  of  superiorly  qualified  persons 
have  hitherto  succeeded  in  forcing  their  way  into  hon- 
ourable employment.  Of  what  mighty  and  indefinite 
changes,  prospectively,  does  this  order,  then,  contain 
the  seeds  ?  And  what  pre-eminently  distinguishes  it  is 
this,  that  it  is  so  catholic.  Government  institutions, 
and  all  other  institutions,  public  or  private,  missionary 
and  non-mis>ionary,   are  placed  on  an  equal   footing. 


88  LIFIO    OP    DK.    DUFF.  1844. 

No  partialities,  no  preferences  in  favour  of  young  men 
trained  in  Government  schools  and  colleges  !  This  is 
a  remarkable  feature.  It  is  the  first  public  recognition 
of  missionary  and  other  similar  institutions,  in  imme- 
diate connection  with  the  service  of  the  State.  What 
fresh  motives  for  evangelizing  labours  in  this  vast 
realm !  I  feel  appalled  and  well-nigh  overwhelmed 
at  the  new  load  of  responsibility  thus  thrown  upon 
us.  Oh  that  the  Christian  people  of  Scotland  would 
arise  in  behalf  of  the  millions  of  India,  as  they  have 
nobly  arisen  in  behalf  of  their  own  thousands  and 
tens  of  thousands  at  home  !  That  this  Government 
notification  will  be  followed  by  a  sudden  influx,  an 
instantaneous  rush  of  young  aspirants  into  existing 
institutions,  I  do  not  mean  to  imply.  But  that  it  will 
furnish  the  strongest  incentive  to  self -improvement,  and 
impart  the  most  powerful  impulse  to  the  general  cause 
of  education  which  has  ever  yet  been  supplied  under 
British  sway,  is  clear  beyond  all  debate.  .  .  Oh 
that  we  had  the  resources  in  qualified  agents  and 
pecuniary  means,  with  large,  prayerful,  faithful  hearts, 
to  wait  on  the  Lord  for  His  blessing,  and  then,  under 
the  present  impulse,  might  we,  in  every  considerable 
village  and  district  of  Bengal,  establish  vernacular  and 
English  seminaries  that  miglit  sow  the  seeds  of  divine 
truth  in  myriads  of  minds,  and  thus  preoccupy  them 
with  principles  hostile  to  ruinous  error,  and  favourable 
to  the  reception  of  saving  knowledge."  The  predicted 
rush  of  native  students  took  place.  An  impetus  was 
given  to  the  study  of  English,  though  not  from  the 
highest,  yet  from  a  motive  quite  as  high  as  that  which 
feeds  the  competitive  examinations  annually  held  by 
the  commissioners  since  the  public  service,  civil  and 
military,  was  opened  to  the  whole  nation.  Had  Lord 
Hardinge's  order  been  carried  out  according  to  its 
spirit,  or  even  letter,  the  natives  of  India  must  have 


AX  38.         SIE   JOHN    KAYE    AND    JOHN    MARSUMAN.  89 

found  themselves  now  much  nearer,  because  better 
prepared  for,  that  share  in  their  own  government  the 
demand  for  which  may  create  a  political  danger.  For 
the  Christian  colleges  would  have  supplied  those  ele- 
ments of  moral  character  based  on  conscience  and 
faith,  which  the  cold  secularism  of  the  powerful  state 
system  steadily  destroys  without  supplying  the  true 
substitute.  Apart  from  this  solution  Lord  Lytton  is, 
to-day,  as  vainly  attempting  to  meet  the  difficulty  as 
all  his  predecessors. 

Ever  since  Lord  William  Bentinck  had  supplied  the 
stimulus  to  the  discussion  of  public  reforms  in  the 
press,  and  Duff  and  Trevelyan,  Macaulay  and  Met- 
calfe, had  led  the  way,  the  more  thoughtful  Anglo- 
Indians  had  felt  the  want  of  a  literary  medium.  The 
editors  of  newspapers  themselves,  like  Captain  Kaye 
of  the  daily  HarJcaru  and  Mr.  Marshman  of  the  weekly 
Friend  of  India,  were  the  first  to  urge  the  importance 
of  establishino;  a  mas^azine  or  review  to  which  men  of 
all  shades  of  religious  and  political  opinion  could  con- 
tribute. The  former,  afterwards  Sir  John  Kaye,  had 
been  led,  by  ill  health,  to  abandon  a  promising  career 
in  the  Bengal  Artillery  for  the  sedentary  pursuits  of 
a  literary  life.  His  professional  experience  gained  for 
him  the  confidence  of  the  many  officers  who,  in  India, 
are  always  ready  to  feed  journalists  with  valuable 
materials,  and  fitted  him  to  become  the  historian  of 
such  contemporary  events  as  the  first  Afghan  war. 
Mr.  Marshman  had  come  out  to  India  with  his  father 
at  the  close  of  the  previous  century ;  he  had  received 
there  an  intellectual  and  spiritual  training  of  un- 
usual excellence ;  he  had  made  the  grand  tour  in 
Europe;  he  had  discharged  professional  duties  in  the 
Serampore  College  with  great  ability,  and  he  had 
become  the  first  Bengalee  scholar,  had  established  the 
first  newspaper  in  that  language,  and  had   succeeded 


go  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1844 

Carey  as  Government  translator.  When  tlie  grand 
old  Serampore  brotherhood  passed  away,  he  became 
heir  to  the  debt  which  their  benevolent  enthusiasm — • 
supporting  at  one  time  twenty-seven  separate  mission 
stations  out  of  their  own  pocket — had  incurred.  With 
marvellous  energy,  by  the  first  steam  paper-mill  in  the 
Bast,  by  preparing  excellent  law  and  school  books  for 
all  Bengal,  and  by  establishing  the  famous  weekly 
journal,  he  wiped  out  the  debt.  From  first  to  last  ho 
contributed  sixty  thousand  pounds  for  the  enlighten- 
ment and  christianization  of  India.  To  these  two, 
with  Dr.  Dnff,  we  owe  the  Calcutta  Review.  To  them 
we  must  add  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  and  Captain  H. 
Marsh  of  the  old  Bengal  Cavalry.  Marsh  was  a 
nephew  of  Mrs.  George  Grote,  whose  husband  was  a 
contributor  to  the  Westminster  Review.  That  became 
the  model  of  the  new  undertaking  in  a  mechanical 
sense  alone.  In  all  other  respects  the  founders  of 
the  Calcutta  Quarterly  were  out  of  sympathy  with 
Bentham,  Mill,  and  their  school. 

The  first  number  appeared  in  May,  1844.  A  few 
weeks  after  Sir  Henry  Hardinge  landed  at  Calcutta. 
Before,  in  1874,  writing  the  history  of  its  first  twenty 
years,  we  consulted  the  survivors  of  the  band  who 
had  created  its  reputation — Duff,  Kaye  and  Marsh' 
mail,  who  have  since  passed  away ;  and  we  are  happy 
in  being  able  to  add  to  the  narrative  the  later  state- 
ment of  Dr.  Duff,  taken  down  from  his  own  lips  in 
those  conversations  with  which,  to  himself  and  his 
friends,  he  lightened  the  pain  of  his  last  illness.  The 
first  number  at  once  leaped  into  popularity.  A  second 
edition  was  called  for,  and  then  a  third  was  published 
in  England.  "  In  a  very  short  time,"  Sir  John  Kaye 
wrote  to  us.  Dr.  Duff  "  had  written  his  article  on  '  Our 
Earliest  Protestant  Mission  to  ludia,'  and  from  that 
time    he   became  a   contributor  equally  indefatigable 


Mt.   38.         (»RIGIN    OF    TilE    "CALCUTTA    itEVlEW.  9 1 

and  able."  Captain  Marsh  proved  too  trenchant  a 
critic  for  the  sensitive  officials  of  those  days,  but  his 
article  on  "  The  Rural  Population  of  Bengal "  would 
not  now  be  pronounced  so  extravagant  as  Henry 
Lawrence  then  considered  it.  Of  that  he  had  written 
to  the  editor :  "  I  have  evolved  myself  of  some  form 
and  embodiment  akin  to  an  article.  Great  fact  if  true 
■ — if  confirmed  by  wortliy  John  Kaye,  good  John  Kaye, 
true  John  Kaye,  and  running  in  the  same  coach  with 
earnest,  solemn  Duft— the  silent,  the  unre plying,  the 
uncorresponding  Duff.  Oh  !  brave,  brave  I  Is  it  so  ? 
Yes  or  no?  Utrum  horum — odd  or  even?"  He  had 
great  admiration  (never  better  bestowed)  of  Dr.  Duff, 
wrote  Sir  John  Kaye,  and  was  pining  under  an  un- 
answered letter. 

These  are  Dr.  Duff's  recollections  of  his  early  con- 
nection with  the  Calcutta  Quarterly  :  "  I  am  not  one 
who  cared  much  for  what  people  said  or  thought, 
but  there  was  one  thing  I  felt  keenly — the  way  my 
connection  with  the  Calcutta  Beoiew  was  represented. 
Some  high  and  mighty  ones  probably  did  not  like  the 
idea  of  a  missionary  having  the  control  over  it.  If  I 
make  up  my  mind  for  a  great  principle  based  on  the 
Bible,  I  don't  care  for  all  the  emperors  of  the  world. 
About  the  beginning  of  1844  Kaye  was  under  the 
necessity  of  leaving  India  for  his  health.  I  had  no 
bitterer  enemy  at  the  time  than  he.  One  day  I  had 
an  invitation  from  him,  most  unexpectedly,  to  spend 
the  evening  with  himself  and  family.  Nothing  passed 
about  the  controversy,  but  he  spoke  on  all  subjects 
on  which  he  knew  I  was  interested,  and  spoke  so 
agreeably  no  mortal  would  dream  that  anything  un- 
pleasant had  existed  between  us.  Thank  God,  I  never 
cherished  the  spirit  of  resentment.  It  was  ray  daily 
prayer  to  be  preserved  from  the  spirit  of  envy, 
jealousy,  malice,  uncharitablenc^s,  resentment,  or  viu- 


92  LIFE   OP   DR.    DUFF.  1844. 

dictiveness  in  any  shape  or  form;  the  feeling  being 
intense  that  if  Grod  for  Christ's  sake  forgave  me  ten 
thousand  times  ten  thousand  transgressions,  it  was 
my  duty  as  well  as  privilege  to  forgive  all  who  had 
offended  or  wronged  me  in  any  way  whatever,  whether 
they  reciprocated  the  feeling  or  not.  In  the  course  of 
my  long  life  nothing  tended  to  give  me  greater  peace 
of  mind  and  conscience  than  the  strenuous  endeavour 
invariably  to  carry  out  this  principle  into  living 
practice.  To  cherish  hatred  or  the  spirit  of  unfor- 
givingness  punishes  himself  vastly  more  than  the 
person  hated  or  unforgiven.  I  went  to  Kaye  simply 
as  a  human  being  to  a  human  being.  What  surprised 
me  most  of  all  was  that  before  parting  he  asked  me, 
in  a  very  respectful  way,  whether  I  would  not  favour 
them  by  concluding  the  evening  so  pleasantly  spent 
by  engaging  in  family  worship,  which  I  was  delighted 
to  respond  to. 

"  Shortly  after  spending  the  evening  at  his  house  I 
received  a  long  letter  from  him,  in  which  he  stated  his 
views  about  the  desirableness  of  having  a  first-rate 
quarterly  Review  for  India ;  that  the  only  parties 
whom  he  had  consulted  in  the  matter  were  Sir  Henry 
Lawrence,  Mr.  John  Marshman,  and  Captain  Marsh ; 
and  that  now,  having  ascertained  they  were  favourable 
to  the  project,  he  wished  to  learn  whether  I  would  join 
with  them  and  become  a  regular  contributor.  I  had 
long  felt  very  strongly  the  need  of  a  powerful  periodi- 
cal to  do  justice  to  the  mighty  affairs  of  our  Indian 
Empire.  I  therefore  had  no  hesitation  in  replying  at 
once,  expressing  a  sense  of  the  extreme  desirableness 
of  such  a  periodical.  Only,  I  added,  all  will  depend 
on  the  principles  on  which  it  is  conducted.  If  these 
be  sound  in  all  departments — political,  civil,  social, 
theological,  religious  and  moral,  the  good  accruing 
therefrom  may  be  pre-emiDeut.      On  the  contrary,  if 


-^t.  38.  BECOMES  EDITOR  OE  THE  "  CALCUTTA  REVIEW."  93 

the  principles  be  unsound  on  tLose  and  other  Icadinpr 
subjects,  the  evil  will  be  proportionately  great.  I 
promised  I  would  gladly  join  them  in  a  close  co- 
partnership to  carry  on  the  new  Review,  if  he  would 
pledge  himself  in  the  first  place  that  nothing  would 
appear  in  it  hostile  to  Christianity  or  Christian  sub- 
jects generally ;  and  secondly,  that  whenever  proper 
occasion  naturally  arose,  clear  and  distinct  enuncia- 
tions should  be  made  as  to  sound  Christianity  and 
its  propagation  by  missionaries  in  India.  Mr.  Kaye 
promptly  assured  me  that  these  substantially  expressed 
his  own  views,  and  if  I  would  write  an  article  for  the 
first  number  he  would  leave  me  entirely  free  to  choose 
the  subject.  Having  a  number  of  old  documents  in  my 
possession  relative  to  the  first  Indian,  or  Danish  mission 
in  Tranquebar,  I  wrote  a  very  elaborate  article  on  the 
whole  subject  of  Missions,  in  which  no  important  depart- 
ment was  omitted.  This  article  Mr.  Kaye  cheerfully 
inserted.  It  has  since  been  reprinted  at  home.  Dr. 
Andrew  Thomson,  of  Edinburgh,  making  special  allu- 
sion to  it  in  his  work  on  the  Lives  of  Missionaries. 

"  In  the  second  number  of  the  Review  I  chose  the 
subject  of  '  Female  Infanticide  among  the  Rajpoots 
and  other  Native  Tribes  of  India,'  and  the  extra- 
ordinary variety  of  operations  carried  on  by  our 
•Government  to  extinguish  it.  I  secured  from  the 
public  library  all  the  blue-books  which  had  been 
published  in  all  the  Presidencies  for  fifty  years  past, 
in  which  many  of  the  ablest  and  most  enlightened 
servants  of  Government  had  taken  an  active  share. 
I  took  special  pains  with  it.  Then  there  was  in  the 
fourth  number  '  The  State  of  Indisfenous  Education 
in  Bengal;'  next  came  'The  Early  or  Exclusively 
Oriental  Period  of  Government  Education  in  Bensfal.' 
I  was  preparing  other  articles  of  a  similar  kind,  when 
the  editorship  came  upon  me.     Mr.  Kaye  sent  me  a 


94  LI]?E    OP    DR.    DUiT.  1845. 

polite  message  to  come  to  liis  house  to  consult  on  a 
very  vital  and  important  matter.  He  said  that  al- 
ready the  Review  had  proved  an  unexpected  success. 
It  would  be  very  sad  to  let  it  go  down  just  when 
entering  on  such  an  extensive  work  of  great  and 
obvious  usefulness.  The  state  of  his  health  was  such 
that  he  must  almost  immediately  leave  India  under 
peremptory  medical  instructions.  What  was  to  be 
done  with  the  Heview  ?  No  one  could  properly  edit 
such  a  work  aright  except  in  India  itself.  '  Now  I've 
applied  to  every  man  in  the  service,  and  out  of  it, 
whom  I  thought  at  all  likely  to  be  able  and  willing  to 
undertake  it,  at  least  for  a  time,  but  every  one  posi- 
tively shrinks  from  the  task.'  To  maintain  it  on  the 
footing  on  which  it  started  in  a  country  like  India, 
where,  at  that  time,  none  attempted  to  make  a  liveli- 
hood from  their  own  literary  exertions,  except  editors 
of  newspapers,  whose  hands  were  already  too  full,  was 
desirable.  Therefore  in  the  most  earnest  way  he 
appealed  to  me  to  assume  the  editorship,  for  a  time 
at  least,  and  be  the  sole  responsible  head  of  it.  The 
magnitude  of  the  task  at  first  appalled  me.  But 
writers  of  ability  gave  me  articles,  and  occasionally 
supplied  facts  on  subjects  they  were  acquainted  with, 
which,  with  their  consent,  I  dressed  up  into  articles. 
It  came  to  be  understood,  when  an  article  or  materials 
for  an  article  were  sent,  if  the  departures  on  any  point 
did  not  diverge  too  far  from  the  principles  originally 
agreed  on,  that  slight  alterations  might  be  made  to 
adapt  it  to  these  principles  without  interfering  with 
its  leading  objects.  Mr.  Kaye  himself  saw  the  fourth 
number  in  the  press.  Then  it  was  that  I  took  up 
the  editorship,  and  I  continued  to  hold  it  till  obliged 
to  return  from  India  in  1849,  when  I  gave  up  the 
management  to  my  friend,  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Maclvay, 
who  was  a  man  of   exquisite  taste  and    many  literary 


yEt.  39.        HISTORY    OF    THE    "  CALCUTTA    REVIEW.**  95 

accomplishments.  It  is  but  fair  to  Mr.  Kaye  to  say 
that  he  insisted  upon  my  taking  some  adequate  re- 
muneration. I  peremptorily  declined.  I  looked  upon 
the  work  as  one  calculated  in  many  important  ways  to 
promote  the  vital  interests  of  India,  and  in  endeavour- 
ing to  promote  these  I  felt  there  was  no  incon- 
sistency between  devoting  a  portion  of  my  time  to  it 
besides  the  more  direct  mission  work ;  in  fact,  that  the 
two  duties  worked  into  each  other's  hands  and  pro- 
moted the  interests  of  each  other.  The  grand  object 
was  to  raise  up  the  tvhole  of  India  from  its  sunk  and 
degraded  position  of  ages,  in  every  aspect  of  improve- 
ment, political,  social,  civil,  intellectual,  moral  and 
religious.  I  felt,  however,  that  the  Institution  I  had 
founded  ouo^ht  to  derive  some  direct  benefit  from  the 
Review.  Accordingly  I  took  five  hundred  rupees  a 
year  for  scholarships  and  prizes." 

This  arrangement  lasted  till  1856,  when  the  perio- 
dical passed  into  other  hands.  Nothwithstanding 
varying  fortunes  since,  it  is  still  true  that  no  single 
literary  authority  supplies  such  valuable  information 
regarding  India  as  the  seventy  volumes  of  the  Review. 
Dr.  Duff  contributed,  from  first  to  last,  sixteen  articles, 
some  of  which  were  republished  in  England.  Up  till 
the  time  of  his  final  departure  from  India  his  principles 
continued  to  influence  its  management.  Not  the  least 
valuable  of  the  services  it  has  rendered  to  India  has 
been  the  enlisting  of  Bengalee  essayists  on  its  staff. 
Dr.  Duff's  students — men  like  Dr.  K.  M.  Banerjea,  the 
Rev.  Lai  Behari  Day  and  Baboo  B.  B.  Shome,  besides 
the  Dutt  and  Mitter  families — have  contributed  arti- 
cles of  peculiar  value  for  the  information  they  give, 
and  occasionally  of  such  purity  of  style  that  the  native 
authorship  was  not  at  the  time  suspected. 

To  the  last  Sir  John  Kaye,  in  his  numerous  writ- 
ing?, did  not  cease   to   express  his   affection   for  Dr. 


96  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1845. 

Duff.  It  miglit  seem  merely  appropriate  that  he 
should  dedicate  to  the  missionary  a  volume  on  such  a 
subject  as  "  Christianity  in  India  :  a  Historical  Narra- 
tive," in  words  which  express  not  only  the  author's 
gratitude  for  his  kindness  but  "  admiration  of  his 
character."  In  the  history  of  Indian  progress,  how- 
ever, which  Sir  John  wrote  as  a  plea  for  continuing 
"  The  Administration  of  the  East  India  Company " 
during  the  charter  discussions  of  1853,  the  secular 
historian  of  a  corporation  that  had  generally  dis- 
couraged Christian  Missions,  and  so  has  since  passed 
away,  did  not  hesitate  to  record  "  the  great  and 
successful  exertions  of  private  bodies  to  diffuse, 
principally  through  missionary  agency,  the  light  of 
knowledge  among  the  people."  The  foremost  place 
amongst  these  benefactors,  he  declares,  all  admit  to 
be  "  due  to  Alexander  Duff  and  his  associates — to 
that  little  party  of  Presbyterian  ministers  who  now 
for  more  than  twenty  years  have  been  toiling  for  the 
people  of  India  with  such  unwearying  zeal  and  with 
such  wonderful  success."  And,  after  telHng  the 
story,  in  its  outlines,  the  historian  concludes  :  "  There 
are  missionary  schools  scattered  over  all  parts  of 
India,  and  freely  the  children  come  to  be  taught ; 
but  there  is  not  one  which,  either  for  the  magnitude 
or  for  the  success  of  the  experiment,  can  be  compared 
with  those  presided  over  by  Duif  and  his  associates. 
Bombay  and  Madras  share  worthily  in  these  honours ; 
and  the  educational  achievements  of  their  Scotch 
divines  deserve  to  be  held  in  lasting  remembrance." 

Again,  as  ten  years  before,  was  Dr.  Duff  led  to  ally 
with  his  higher  spiritual  calHng  not  only  the  press  but 
science,  directed  towards  purely  philanthropic  as  well 
as  educational  ends.  A  succession  of  sickly  seasons, 
followed  by  an  epidemic  of  fever  during  the  latter 
rains  of  1844,  had   filled   Calcutta  and  its  neighbour- 


yEt.  39.  EPIDEMICS   IN    THE    GANGETIC   VALLEY.  97 

hood  with  thousands  of  sick,  diseased  and  destitute 
natives,  Hindoo  and  Muhammadau.  The  city  had 
grown  to  vast  dimensions  without  those  sanitary  and 
municipal  institutions  which  the  self-governing  com- 
munities of  the  West  provide  for  themselves.  The 
Government,  which  had  all  India  to  care  for  as  well 
as  the  dense  rabbit-warren  of  Bengal  proper,  left  the 
capital  to  itself,  so  that  there  was  the  blackest  dark- 
ness under  the  lamp.  The  heat,  the  moisture,  the 
rapid  vegetable  growth  of  the  tropical  swamps  of  the 
great  rice  land  of  Eastern  India,  have  ever  formed  the 
nursery  of  fever  and  cholera.  Carried  by  river  and 
monsoon,  by  armies  of  soldiers  and  bands  of  pilgrims, 
by  traders  and  travellers,  by  the  half-charred  remains 
of  the  poor  and  the  floating  carcases  of  man  and  beast, 
the  causes  of  zymotic  disease — germs  or  gases,  the 
ablest  observers  cannot  tell — after  slaying  their  tens 
of  thousands  on  the  spot,  are  borne  to  the  colder  and 
by  no  means  cleaner  lands  of  the  West  and  the  North, 
to  sweep  off  thousands.  So,  since  the  march  of  Lord 
Hastings  at  least  up  the  Gaugetic  valley  against  the 
Pindaree  hordes,  cholera  and  fever  have  periodically 
laid  low  black  and  white,  British  soldier  and  sepoy, 
Asiatic  and  European  alike.  Hygiene  and  quinine 
have  now  anticipated  the  latter,  but  the  dread  secret  of 
the  cholera  fiend  has  yet  to  be  wrested  from  nature  in 
its  most  maleficent  mood.  Twenty  years  after  1844, 
when  Lord  Lawrence  became  Viceroy,  he  gave  an 
impetus  to  sanitary  science  in  India  which  it  has  never 
lost.  To  him  the  salvation  of  the  lives  of  hundreds 
of  our  soldiers  and  thousands  of  our  native  subjects, 
every  year,  is  due.  And  Calcutta  has  been  made  as 
healthy  as  many  a  capital  in  Europe,  by  drainage  and 
waterworks,  by  conservancy  and  lighting  arrange- 
ments, by  public  dispensaries,  hospitals  and  asylums, 
not  surpassed  in  Christendom. 

VOL.    II.  H 


gS  LIFE    OP   Dli.    DUFF.  1844. 

It  was  not  so,  however,  wlien  fhe  kirk-session  of 
tlie  Free  Chiircli  of  Scotland  in  Calcutta  asked  Dr. 
Duff,  at  the  close  of  the  deadly  season  in  October, 
to  preach  to  the  city  of  Him  Who,  as  St.  Matthew 
(viii.  16,  17)  describes,  "healed  all  that  were  sick: 
that  it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken  by  Esaias 
the  prophet,  saying.  Himself  took  our  infirmities  and 
bare  our  sicknesses."  The  missionaries  and  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Bengal  Medical  Service  united  with  some 
of  the  wealthy  Bengalees  in  the  plan  of  buildiug  the 
great  Medical  College  Hospital  for  the  poor  of  all 
creeds  and  classes.  A  member  of  the  same  Seel 
family  who  were  starting  a  Hindoo  college  to  destroy 
Dr.  Duff's,  presented  the  ground.  Other  natives  gave 
large  sums,  the  British  residents  showed  their  usual 
liberality,  and  the  medical  professors  offered  their 
services  gratuitously.  Funds  were  still  wanted  "  to 
provide  a  Native  General  Hospital  worthy  of  the  city 
and  commensurate  with  its  wants,  when  a  design  which 
has  been  contemplated  for  some  time  past,  by  some  of 
the  most  enlightened  philanthropists  of  India,  will  be 
carried  into  effect  without  farther  delay."  Hence 
Dr.  Duff's  sermon,  which  is  in  some  respects  the  most 
characteristic  he  ever  preached,  as  showing  the  breadth 
of  his  charity,  the  comprehensiveness  of  the  Christi- 
anity which  he  came  to  plant  and  to  water  iu  Bengal 
till  it  should  become  there  also  the  tree  whose  leaves 
are  for  the  healing  of  the  nations.  As  in  his  college 
he  welcomed  all  truth  that  his  Master  might  sanctify 
it,  so  in  the  pulpit  he  pled  in  that  Master's  name  for 
all  men,  for  humanity  in  all  its  forms  and  needs,  for 
the  body  as  well  as  the  soul.  From  the  curse  of  sin  he 
pointed  to  the  sympathy  of  the  one  Saviour — "  not  a 
mere  sympathy  of  mercy  and  compassion,  but  a  sym- 
patliy  of  power."  By  that  Divine  Example  he  pled  for 
every  Christian's    synjpathy.      Turning    to   the    three 


^t.  38.       PICTUEE    or   TUE    EEVER-STRICKEN   POOR.  99 

ponderous  folios  in  which  a  public  committee  had 
recorded  the  appalling  facts,  he  thus  pictured  the 
Buffering  and  the  sorrow,  as  we  have  since  seen  both 
in  the  fever-desolated  tracts  on  either  side  of  the 
Hooghly,  from  Krishnaghur  to  Serampore : 

"What,  if  there  be  a  total  absence  of  all  palliatives  and  allevia- 
tions ?  Or  what,  still  more,  if  there  be  the  positive  presence 
of  all  manner  of  provocatives  to  envenom  and  exulcerate  the 
original  malady  ?  Now  this  is  precisely  the  fell  and  fatal 
predicament  of  numbers  of  the  suffering  poor  around  us.  They 
come  to  this  city  from  all  parts  of  the  country  in  quest  of 
employment,  or  to  beg  for  charity.  They  take  up  their  abode 
with  individuals  nearly  as  destitute  as  themselves ;  or  they  hire 
a  wretched  hut,  or  as  wretched  an  apartment  in  some  old 
building,  for  a  few  annas  per  month.  They  are  attacked  and 
laid  prostrate  by  disease.  Who  can  depict,  who  can  adequately 
conceive  the  loneliness,  the  desertedness,  the  imploring  help* 
lessness  of  their  forlorn  condition  ?  Think  of  them,  in  hun- 
dreds and  thousands,  with  scarcely  any  clothing  to  cover  their 
nakedness  by  night  or  by  day — unprovided  with  any  sort  of 
couch,  on  which  to  repose  their  aching  limbs, — lying  down  on 
bare  mats,  or  coarse  grass  spread  on  the  damp  ground  in  their 
narrow  cheerless  cells.  Think  of  them,  in  hundreds  and 
thousands,  exposed  at  different  seasons  to  pinching  cold  or 
scorching  heat,  or  drenching  rain,  or  stifling  dust,  or  steamy 
vapour,  or  suffocating  smoke.  Think  of  them,  in  hundreds  and 
thousands,  panting  for  breath — immured  in  closely-built  ill- 
ventilated  dens — begirt  with  masses  of  old  walls  and  tumbling 
ruins,  with  belts  of  juugle  and  patches  of  underwood  and  rank 
vegetation,  that  pi-eveut  all  free  exposure  to  the  sun,  which 
might  rarefy  or  elevate  the  noisome  vapours,  and  debarred  all 
access  to  the  winds  of  heaven  that  might  dikite  or  dissipate 
them.  Think  of  them,  in  hundreds  and  thousands,  surrounded 
by  accumulated  deposits  of  filth  and  rubbish,  intermingled  with 
heaps  of  decomposed  animal  and  vegetable  matters,  which, 
simultaneously  with  the  tainted  pools  and  the  putrid  drains, 
constantly  evolve  and  disengage  all  manner  of  noxious  exhala- 
tions— sulphuretted  hydrogen  and  other  poisonous  gases — • 
together    with   the   whole   nameless   and   countless   brood  of 


lOO  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1 844.. 

miasmata  and  malaria  and  other  concentrated  sources  of  ger- 
minating essences  of  plague  and  pestilence.  Think  of  them, 
in  hundreds  and  thousands,  not  merely  without  the  means  of 
personal  or  domestic  cleanliness,  but  often  parched  with  thirst, 
without  a  drop  of  water  to  cool  their  burning  tongues; — or, 
if  some  portion  of  that  needful  element  be  scantily,  and  at 
wide  intervals,  supplied  by  some  casual  hand,  it  is  supplied, 
either  directly  fi*om  the  river,  which,  at  one  season,  is  unwhole- 
some from  the  qviantity  of  its  un filtered  mud,  and  at  another, 
equally  so,  from  a  copious  infusion  of  ingredients  that  render 
it  brackish  and  saline  ;  or  from  stagnant  tanks,  whose  waters 
are  impure  and  deleterious  from  the  annual  vegetable  growth 
going  on  from  beneath  and  all  around — rendering  them  pro- 
gressively  more  and  more  shallow,  and  eventually  converting 
them  into  green  and  slimy  nuisances  that  contaminate  the 
surrounding  atmosphere.  Think  of  them,  in  hundreds  and 
thousands,  craving  for  some  cordial  to  soothe,  or  assuage,  or 
mitigate  inward  agonizing  pain,  and  if  aught  be  granted  to 
the  petition  of  the  rueful  piteous  look,  that  little  is  sure  to 
consist  of  some  raw,  crude,  indigestible  substances  that  cannot 
fail  to  aggravate  the  fatal  symptoms  of  the  disease.  Think  of 
them,  in  hundreds  and  thousands,  with  cries  and  tears  implor- 
ing the  kindly  offices  of  medical  aid ;  and  if  a  farthing's  worth 
of  the  commonest  and  cheapest  native  remedy  be  grudgingly 
doled  out,  it  is  only  to  accelerate  their  fate, — since  the  rude 
compound  or  preparation  thus  furnished  is  '  efficacious  to 
enkindle  the  feeble  flames  of  constitutional  power,  only  to  sinlc 
the  more  rapidly  in  death.'  Tliink  of  them,  in  hundreds  an-i 
thousands,  when,  however  prematurely,  all  hope  of  recovery- 
has  been  abandoned,  and  the  dread  of  the  disgrace,  the  re- 
proach, the  infamy,  the  pollution  to  be  incurred  or  contracted 
by  the  presence  of  a  dead  body  in  their  vicinity,  has  aroused 
and  alarmed  the  hitherto  unconcerned  and  apathetic  neigh- 
boui's, — think  of  them,  unceremoniously  handed  over  to  the 
heartless  officers  of  death,  who  convey  them  roughly,  without 
one  look  of  sympathy  or  tear  of  commiseration,  to  the  ghauts 
and  banks  of  the  river,  where,  pitilessly  exposed  to  all  the 
inclemencies  of  the  weather,  they  expire  in  a  few  hours,  or, 
before  they  cease  to  breathe,  are  ferociously  attacked  by  horrid 
vultures  and  beasts  of  prey.  Ay,  and  what  is  most  affecting 
of  all, — think  of  them,  in  hundreds  and  thousands,   enduriu^ 


Mi.   38.        THE  DYING  AND  THE  DEAD.  lOI 

these  countless  and  untold  sufferings  in  the  present  life,  with- 
out any  support  or  consolation  drawn  from  the  anticipated 
glories  of  the  future.  The  humble  disciples  of  Jesus,  however 
poor  or  despised,  neglected  or  scorned  here  below,  can  well 
afford  to  endure  groans  and  griefs  and  agonies  and  tears  ;  be- 
cause the  hope,  full  of  immortality,  renders  the  light  affliction 
which  is  but  for  a  moment,  not  worthy  to  be  compared  with 
the  eternal  weight  of  glory  that  is  to  follow.  But  these  un- 
happy victims  of  a  degrading  superstition  have  to  bear  the 
unmitigated  burden  of  all  their  sorrows,  not  only  unvisited  by 
earthly  joy  or  uncheered  by  heavenly  hope,  but  scared  and 
haunted  by  ghastly  spectres  and  images  of  terror  that  flit  por- 
tentously around  the  portals  of  death  and  the  grave. 

"Who,  after  such  a  statement — and  it  is  but  a  faint  and 
feeble  delineation  of  the  terrible  reality — who  need  wonder  at 
the  reiterated  solemn  averments  of  the  sagest  witnesses — that, 
so  far  as  man  can  judge,  'a  vast  majority  of  those  attacked 
do  perish  for  want  of  prompt  attention,  from  exposure,  and 
destitution  of  the  comforts,  and  in  many  cases,  the  necessaries 
of  life  ^ — that  thousands  of  the  poorer  natives  in  and  about 
Calcutta  are  continually  exposed  to  the  ravages  of  the  more 
prevalent  diseases  of  the  country,  and  in  a  very  large  propor- 
tion, without  a  chance  of  being  relieved ;  that  they  die  in 
thousands,  not  from  the  origiual  force  of  disease,  but  from  the 
want  of  an  asylum,'  or  well  regulated  receptacle  where  pro- 
per medical  treatment  and  care  could  be  bestowed  on  them  ? 

"And  if  the  constant  state  of  disease,  suffering  and  death, 
even  in  ordinary  years,  points  to  the  necessity  of  establishing 
such  a  sanctuary  of  health,  what  shall  we  think  of  that  necessity 
as  enhanced  by  those  extraordinary  seasons  of  raging  epi- 
demic which,  as  in  the  months  of  March  and  April  last,  occa- 
sionally visit  and  scourge  this  devoted  city  and  neighbourhood? 
— when  almost  every  dwelling  is  tuimed  into  a  sepulchre, 
where  the  dead  and  the  dying  are  stretched  side  by  side ; — 
when  the  thoroughfares  to  the  tomb  and  the  funeral  pile  seem 
more  crowded  than  the  highways  to  the  marts  of  business ; — 
when  the  head  of  a  family  goes  to  the  field,  or  the  office,  or  the 
market  place,  and,  returning,  finds  a  wife,  or  darling  child,  or 
beloved  friend  already  numbered  with  the  dead; — when  the 
prattling  babe,  that  had  been  hushed  to  slumber  by  the  caresses 
and  lullabies  of  a  fond  mother,  awakes,  and,  all  unconscious  of 


102  LIFE    OP    DR.    DUFF.  1844. 

the  change,  wonders  why  its  natural  fount  of  life  refuses  its 
wonted  nourishment,  and  smiling  as  it  gazes  at  the  counte- 
nance now  clenched  in  the  gripe  of  death,  wonders  still  more 
that  it  is  not  as  before  responsive  to  the  playful  smile; — when 
the  halls  that  lately  rung  with  the  music  and  the  songs  of 
hilarity  and  joy,  are  suddenly  turned  into  sick  chambers  or 
charnel  houses  that  resound  with  the  voices  of  grief,  lamenta- 
tion and  woe ; — when  the  vigorous  youth  and  the  blooming 
maiden,  who  to-night  so  surely  calculated  on  treading  life's 
flowery  dale  and  luxuriating  on  the  banquet  of  hitherto 
untasted  joys,  are  literally  reduced  to  ashes  before  the  rising 
of  to-morrow's  sun ; — when  the  lordly  oppressor  drops  his  rod 
into  the  cold  bosom  of  the  oppressed,  and  both  are  consigned 
together  to  the  common  place  of  oblivion,  where  they  shall 
dwell  in  peace  till  the  last  trumpet  sounds  ; — when  the  grasp- 
ing miser  sinks  down  amid  his  accumulated  hordes  in  the  very 
act  of  repulsing  a  humble  suppliant,  covered  with  rags,  con- 
sumed with  hunger,  and  fainting  with  inanition ; — when  the 
paleness  of  every  countenance,  and  the  cai-eworn  solicitude 
engraved  on  every  brow,  and  the  inquiring  wistf  ulness  of  every 
eye,  and  the  abrupt,  hurried  and  measured  utterances  of  every 
lip  involuntarily  betray  the  strange  anxieties  and  forebodings 
of  beings  who  know  not  but  the  stoutest,  and  the  healthiest, 
and  the  busiest  now,  may,  in  a  few  hours,  be  stretched  as  a 
lifeless  ghastly  corpse ;  when  hundreds,  flying  the  city  in  de- 
spair, never  reach  their  country  or  their  homes,  but,  meeting 
death  by  the  way,  perish  miserably  there — infecting  the  air 
with  contagious  influences,  which  thus  ripen  a  fresh  harvest  of 
mortality  all  around  the  fallen  fugitives ; — in  a  word,  when, 
alike  in  town  and  country,  the  king  of  terrors — holding  high 
carnival  and  fitting  jubilee — not  only  lives  but  reigns,  and 
not  reigns  merely,  but  riots  and  revels  in  all  the  wantonness  of 
a  victor  amid  the  indiscriminate  carnage  of  a  battle-field — 
sitting  aloft  upon  piles  of  untimely  slain  as  on  a  throne  of 
triumph,  and  wielding  his  merciless  sceptre  over  the  living, 
as  over  myriads  speedily  destined  to  become  the  victims  that 
shall  glut  but  not  satisfy  his  ravenous  maw  !  But  enough:— 
Surely,  surely,  if  the  suffering  and  mortality  of  ordinary  years 
plead  so  impressively  and  resistlessly  for  the  necessity  of  pro- 
viding an  asylum  for  the  thousands  of  haj)less  suSerers,  that 
necessity    is    augmented    and    enchauced    a    hundred,  yea,  a 


JEt  38.  THE    TEN    HOSPITALS    OP    CALCUTTA.  I03 

thousand-fold,  by  the  I'eturn,  in   almost  periodic  cycle,  of  an 
extraordinary  season  of  smiting,  all-dovoiiriug  pestilence. 

"  May  I  not  then,  dear  friends  and  brethren,  confidently  call 
upon  you,  as  professing  disciples  of  the  Lord  Jesus  to  come 
forward  now,  and  vigorously  support  this  great  and  philan- 
thropic undertaking  ?  " 

Soon  there  rose,  by  the  side  of  tlie  Medical  College, 
the  largest  siugle  hospital  in  the  world,  where,  ever 
since,  the  poor  Hindoo,  the  outcast  devil-worshipper, 
the  proud  Muhammadau,  the  careless  sailor,  and  the  ad- 
venturous tramp  have  found  at  once  the  skill  of  the 
Christian  physician,  the  ministrations  of  the  Christian 
nurse,  and  not  unfrequontly  the  heart-healing  of  Him 
who  crloried  in  that  He  came  not  to  call  the  rio^hteous 
but  sinners  to  repentance.  The  opening  of  the  hos- 
pital marked  a  new  development  of  medical  education 
in  the  East,  for  the  course  of  the  Medical  College 
was  reorganized  in  1845  so  as  to  qualify  its  students 
for  the  diplomas  of  the  British  licensing  bodies.  And 
ever  since,  in  Calcutta  and  its  suburbs  alone,  the 
number  of  persons  treated  in  this  institution,  now 
become  ten  hospitals  and  dispensaries,  has  risen  to  the 
third  of  a  million  of  human  beings  a  year.  In  1877 
there  were  25,358  in-door  and  300,204  out-door  free 
patients.  Philanthropy  presents  no  grander  triumph 
of  the  kind. 

In  the  close  of  his  appeal  Dr.  Duff  made  this  refer- 
ence to  the  benevolent  physician,  John  Abercrombie, 
M.D.,  who,  since  the  beginning  of  the  century,  had 
been  the  foremost  practitioner  and  philanthropist  in 
Edinburgh  :  "  What  the  Saviour  did  miraculously  and 
instantaneousl}^,  may  now,  with  His  blessing,  be  grad- 
ually accomplished  by  mediate  processes  of  an  ordinary 
kind.  And  it  were  well  if  all  Christian  physicians 
kept  more  habitually  in  remembrance  the  great  but 
too  much  neglected  truth,  that,  while  the  application 


I04  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1845. 

of  the  means  is  theirs,  the  entire  fruit  and  success  of 
their  endeavours  must  belong  to  the  Author  of  life.  In 
our  own  native  land,  there  is  at  the  very  head  of  the 
medical  profession  at  least  one  saintly  man, — a  father 
in  our  Israel  and  a  prince  in  the  realms  of  cultured 
intellect  and  high  philosophy, — of  whom  it  is  verit- 
ably related,  that  he  never  proceeds  to  visit  a  patient 
without  first  committing  the  case,  in  prayer,  to  a 
gracious  and  merciful  and  covenant-keeping  God. 
And  sure  we  are  that,  were  his  noble  and  Christ-like 
example  more  extensively  imitated,  the  blissful  issue 
would  soon  become  visible  in  the  augmented  number 
of  happy  sick-beds,  ay,  and  it  may  be,  in  the  greater 
frequency  of  effective  recoveries ; — for  it  is  recorded 
by  the  pen  of  inspiration,  and  engraven  as  with  a  rod 
of  iron  on  the  rock  for  ever,  '  that  the  effectual  fervent 
prayer  of  a  righteous  man  availeth  much.'  " 

The  preacher  did  not  know,  as  he  spoke  these  words, 
that  half  Scotland  was  mourning  the  death  of  one 
whose  spirit  descended  on  a  daughter  ever  since  full 
of  good  works  for  the  natives  of  the  Highlands  and  of 
India  alike.  Personal  and  professional  reasons  apart, 
Dr.  Duff  had  a  special  ground  of  gratitude  to  Dr. 
Abercrombie  and  his  family.  In  his  "  Inquiries  Cou- 
cerning  the  Intellectual  Powers,"  and  his  "  Philosophy 
of  the  Moral  Feelings,"  the  busy  and  thoughtful  phy- 
sician had  produced  two  elementary  works,  still  of 
interest  to  the  general  reader,  but  then  of  value  to  the 
young  student  as  a  harmony  of  revelation  and  science. 
These  were  precisely  the  manuals  which  the  Christian 
colleges  of  India  desired  for  their  first  year's  students, 
as  introductory  to  Bacon  and  Berkeley,  Hamilton  and 
Whewell.  On  the  request  of  Dr.  Duff,  the  publisher, 
Mr.  Murray,  and  Dr.  Abercrombie  at  once  consented 
to  sanction  the  appearance,  in  India,  of  a  succession 
of  cheap  editions.     The  works  long  continued  to  be 


^t.  39.  DEATH    OF    Dll.    ABERCROMBIE.  i05 

used,  even  by  the  Universities,  for  their  "  little  go  " 
examinations,  nor  have  they  yet  disappeared  from 
missionary  schools.  Hence  the  allusions  in  a  conso- 
latory letter  to  Miss  Abercrombie,  written  on  the  7th 
February,  1845  : 

"  It  is  many  a  day  since  I  have  received  such  a 
shock.  For  some  time  I  felt  as  if  literally  stunned — 
so  sudden,  so  utterly  unexpected  was  the  stroke.  It 
seemed  as  if  a  veil  of  darkness  overspread  my  eyes, 
which  was  only  removed  in  a  suffusion  of  tears.  Many, 
many  circumstances  conspired  to  make  me  feel  in  a 
way  altogether  peculiar.  His  manifold  acts  of  personal 
kindness  and  attention  to  myself  when  at  home ;  his 
more  than  paternal  kindness  to  any  of  our  dear  chil- 
dren when  labouring  under  disease ;  his  recent  inde- 
fatigable attentions  to  our  little  boy,  so  vividly  fresh 
in  the  mind;  the  earnest  and  truly  disinterested  manner 
in  which  he  secured  for  us  a  cheap  Calcutta  edition  of 
his  two  principal  works  for  the  use  of  native  institu- 
tions; his  last  undertaking  in  the  way  of  preparing  a 
series  of  works  for  the  young,  from  which  I  looked  for 
the  richest  accompanying  blessings,  to  myriads  at  home 
and  abroad  ;  all  these,  and  many  things  else  besides, 
camerusliing  into  the  mind  like  the  sweep  of  a  tropical 
torrent,  and  for  a  little  quite  overwhelmed  it,  under  the 
announcement  that  such  a  father,  such  a  friend,  such 
a  Christian  author  was  now  no  more. 

"  To  him  beyond  all  question  the  change  has  been  a 
blessed  one.  But  He  who  wept  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus 
proved  that  the  tear  of  natural  sorrow,  dropping  from 
the  fount  of  natural  sensibility,  is  not,  within  due 
limits,  an  unlawful  tear.  And  then,  it  is  the  inestim- 
able privilege  of  the  Christian,  in  the  case  of  those 
who  fall  asleep  in  Jesus,  to  mingle  joy  with  his 
sorrow — the  joy  of  a  hope  full  of  immortality  beaming 
through  the  thickest  shadows  of  deatl]  and  the  grave. 


IC'6  LIFE    OF   DB.    PUFF.  X845. 

Weep  he  may,  but  his  weeping  is  like  the  genial  summer 
shower,  pervaded  and  brightened  by  the  rays  of  the 
Sun  of  Righteousness.  Above  all,  it  becomes  the 
Christian,  in  resignedly  submitting  to  the  dispensations 
of  his  Heavenly  Father,  however  dark  or  mysterious, 
to  derive  therefrom  such  sanctifying  lessons  as  they 
may  be  designed  to  impart.  Hence  my  delight  at  the 
weighty  sentiment  expressed  by  yourself,  when  you  say, 
'  I  trust  it  is  our  desire  rather  to  be  sanctified  than 
merely  to  be  comforted.'  And  my  earnest  prayer 
is,  that  you,  my  dear  Christian  friend,  and  all  your 
sisters  may  be  sustained,  upheld,  and  truly  sanctified 
under  this  sore  bereavement — the  sorest  which  could 
have  overtaken  you  on  this  side  of  time.  May  He  who 
is  pre-eminently  the  Father  of  the  fatherless  be  your 
refuge  and  your  stay — your  present  and  everlasting 
portion  and  reward !  May  the  great  Angel  of  the 
Covenant  embrace  you  in  the  arms  of  His  love,  hide 
you  in  His  own  pavilion,  and  shelter  you  under  the 
outstretched  wings  of  His  mercy  and  grace  ! 

"  In  the  midst  of  such  a  trial  it  was  indeed  more 
than  kind  of  you  to  remember  us  and  our  Hindoo  flock 
here.  I  assure  you  the  value  of  the  original  gift  (an 
electric  machine,  sent  for  the  Institution)  is  vastly  en- 
hanced by  this  singular  token  of  the  deep  interest  and 
concern  taken  by  yourself  and  dear  departed  father 
and  other  members  of  the  family  in  our  labours.  I 
doubt  not  when  the  box  is  landed  that  it  will  prove  a 
peculiarly  valuable  accession  to  our  instrumentality  of 
usefulness."* 


*  The  Rev.  G.  D.  CuUen  has  supplied  these  new  facts  :  "  In 
June,  1841,  Dr.  Abercrombie  invited  a  few  of  us  to  meet  him 
in  the  Waterloo  Hotel,  and  his  guest,  Dr.  Peter  Parker,  returning 
from  China  to  the  United  States.  After  hearing  his  interesting 
account  of  the  woi'k  in  Canton,  Dr.  Abercrombie  asked — could 
nothing  be  done  in  Edinburgh  to  promote  Medical  Missions  ? 
On  our  encouraging  the  proposal,  ic   was    asked  who  should  be 


ALt.  39.         TliK    ilKillliAND    FAMKXli.        JOHN    KNOX.  IO7 

IltirJly  had  the  Medical  College  Hospital  been  com- 
pleted when  the  generous  Scotsmen  of  Calcutta  turned 
to  Dr.  Duff  to  represent  them  in  national  movements 
of  their  own.  One  was,  in  184G,  the  prospect  of 
raising  a  monument  to  John  Knox,  which  resulted  in 
the  purchase  of  his  house  at  the  Netherbow  corner 
of  the  High  Street  of  Edinburgh,  and  in  the  erection 
of  the  Church  which  bears  his  name.  In  this  the 
missionary  was  their  spokesman.  But  even  more 
enthusiastically  did  he  represent  them  when  famine 
burst  forth  on  his  native  Highlands,  and  the  flower 
of  the  Celtic  population  began  to  wither  and  die,  in 
the  silence  not  of  an  Asiatic  fatalism  but  of  resin^na- 
tion  to  the  will  of  God  like  his  who  said,  "  Though 
He  slay  me  yet  will  I  trust  in  Him."  Dr.  Duff's 
Calcutta  speech,  in  1847,  for  their  relief  was  a  trumpet- 
blast,  which  produced  such  fruits  that,  up  till  a  few 
years  ago,  money  was  sent  from  Bengal  to  the  more 
destitute  districts  north  of  the  Grampians. 

Among  those  who  enjoyed  an  early  and  lasting 
friendship  with  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Duff  was  Mrs.  Ellerton. 
The  name  has  no  associations  for  the  general  reader, 
but  it  is  that  of  one  who,  for  nearl;y  eighty  years,  was  a 
famous  historical  character  in  Bengal.  Mrs.  Ellerton 
was  a  girl  when,  in  1780,  she  saw  the  notorious  Philip 
Francis  fall,  shot  through  the  body  by  Warren 
Hastings  in  the  duel  which  was  the  procuring  cause 
of  the  malicious  impeachment  and  prolonged  trial  of 
the  first  Governor-General.  It  was  a  hot  Thursday 
morning,  of  the  17th  of  August,  when,  close  to  the 
public  road  which  still  passes  the  residence  of  the 
Lieutenant  Governor  of  Bengal,  known  as  Belvedere, 
the    two    enemies   met    with    their    seconds.      After 


secretary,  and  I  named  Dr.  Coldstream.  Dr.  Abercrombie  approved 
of  the  young  naturalist,  and  I  think  I  negotiated  with  my  iHen'i. 
But  Dr.  Abercrombie  was  the  founder  and  the  first  president," 


I08  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1 844. 

months  of  obstructiveness  in  Council,  detrimental 
to  all  good  government,  Francis  had  promised  to 
remain  quiet  in  consideration  of  certain  concessions 
made  by  the  Governor-General.  Francis  broke  his 
pledge,  and  Hastings  openly  wrote  in  reply  to  a 
minute  of  his  enemy  :  "  I  judge  of  his  public  conduct 
by  his  private,  which  I  have  found  to  be  void  of 
truth  and  honour."  The  result  was  the  duel,  by  high 
officials  who  had  never  before  fired  a  pistol,  under  the 
two  trees  known  as  "  the  trees  of  destruction,"  from 
the  deeds  of  which  they  were  occasionally  the  scene. 
Mrs.  Ellerton  saw  Francis  fall,  saw  Hastings  and  his 
second  bind  a  sheet  round  the  body  of  the  bleeding 
man  and  place  him  in  the  cot  in  which  he  was  carried 
to  Belvedere.  Of  every  public  event  in  India  there- 
after till  the  Mutiny,  of  every  change  in  Calcutta,  she 
knew  the  personal  history,  and  much  of  her  knowledge 
she  communicated  to  the  Rev.  J.  Long,  for  the  Cal- 
cutta Review,  when  she  accompanied  him  to  all  the 
historical  landmarks  in  the  city  and  its  neighbourhood. 
She  had  been  early  married  to  John  Ellerton,  the 
indigo  planter  of  Malda  who  opened  the  first  Ben- 
galee schools,  and  made  the  first  translation  of  the 
New  Testament  into  that  language,  till  the  version  of 
Carey — whom  he  helped — and  Yates  superseded  his 
own  published  in  1820.  "A  widow  indeed,"  this  godly 
lady  saw  her  daughter  married  to  Bishop  Corrie.  In 
the  evangelical  circles  of  Calcutta  and  the  interior 
she  was  ever  welcome.  We  gladly  rescue  this  letter 
from  her  to  Mrs.  Duff : 

"  Bhaugulfore,  20th  Oct.,  1844. 

"  My  dear  kind  Friend, — The  warmest  thanks  from  a  grate- 
ful heart  attend  you,  for  the  kind  interest  you  have  manifested 
in  my  outward  comforts.  It  has  pleased  the  Lord  to  lay  His 
hand  upon  me  again,  and  I  am  confined  to  a  sick  room,  but  all 


ALL  38.  MliS.    ELLEkTON    TO    MliS.    DUFF.  IO9 

must  be  well  which  He  ordains,  I  am  much  better,  though  not 
yet  able  to  join  the  domestic  circle,  and  the  doctor  thinks  the 
river  air  will  complete  my  recovery.  I  believe  my  cabin  is 
engaged  in  the  Sour  ma,  which  will  call  here  about  the  27th, 
five  days  hence.  The  accommodations  of  Mrs.  Ord's  house 
in  Wellington  Square  would  suit  me  very  nicely,  but  I  am 
engaged  to  go  to  my  nephew's,  Dr.  Jackson,  at  the  General 
Hospital,  who  is  to  me  as  a  second  sou,  and  as  he  has  been 
obliged  to  send  his  wife  and  children  in  haste  away,  on  account 
of  their  health,  their  apartments  will  be  mine  for  a  season. 
Nothing  could  be  more  acceptable  and  in  unison  with  my 
feelings  than  the  acceptance  of  your  kind  hospitality,  for  which 
[  can  never  thank  you  sufficiently.  May  the  Lord  repay  you; 
He  is  my  banker,  for  I  am  bankrupt  in  myself.  With  thanks 
I  return  Mrs.  Davies'  interesting  letter.  Give  me  a  place  in 
your  prayers,  dear  Christian  friends,  and  believe  me  yours 
afi"ectionately  in  our  dear  Lord  Jesus, 

"  Hannah  Ellerton." 

When  Dr.  Jackson  left  India,  eight  years  after,  Mrs. 
Ellerton  became  an  inmate  of  the  palace  of  the  Bishop 
of  Calcutta,  whom  she  survived  by  three  months, 
dying  in  1858,  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven.  We  read 
in  Daniel  W^ilson's  Journal — ** '  Would  I  take  her  in  r ' 
*  Yes  :  and  rejoice  to  do  it,'  was  my  reply.  It  will  be 
like  the  ark  at  Obed-edom's,  a  blessing  to  my  house 
and  family,  my  guests  and  clergy."  Again,  writing  in 
1855  :  "  She  is  very  chatty  and  pleasant  and  punctual 
in  coming  to  meals.  Many  useful  remarks  fall  from 
her  in  conversation.  She  has  a  turn  for  humour,  and 
tells  anecdotes  of  former  times.  There  is  a  savour  of 
downright  piety  and  simplicity  of  heart  in  all  she  says. 
Her  faculties  are  perfect.  She  loves  authority  and 
obedience.  She  jokes  with  me  and  calls  me  '  twice 
seven'  (77).  I  keep  four  bearers  for  her  exclusive 
use."  It  is  a  quaint  picture  of  pree-Mutiny  days  in 
Calcutta.  Dr.  Duffs  letters  to  tlie  venerable  lady  have 
disappeared.       She   spanned  the   three-quarters  of    a 


I  lO  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1849. 

century  from  the  first  Governor-General  of  the  East 
India  Company  to  the  first  Viceroy  of  the  Crown — 
from  "Warren  Hastings  to  Lord  Canning. 

In  the  closing  years  of  his  second  term  of  work  in 
Calcutta,  nothing  out  of  his  own  special  mission  inter- 
ested him  so  deeply  as  the  struggle  of  the  Eurasian 
community  to  improve  the  academy  which  developed 
into  the  Doveton  College.  From  1846  to  1849  he 
maintained  a  close  correspondence  with  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Cunningham,  whom,  at  the  request  of  the  directors, 
he  asked  to  select  a  Rector.  The  Jesuits  on  the  one 
side,  and  the  more  sectarian  Anglicans  on  the  other, 
had  opened  rival  schools,  which  threatened  at  once  the 
Protestant  teaching  and  the  truly  catholic  basis  of  that 
of  which  Dr.  Duff  was  visitor.  In  1843  the  short- 
lived league  of  the  Brahmans  with  the  Jesuits  had 
led  him  to  expose  the  immorality  of  the  Order, 
which  Dr.  Mackay  soon  after  traced  historically  in 
his  Calcutta  Review  article  on  their  China  and  India 
Missions.  In  1848,  Dr.  Duff  was  compelled  to  re- 
turn to  the  charge  in  an  elaborate  treatise  which 
became  popular  in  this  country  under  the  title  of 
"  The  Jesuits,  their  Origin  and  Order,  Morality  and 
Practices,  Suppression  and  Restoration."  He  lent 
the  Doveton  Institution  the  services  of  Mr.  Fyfe  for 
a  little,  but  still  no  Rector  appeared.  The  times 
were  not  propitious,  for  the  Disruption  had  absorbed 
into  the  pulpits,  the  colleges  and  the  schools  of  the 
Free  Church  every  available  man  of  culture  and  piety. 

On  the  7th  August,  1846,  we  find  these  allusions 
to  ecclesiastical  affairs  in  Scotland,  and  to  that  chair 
of  Foreign  Missions,  which  he  had  first  proposed  in  the 
letter  on  page  43  :  "  Your  last  General  Assembly  was 
an  extraordinary  one.  What  an  ingenious  device  of 
Satan  has  that  American  slavery  agitation  been  !  It 
is,  perhaps,  the  only  subject  on  which  the  world  has 


JEl  43.    ANDUEW    MOEGAN    AND    THE    DOVLTON    COLLECJE.    I  I  I 

heart  interest  enough  to  unite  in  a  plausible  charge 
against  our  Church.  Out  here  we  have  felt  at  one 
with  you  from  the  first — I  mean,  our  Free  Church 
members.  When  your  article  appeared  in  the  North 
British,  some  of  our  ultra-liberals  here  at  once  took 
it  up,  and  turned  it  into  an  argument  against  our 
Church,  and  it  may  amuse  you  to  learn  that  I  felt 
myself  obliged,  even  here,  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges, 
to  vindicate  our  Free  Church  cause  from  public  asper- 
sion by  vindicating  Dr.  Cunningham  and  his  article  in 
the  North  British  Bevieiv,  yet  so  it  was.  As  a  curiosity 
I  thought  of  sending  you  some  of  the  papers;  but 
remembering  how  full  your  hands  were,  I  refrained. 
How  strangely  tangled  and  ramifjdng  has  the  web  of 
human  affairs  become. 

"  Some  time  ago  I  hinted  at  a  professorship  of 
Missions  and  Education  in  your  new  college,  but  have 
not  seen  any  symptom  of  a  movement  towards  it.  I 
have  been  surprised  that  an  object  so  glorious  should 
not  have  been  contemplated  in  such  a  college.  A 
missionary  and  educational  professorship  would  indeed 
be  a  crown  of  glory  to  it." 

At  last  the  man  was  found  in  the  Rev.  Andrew 
Morgan,  who  had  made  Auchterarder  almost  as  famous 
by  his  school  as  the  Disruption  controversy  had  done. 
From  February  1849  to  December  1854  he  gave  his 
life  for  the  elevation  of  the  Eurasians  and  resident 
Europeans  of  India,  in  Bengal  and  Madras,  till  he  died 
of  overwork.  Dr.  Duff  rejoiced  in  his  success.  Mr. 
Morgan  stamped  his  manly  God-fearing  nature  on  a 
generation  of  youths  who  still,  many  of  them  high  in 
the  Indian  services,  call  him  blessed. 

Dr.  Duff  thus  concluded  one  of  his  importunate 
letters  to  Dr.  Cunningham  about  the  Rector :  "  Oh 
what  a  loss  has  been  sustained  in  the  death  of  Dr. 
Chalmers  !  It  is  too  great  for  utterance." 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

1849-1850. 

BEATS   OF  DB.   CHALMERS.— TOUR    THROUGH  80UT3 
INDIA.— HOME  BY  THE  GANGES  AND  INDUS. 

The  Death  of  Dr.  Chalmers. — Dr.  DuflP  on  his  Career. — A  Mission- 
ary to  the  Heathen  rather  than  a  Divinity  Professor. — Addresses 
from  all  classes  of  the  Indian  Commuuity. — The  Brahman  Pan- 
dits.— Mr.  Lacroix  and  a  Professorship  of  Missions. — Dr.  DaflE 
Summoned  Home  to  Organize  the  Free  Church  Mission  Scheme. — 
Tour  in  South  India. — His  Journal. — The  People  and  the  Land- 
Tax. — French  and  British. — Fort  St.  David  and  the  East  India 
Company. — Tranquebar. — Ziegeiibalg,  his  Church  and  House. — 
Caste  Christians  and  German  Rationalism. — Jesuit  Missions. — 
The  Land  of  the  Great  Pagodas. — In  the  Seringham  Temple. — 
Schwartz  and  his  Work. — Heber. — Robert  de  Nobrli's  Tomb. — 
Bishops  Sargent  and  Caldwell.— Nagercoil  and  Lace-making. — 
Ceylon. — Up  the  Ganges  to  Simla.' — Futtehpore  Sikri. — Lahore 
and  Sir  Henry  Lawrence. — Brigadier  Colin  Mackenzie. — Meeting 
on  the  Indus  with  Dr.  Wilson. — Bombay. — Edinburgh. 

It  was  early  on  a  Friday  morning  in  July,  1847,  while 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Duff  were  enjoying  on  the  house-top,  as 
was  their  wont,  the  too  brief  hours  of  coolness  before 
the  tropical  sun  should  rise  high  in  the  heavens,  that 
an  Episcopalian  friend  communicated  to  them  the  fact 
of  the  death  of  Dr.  Chalmers,  "  the  venerated  father  of 
your  Church."  The  news  seemed  incredible.  By  the 
previous  mail  Dr.  Duff  had  heard  of  his  evidence, 
before  the  House  of  Commons'  committee,  on  the  re- 
fusal of  sites  for  the  erection  of  Free  churches,  and  of 
the  gathering  of  statesmen  like  Lord  John  Russell  and 
of  the  London  crowd  to  hear  his  ripened  eloquence. 


^t.  41.  THE    DEATH    OF    DR.    CHALMERS.  II3 

But  the  Government  express  mail  liad  brought  the 
intelligence,  which  moved  even  educated  Hindoo 
society,  familiar  with  his  writings  and  taught  by  his 
greatest  students.  To  Dr.  Duff  the  loss,  suddenly 
announced,  was  not  that  of  a  father  and  a  friend  alone. 
Nor  was  his  sorrow  the  offspring  of  gratitude  merely 
to  the  memory  of  one  whose  lectures  and  training  and 
personal  influence  for  five  years  had  done  more  to 
make  the  Highland  student  what  he  had  become  than 
any  other  single  influence.  Nor  did  he  think  chiefly, 
moreover,  of  the  solemn  hour  of  his  ordination  in 
St.  George's,  and  the  second  charge  given  to  him  in 
the  same  place  by  the  great  departed  as  by  Paul  to 
Timothy.  Dr.  Duff  in  the  fulness  of  his  own  experi- 
ence on  the  wide  arena  of  India  and  the  East,  and  of 
his  knowledge  of  the  men  who  make  the  history  alike 
of  the  Church  and  the  world,  thought  of  Thomas 
Chalmers  as  the  earliest  Scottish  apostle  of  evangelical 
missions,  as  the  preacher  who,  before  even  Dr.  Inglis, 
had  in  1812,  and  again  in  1814,  dared  to  tell  his 
countrymen  that  they  stood  alone  of  all  English- 
speaking  peoples  in  their  contempt  for  the  mission- 
ary cause,  and  that  the  time  was  at  hand  when  they 
must  become  the  foremost  of  missionary  nations. 

It  was  thus  he  wrote  of  Chalmers  to  Dr.  James 
Buchanan,  on  the  7th  August,  1847  : 

"Apart  altogether  from  considerations  of  a  more  private  or 
more  general  character,  I  feel  that  I  could  not,  in  my  speciGo 
capacity  as  a  missionary,  keep  silence.  It  is  impossible  for  me 
to  forget  that  one  of  the  first  steps  in  his  splendid  career  as  a 
Christian  philanthropist,  was  his  unanswered  and  unanswerable 
defence  of  Bible  and  Missionary  societies.  It  was,  indeed,  a 
defence  which  swept  away  the  wretched  sophisms  of  the  in- 
difiFerent  and  ungodly,  like  chaff  before  the  whirlwind.  It 
demonstrated  to  the  world,  that  if  such  societies  threatened  to 
become  popular,  it  was  not  from  poverty  of  intellect  on   tha 

VOL.    11.  I 


114  ^^^^    0^   I>1^'    DUFF.  1847. 

part  of  their  friends,  or  from  a  drivelling  irrational  pietism  on 
the  part  of  their  champions.  From  Bibles  the  transition  was 
easy  to  the  translators  and  distributors  of  Bibles  and  the 
promulgators  of  Bible  truth.  Accordingly,  at  a  time  when 
missions  were  most  despised,  and  missionaries  held  most 
despicable  by  the  great  and  the  wise  and  the  mighty  of  this 
world,  he  stood  forth  the  intrepid  and  triumphant  vindicator 
of  both.  In  his  two  discourses,  entitled  '  The  Two  Great 
Instruments  appointed  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,' 
and,  'The  Utility  of  Missions  Ascertained  by  Experience,' 
preached  and  published  upwards  of  thirty  years  ago,  there  are 
bursts  of  eloquence  which  he  himself  never  subsequently  sur- 
passed; downright  genuine  eloquence,  which  does  not  lead  us 
to  the  goal  by  slow  marches  of  argument,  or  parade  of  verbal 
logic,  or  ingenious  devices  of  subtlety,  but  flashes  upon  the 
subject  with  the  revealing  power  of  heaven's  lightning,  and  at 
once  makes  every  understanding  to  perceive,  and  every  heart 
to  feel.  In  the  whole  range  of  missionary  literature  it  would 
perhaps  be  difiicult  to  meet  with  any  treatises  which,  within  a 
shorter  compass  than  that  occupied  by  the  discourses  now 
named,  portray  more  strikingly  the  unrivalled  claims  of  the 
Bible,  exhibit  a  finer  delineation  of  the  missionary  character, 
or  embody  a  more  powerful  exposition  and  defence  of  the  great 
object  of  the  missionary  enterprise. 

"  But  it  has  at  times,  and  by  interested  parties,  been  more 
than  insinuated,  that  the  noble  author's  own  example  in  some 
respects  belied  the  glowing  portraiture  of  his  pen.  Of  this, 
no  one  that  knew  him  well  could  ever  be  persuaded.  As  one 
of  the  few  that  have  been  raised  up  in  any  country  or  age, 
gifted  from  on  high  with  a  sight  of  mind  that  was  telescopic, 
among  the  millions  endowed  with  ordinary  vision  he  was  con- 
stantly liable  to  be  misunderstood  in  his  plans  and  doings. 
The  schemes  of  such  a  man,  rightly  interpreted,  would  be 
found  to  affect,  not  Scotland  or  England  alone — not  the  present 
age  only,  but  the  world  and  all  posterity.  And  centuries 
hence,  the  truth  not  less  than  the  magnificence  of  his  concep- 
tions, may  be  appreciated  and  admired  by  the  grateful  descen- 
dants of  those  who  have  often  joined  the  vulgar  throng  in 
vilifying  the  man,  and  in  ridiculing  or  condemning  his 
measures. 

"  Mighty,  however,  though  he  was  in  performance,  his  mind 


^t  41.         CHALMERS    AND    EVANGELICAL    MISSIONS.  II5 

was  as  much,  if  not  more,  of  the  legislative  caste  than  the 
executive.  Using  '  speculation '  in  its  highest,  noblest  sense, 
he  may  truly  be  said  to  have  been  at  once  the  most  speculative 
and  the  most  pi-actical  of  living  men.  In  religion  and  morals, 
as  well>as  general  philosophy,  he  was  a  theorist  and  experi- 
mentalist on  the  largest,  surest  scale.  He  first  began,  or 
rather,  God,  in  mercy  to  his  country  and  mankind,  enabled 
him  by  His  good  Spirit  to  begin,  with  himself.  His  own 
personal  experience  he  generalized  and  instantly  rendered 
available  in  his  management  of  human  nature  in  a  rural 
parish.  His  rural  experience  he  generalized  and  applied  to 
the  unravelling  of  the  more  arduous  complexities  of  an  urban 
and  suburban  population.  His  rural  and  civic  experience  he 
next  generalized,  and  transferred  with  giant  power  to  the 
scaling  of  almost  insurmountable  difficulties,  in  the  erection  of 
new  churches,  and  the  establishment  of  a  vigorous  parochial 
economy,  with  a  view  to  effectuate  and  complete  the  christian- 
ization  of  a  kingdom.  But  would  he  have  stopped  here  ?  The 
wishes  and  the  hopes  of  many  earnestly  suggested.  No.  When, 
through  the  blessing  of  Heaven,  he  should  have  succeeded  in 
rearing  a  monument  of  his  later  labours  in  the  land  of  hia 
fathers,  mightier  and  more  enduring  far  than  that  of  the 
monarch  whose  boast  it  was  that  he  found  the  capital  of  his 
empire  of  brick  and  left  it  of  marble;  when  he  should  have 
established  the  means  of  everywhere  converting  that 'bulky 
sediment,'  which  now  putrefies  in  all  the  loathsomeness  of 
moral  corruption  at  the  base  of  society,  into  materials  more 
precious  than  the  gold  of  Ophir — materials  enstamped  with 
the  name  and  superscription  of  the  King  of  Zion;  then,  if 
spared  by  the  kindness  of  a  gracious  God,  then  it  was  that  the 
Church,  the  world,  expected  that  he  would  generalize  his 
national  experience,  and  bring  it  to  bear,  in  the  full  breeze  of 
triumph,  on  the  countless  outcast  population  of  a  globe.  And, 
if  privileged  by  Providence  so  to  do,  with  a  field  so  vast  for 
the  range  of  his  excursive  powers,  and  an  object  so  transcen- 
dent for  the  sympathies  of  his  benevolent  heart,  was  it  too 
much  to  hope  that  he  would  have  been  empowered  from  on 
high  to  speak  in  such  a  voice  of  thunder,  and  lighten  in  such 
Hashes  of  love,  as  to  arouse  all  Christendom  from  its  guilty 
slumbers,  and  to  awaken  nations  to  seek  their  God  ?  But  all 
fond  hopes  of  such  a  glorious  ctilmiaati ug  crown  to  his  mani- 


Il6  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1848, 

fold  labours  are  now  at  an  end.  That  'grim  tyrant/  whoso 
fell  triumphs  he  was  wont  to  portray  with  such  thrilling 
power,  has  interposed  his  mighty  fiat.  And  now  if,  by 
general  consent,  he  who  has  been  so  suddenly  laid  low  was 
long  acknowledged,  in  point  of  real  intellectual  and  moral 
greatness  combined,  to  be  the  master  mind  of  his  own  country, 
if  not  of  his  own  age,  it  only  remains  to  be  added,  in  justice 
to  the  character  of  the  departed,  that,  though  not  a  missionary 
himself,  in  the  ordinary  technical  use  of  that  term,  or  even  no 
very  active  member  of  any  missionary  board  or  committee, 
yet,  in  all  that  constitutes  the  real  grandeur  of  wide,  all-com- 
prehending, God-like  philanthropy,  he  has  been,  for  years,  the 
leading  missionary  spirit  of  Christendom. 

"  Standing,  as  we  do,  in  this  great  metropolis  of  Asiatic 
heathenism,  surrounded  by  myriads  that  are  perishing  for 
lack  of  knowledge — myriads  amounting,  in  the  aggregate,  to 
more  than  half  of  the  race  of  man — it  need  not  be  wondered 
at  that  the  mind  should  rapidly  pass  over  all  other  features, 
however  brilliant,  and  instinctively  fasten  on  the  missionary 
element  in  the  character  of  our  late  revered  father  and 
friend." 

All  that  Thomas  Chalmers  had  been,  Dr.  Duff  one 
Sabbath  evening  told  the  Hindoo  students  of  the 
Calcutta  colleges  who  filled  the  Free  Church  Institu- 
tion. The  secular  newspapers  of  the  time  bewailed 
that  they  had  not  caught  "  the  leading  features  in  the 
life,  labours  and  principles  of  that  illustrious  divine," 
as  represented  by  the  hands  of  such  a  master.  Dr. 
Hanna  has  embodied  a  part  of  the  sketch  in  the 
Memoirs  of  his  father-in-law.  But  yesterday  Scots- 
men, at  home  and  abroad,  united  to  place  in  their 
widest  street,  fronting  Edinburgh  Castle,  Sir  John 
Steell's  statue  of  the  true  successor  of  John  Knox. 
To-day  the  nation  is  preparing  to  commemorate  the 
centenary  of  his  birth  on  the  17th  of  March,  1780. 

Who  could  succeed  him  ?  not  indeed  as  national 
leader  of  the  third  E/eformation,  but  as  a  theological 
teacher  and  as  a  missionary  influence  at  the  head  of 


A^t.  42.  A    MISSIONARY    ADOVE    ALL   THINGS.  II7 

the  New  College,  which  he  had  founded  for  the  Free 
Church  in  Edinburgh.  Many  a  heart  turned  instinc- 
tively to  his  greatest  student,  who  had  created  two 
colleges  of  his  own  in  Calcutta,  and  not  a  few  else- 
where in  imitation  of  these.  While,  after  their  or- 
derly fashion,  presbyteries  and  synods,  unanimously 
or  by  large  majorities,  and  then  the  General  Assembly 
itself,  in  commission,  called  on  Dr.  Duff  to  come  home 
as  the  successor  of  Chalmers,  every  mail  deluged  him 
with  private  appeals  to  sacrifice  his  own  "  predilec- 
tion." It  was  the  old  story  of  1886,  when  every  vacant 
charge  with  a  large  stipend  thought  to  tempt  him. 
Remembering  that  time,  and  with  a  conviction  of  the 
paramount  claims  of  India  more  like  that  of  Dr.  Duff 
himself,  two  leaders  of  the  Free  Church  only  were 
found  to  plead  publicly  that  he  be  let  alone.  Dr.  Gor- 
don, secretary  of  the  Foreign  Missions  Committee,  and 
Thomas  Guthrie. 

It  was  necessary  for  the  missionary  to  act  before 
the  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1849.  He 
accordingly  wrote  a  letter  which  Dr.  Tweedie  pub- 
lished on  his  own  authority.  Tracing  all  the  way 
by  which  the  Lord  had  led  him,  from  his  father's 
teaching  to  Chalmers's  death,  hie  declared  that  he 
must  remain — must  die  as  he  had  lived — the  mis- 
sionary. "  I  trust,  therefore,  that  Dr.  Candlish,  Dr. 
Begg,  Dr.  R.  Buchanan,  and  other  revered  and  be- 
loved men  will  readily  excuse  me  for  not  entering 
more  minutely  into  the  '  merits '  of  the  question. 
They  meant  to  honour  me,  and  truly  did  honour  me 
far  more  than  I  am  conscious  of  deserving."  The 
men  of  the  world,  too,  he  wrote,  "  whenever  I  met 
with  such,  as  well  as  their  organs  of  the  public  press, 
uniformly  congratulated  me  on  what  they  are  pleased 
to  designate  as  m}^  contemplated  '  elevation  '  or  '  pro- 
motion '   to  the  Edinburgh  theological  chair.     I  deem 


Il8  LlJb'E    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1849. 

it,  tlierefore,  an  unspeakable  privilege  to  have  it  in 
my  power  to  do  anything,  however  humble,  towards 
magnifying  my  much  despised  office.  The  conclusion 
of  the  whole  matter  is  this,  that  in  some  form  or 
other,  at  home  or  abroad  or  partly  both,  the  Church 
of  my  fathers  must  see  it  to  be  right  and  meet  to 
allow  me  to  retain,  in  the  view  of  all  men,  the  clearly 
marked  and  distinguishing  character  of  a  missionary 
to  the  heathen  abroad,  labouring  directly  amongst 
them  ;  at  home,  pleading  their  cause  among  the 
churches  of  Christendom.  .  .  For  the  sake  of 
the  heathen,  and  especially  the  people  of  India,  let 
me  cling  all  my  days  to  the  missionary  cause." 

And  the  people  of  India,  so  far  as  its  dumb 
millions  could  speak  by  representatives.  Christian 
and  non-Christian,  reciprocated  the  sacrifice.  His 
own  converts,  led  by  the  sixteen  foremost  of  their 
number,  implored  their  "  much-loved  spiritual  father 
in  the  Lord,"  in  an  address  of  pathetic  urgency, 
not  to  leave  them.  The  native  Christians  of  other 
churches,  to  which  he  had  given  not  a  few  of  his 
brightest  sons  in  the  faith,  added  their  protestations. 
Hundreds  of  the  Eurasians  joined  in  the  cry.  Still 
more  of  his  own  Hindoo  students  and  ex-students, 
to  whom  he  had  given  Christ's  view  of  truth  and  life 
and  the  world  to  come,  though  the  Spirit  had  not 
brought  them  to  the  new  birth,  declared  for  educated 
native  society,  "  If  at  this  juncture  you  leave  our 
country,  everything  will  probably  be  undone.  The 
incredible  labours  of  your  past  years  will  likely  either 
go  in  vain,  or,  at  least,  will  not  yield  a  very  rich 
harvest."  They  thought,  they  spoke  of  "  education," 
of  "  civilization "  only,  not  consciously  at  least  of 
the  spiritual  force  which  makes  a  new  creation.  But 
rarest  of  all  the  addresses,  which  must  have  barred 
the  way  of  the  man   most  eager  for  the  rest  and  the 


^t.  43.  REMONSTRANCE    OF    BRAHMAN    PUNDITS.  I  1 9 

culture  of  academic  ease,  was  a  Sanskrit  remonstrance 
from  eleven  learned  Bralimans  "  desirous  of  the  Chief 
Good,"  "  to  the  most  intelligent,  virtuous,  impartial 
glorious,  and  philanthropic  people  of  Scotland."  The 
orientalism  which  sounds  like  a  poBan  in  the  tongues 
of  the  East,  may  appear  hyperbole  in  the  prosaic  com- 
monplaces of  Teutonic  speech.  But,  after  making  the 
largest  allowance  for  the  contrast,  all  our  experience 
of  Indian  life,  of  Hindoo  gratitude,  of  Bengalee  lov- 
ableness,  warrants  us  in  quoting  this  translation  as 
a  dim  reflection  of  the  impression  produced  by  the 
fervid  personality  of  Alexander  Duff  on  the  people  of 
India,  seeking  the  Lord,  if  haply  they  might  feel  after 
Him  and  find  Him,  and  yet  He  is  not  far  from  every 
one  of  us,  for  in  Him  we  live  and  are  moved  and  are : 

''The  all-merciful,  omnipotent,  just,  and  impartial  God, 
compassionating  the  wretched  people  of  India,  first  sent  the 
eminently  holy  Dr.  Carey  and  others  as  missionaries.  But,  in 
the  vast  firmament  of  this  country,  they  appeared  as  little  stars 
and  fireflies,  and  were  consequently  unable  to  dissipate  the 
encompassing  gloom.  Then  came  Reichardt,  and  Wilson,  and 
Piffard,  and  Ray,  who  have  returned  home,  and  a  multitude 
of  others,  all  of  whom  have  done  much  for  the  real  welfare 
of  the  truly  wretched  people  of  this  country.  But  these  have 
not  done  what  they  desired.  They  have  not  been  very  famous. 
Not  only  are  their  names  unknown  to  most  of  the  people  of 
India^  but  even  in  the  city  of  their  habitation  a  few  persons 
only  know  the  names  of  some  of  them.  After  making  these 
prefatory  remarks,  we,  the  undersigned  Sanskrit  Pundits,  sub- 
mit as  follows : 

"  We  have  spoken  of  the  success  of  some  missionaries,  and 
presently  we  shall  speak  of  the  eminently  pious  and  learned 
Dr.  Duff.  The  Rev.  Doctor  has  been  greatly  blessed  by 
Almighty  God.  His  name  is  in  the  mouth  of  every  Hindoo 
becnuse  of  his  ti'anscendent  eloquence,  learning,  and  philan- 
thropy. As  to  his  eloquence  ;  from  his  mouth,  which  re- 
sembles a  thick  dark  rain-cloud,  there  do  issue  forth  bursts  of 
incessant  and  unmeasured  oratory  ;  so  that  he  fills  his  audience 


I20  LIFE    OP    DE.    DUrF.  1849. 

with  rills  of  persuasive  eloquence,  just  as  the  rain  of  heaven 
fills  rivers,  streams,  brooks,  valleys,  canals,  tanks,  and  pools, 
and,  dissipating  the  dai'k  delusions  of  false  religion,  he  makes 
rise  on  their  souls  the  light  of  true  religion.  This  illustrious 
person,  in  order  to  the  accomplishment  of  his  object,  has 
devoted  his  head  and  heart,  and  spent  large  sums  of  money. 
If  some  husbandmen,  after  ploughing,  sowing,  and  watering 
a  field,  which  held  out  to  them  the  near  prospect  of  a  golden 
harvest,  were  to  be  stopped  in  their  agricultural  pursuits  by 
one  who,  without  considering  either  the  labour  bestowed  upon 
the  field,  or  the  certainty  of  speedy  gain,  were  to  say  to  them, 
'  you  must  engage  in  something  else,'  how,  we  would  take 
the  liberty  of  asking  you,  would  the  husbandmen  feel,  and 
how  would  the  corn  flourish  ?  We  leave  it  to  your  cultivated 
understandings  to  apply  this  example  to  the  case  in  hand. 

"  Such  a  man  as  the  Rev.  Doctor  was  never  seen  in  this 
country  before.  Now,  alas !  the  object  of  our  devout  wishes 
is  far  fi'om  being  realized.  That  which  never  came  to  our 
minds  even  in  the  visions  of  the  night  is  suddenly  about  to 
happen.  Oh  !  what  must  be  the  magnitude  of  the  sin  of  this 
people  to  merit  such  a  catastrophe  !  Consider  how  difficult  it 
is  to  reform  the  ignorant ;  to  remove  mountains  is,  we  think, 
a  far  easier  matter.  Consider,  again,  how  almost  impossible  it 
is  to  break  down  the  barriers  of  caste,  and  open  up  social  in- 
tercourse between  the  highest  and  lowest  classes  of  the  Hindoo 
community;  to  make  sun  and  moon  rise  in  the  west  is  more 
practicable. 

"  With  the  illustrious  Duff  India  weighs  heavy,  but  the  mere 
report  of  his  recall  has  made  her  light.  With  his  recall  the 
grand  net  that  has  been  spread  in  this  land  for  the  establish- 
ment of  the  true  religion  would  seem  to  be  taken  away.  Good 
men  have  become  sad,  and  bad  men  are  rejoicing.  The  friends 
of  true  religion  are  praying  that  God  would  change  the  minds 
of  the  people  of  Scotland,  and  prevent  Dr.  Duff's  recall.  li 
you  are  determined  to  blast  the  fruits  of  all  missionary  efforts 
that  have  been  and  are  being  made  in  this  country,  then  our 
solicitations  are  like  shedding  tears  in  a  forest,  where  there  is 
none  to  sympathise  with  us.  But,  should  you  fulfil  the  object 
of  our  desires,  we  would  then  be  extremely  glad.  What  need 
is  there  to  write  more  to  such  wise  and  considerate  men  as  you 
are  ?     Be  pleased  to  excuse  the  length  of  this  letter,  and  over- 


^t.  43.  SUMMONED   HOME.  I  2  I 

look  all  mistakes  either  in  the  matter  or  manner.  Praying 
that  we  may  be  enabled  to  avoid  the  path  of  gross  delusions, 
\valk  in  the  way  of  true  religion  that  confers  histing  benefits 
on  all,  and  meditate  on  God  with  soul  earnestness,  we,  with 
much  humility,  subscribe  our  names. 

(Signed)  "  Raghu  Nath  Shiromani,  Radha  Krishna  Tarka- 
BAGisiiA,  Shyama  Charan  Shiromani,  Godadhar  Tarkaba- 
GisEiA,  Kali  das  Kabibhushana,  Ram  Kamul  Ciiuromani, 
Thakur  das  Nayapacchanana,  Thakue  DA8  Churomani,  Hari 
Prasad  Bidyalanker,  Gour  Chandra  Bidyalanker,  Chandra 
Shakhar  Bidyabachaspati." 

The  other  Free  Church  missionaries  and  friends, 
Drs.  Wilson,  Mackay  and  Ewarfc,  Messrs.  Anderson, 
Hislop,  and  MacKail,  and  Mr.  Justice  Hawkins,  united 
in  the  same  request.  But  they  agreed  with  Drs.  Gor- 
don and  Guthrie  at  home,  that  it  was  desirable  for  Dr. 
Duff  to  return  to  Scotland  for  a  time,  to  consolidate, 
in  the  Free  Church,  that  work  of  missionary  organ- 
ization to  which  he  had  given  the  years  of  his  visit 
previous  to  the  Disruption.  When  it  became  known 
that  he  would  not  sink  the  missionary  in  the  divinity 
professor,  the  General  Assembly  urged  his  temporary 
return.  The  Swiss  Rev.  A.  F.  Lacroix,  of  the  London 
Missionary  Society,  indeed  went  so  far  as  to  urge  that 
the  Free  Church  should  found  a  chair  in  its  new  col- 
lege, "  to  be  called  the  *  missionary  or  evangelistic  ' 
chair,  having  for  its  object  to  impart  information  and 
instruction  regarding  that  most  interesting  and  impor- 
tant portion  of  the  Christian  system — the  universal 
spread  of  our  Lord's  kingdom  over  the  earth.  To  such 
a  professorship,  if  ever  it  be  established,  I  should  hail 
to  see  you  appointed,  but  to  no  other.  May  the  day 
soon  come  when  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  will  deem 
it  its  duty,  in  this  manner^  to  complete  the  good  work 
it  has  begun,  and  which  has  already  produced  such 
beneficial  effects  in  various  parts  of  the  pagan  world  I  " 


122  LIFE    OJF   DR.    J)[]EE.  ,1849. 

Five  years  before  Dr.  Duff  had  proposed  sucli  a  foun- 
dation ;  twenty  years  after  he  caused  it  to  be  laid. 

Dr.  Nicholson  pronounced  it  most  desirable,  on 
medical  grounds,  that  Dr.  Duff  should  return  to  Eu- 
rope after  ten  years'  labours,  which  had  "  evidently 
shattered  his  constitution."  He  even  agreed  to  allow 
the  missionary  to  make  a  long  land  tour  up  the  Ganges 
and  Jumna  valleys,  and  down  the  Indus  to  Bombay, 
in  1850,  *'  provided  you  take  the  common  precautions 
necessary  in  travelling  in  this  country,  and  avoid  all 
needless  fatigue  and  exposure."  But  before  this  and 
&o  far  from  this,  the  ardent  evangelist  resolved  to 
make  a  survey  of  South  India  and  Ceylon  in  the  in- 
tervening hot  and  rainy  seasons  of  1849.  Conviaced 
that  *'  India  is  at  this  moment  of  all  countries  in  the 
world  the  great  missionary  field,'*  he  determined  that 
he  would  visit  all  its  Evangelical  and  many  of  its 
Romanist  missions,  south  and  north  and  west,  before 
he  took  his  new  message  from  the  front  of  the  battle 
to  those  who  abode  at  home  by  the  stuff. 

From  April  to  August  he  suffered  fatigues  and  ex- 
posure, he  underwent  risks  and  toil,  such  as  no  motive 
lower  than  the  missionary's  could  justify,  and  few 
others  could  have  borne  after  a  decade  of  exhausting 
duties  in  Beugal.  Fortunately  he  himself  has  pre- 
served for  us  a  record  of  the  tour  in  a  MS.  volume.  The 
same  steamer  which  took  him  from  Calcutta  to  Madras 
carried  off  Mr.  Anderson  and  his  first  ordaiued  convert, 
Rajabgopal,  to  Scotland.  After  preaching  a  sermon 
for  the  Mission,  and  with  Mr.  Johnston  visiting  the 
branch  station  of  Conjeveram — Nellore  being  too  dis- 
tant to  the  north, — and  after  taking  part  in  the  usual 
prayer  meeting,  in  which  he  set  forth  the  Saviour's  in- 
finite and  inconceivable  love,  he  left  Madras  by  palan- 
keen. ChiDgleput,  thirty-six  miles  off,  the  third  branch 
station  of   the    Mission,   was  the    first    stage    on    his 


/Et.  43.  DIARY    OF    HIS   TOUE.  1 23 

southward  journey.  The  native  converts  presented 
him  with  the  carefully  bound  black  morocco  note-book 
in  which  he  wrote  his  diary  during  the  enforced  leisure 
of  the  long  journeys  and  often  weary  waiting  of  prse- 
railway  days.  The  volume,  having  his  name  engraved 
on  its  flap,  is  doubly  hallowed  by  the  signatures  of  the 
twenty-four  men  and  women  who  put  it  in  his  hands. 
The  name  of  the  late  Rev.  Venkatararaiah  heads  the 
list. 

The  diary  was  intended  strictly  for  his  own  use,  and 
no  eye  saw  it  till  his  death  removed  the  restriction 
which  we  find  in  the  midst  of  its  entries.  The  whole, 
covering  960  closely  written  pages,  which  we  trust  will 
yet  see  the  light  in  their  completeness,  forms  a  record 
of  the  social  and  religious  condition  of  the  people  of 
the  Carnatic  and  Ceylon,  and  of  the  missionary  and  ad- 
ministrative organizations  for  their  elevation,  from  the 
days  of  Ziegenbalg  and  Schwartz,  near  the  beginning 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  to  the  middle  of  the  nine- 
teenth. Not  unfrequently,  in  the  solitary  rest  of  the 
Sabbath  and  on  the  receipt  of  letters  from  his  wife  and 
daughter,  does  he  break  forth  into  passages  of  devout 
meditation  and  joyful  thanksgiving.  The  time  was 
the  very  hottest  of  a  hot  year,  in  the  sandy  tracts  of 
the  palmyra-palm  country  to  the  north  of  Cape  Como- 
rin,  when  for  weeks  the  heavens  were  as  brass  and  the 
earth  as  iron,  and  when,  away  from  the  coast,  not  a 
breath  broke  the  tropical  calm  of  the  sultry  day  and 
the  stifling  night.  The  palankeen  tour  began  at 
Madras  on  the  11th  May,  1849  ;  but  we  may  best  in- 
troduce the  extracts  from  the  Journal  by  this  passage, 
written  near  Cape  Comorin  on  the  receipt  of  a  letter 
from  his  daughter  regarding  his  wife's  health  : 

"  Why  should  1  be  over-anxious  ?  Has  not  the  Lord 
iiitherto  wonderfully  preserved  ?     Oh  why  should  T,  who  have 


124  ^^'^^    0^''    ^^'    DUFF.  1849. 

been  tlie  child  of  so  many  mercies,  be  faithless  or  doubting  ? 
If  any  man  living  should  trust  in  the  Lord  absolutely,  and 
cast  upon  Him  the  burden  of  all  his  cares,  personal,  social, 
oflBcial,  and  domestic,  surely  I  am  that  man.  All  my  days  I 
have  been  a  child  of  Providence,  the  Lord  leading  me  and 
guiding  me  in  ways  unknown  to  me — in  ways  of  His  own, 
and  for  the  accomplishment  of  His  own  heavenly  ends.  Oh, 
that  I  were  more  worthy!  But,  somehow,  I  feel  as  if  the 
more  marvellous  the  Lord^s  dealings  with  me,  the  more  cold, 
heartless  and  indifferent  I  become.  Is  not  this  sad — is  it  not 
terrible  ?  All  the  finer  ores  are  melted  by  the  fire  — the  earthy 
clay  is  hardened.  Oh  gracious  God,  forbid  that  this  should 
continue  to  be  my  doleful  case  !  May  I  not  resemble  the  clay 
any  more  !  May  I  be  like  the  gold  and  silver  ore  :  when 
warmed  and  heated  by  the  fire  of  Thy  loving-kindnesses,  may  I 
be  melted,  fused,  purified,  refined,  assimilated  to  Thy  own  holy 
nature.     O  Lord,  soften,  break,  melt,  this  hard  heart  of  mine  ! 

"  This  note-book  is  not  intended  as  a  recoi'd  of  my  inner 
feelings,  but  I  have  been  led  unconsciously  to  write  thus. 
May  the  Lord  hear  my  prayer !  These  jottings  are  not  a 
complete  record  of  what  I  have  seen  or  thought  upon.  No; 
only  a  few  brief  notes,  hastily  and  crudely  committed  to  writ- 
ing, to  refi'esh  my  own  memory,  and  to  suggest  trains  of  in- 
ference and  reflection  which  I  have  no  time  to  record  now. 
I  specially  note  this  in  case,  through  any  unforeseen  con- 
tingency, this  should  fall  into  other  hands  than  my  own. 
There  is  not  a  syllable  in  this  MS.  in  such  a  form  as  I  should 
stamp  with  ray  imprimatur  as  fit  to  be  given  to  the  public.  It 
is  not  so  designed — how  could  it  ?  I  am  literally  galloping 
over  the  country.  Travelling  by  night — and  almost  every 
night — with  only  broken  and  unrefreshing  snatches  of  sleep 
in  the  palkee ;  and  during  the  day  either  grilled  in  a  solitary 
bungalow,  or  incessantly  occupied,  at  a  mission  station,  in  talk- 
ing to  friends,  inspecting  schools,  or  addressing  adults  or  child- 
ren, how  could  I  pretend  to  collect  my  thoughts  or  put  them 
connectedly  together  ?  But  I  note  the  fragments  of  a  few 
scattered  gleanings,  merely  to  aid  my  own  mind  in  afterwards 
reviewing  the  whole  field,  and  gradually  and  deliberately 
forming   my  own  conclusions, 

"May  lli/i,  1849.  This  evening,  about  eight  o'clock,  left 
our  kind  friends   of   the   Mission,    Madras,    after   addressing 


JEt  43-  BEGINS    HIS   TOUE   IN    SOUTH    INDIA.  12$ 

shortly  the  girls  and  young  men  and  praying  with  all.  Spokci 
about  tho  necessity  of  self-denial  and  self-consecration:  devoted 
lives  are  a  more  powerful  preaciiing  than  burning  words. 
Friends  loaded  me  with  kindness. 

"  Heard  the  gun  at  eight  o'clock  on  the  Mount  Road.  A 
pleasantly  cool  nighty  but  could  sleep  little,  and  that  little 
broken  and  unrefreshiug.  On  Mount  Road  the  coolies  com- 
plained that  the  tin  cases  were  too  heavy.  What  was  to  be 
done  ?  A  respectably  dressed  native  came  up  who  spoke 
English ;  he  stopped  and  assisted  in  explaining  everything. 
I  thanked  him  foi'  his  politeness,  and  said  he  had  shown  one 
feature  of  goodness,  which  consisted  in  showing  kindness  to 
the  stranger.  I  gave  him  a  few  of  the  apples  that  a  kind 
friend  had  put  into  one  of  the  tin  cases.  He  thanked  me,  and 
said  he  was  one  of  Rhcnius's  Christians.  '  Ah,'  said  I,  '  that 
explains  your  kindness,  so  unlike  the  hard  indifference  of  tbe 
heathen.  I  am  a  Christian,  and  welcome  you  as  a  brother  in 
the  Lord.'  Verily,  Christ  is  the  Inspirer  of  love  and  good 
will. 

"  Towards  midnight  the  moon  rose  brightly.  The  road 
excellent,  but  few  villages  to  be  seen,  and  little  real  cultivation. 
Jungle  everywhere  instead  of  corn-fields.  What  is  the  cause  ? 
It  must  be  investigated.  Land-tax  partly,  no  doubt ;  but  the 
villainous  exactions  of  underlings  also.  The  system  of  in- 
terminable subdivision  of  land  among  children  allows  of  no 
accumulation  of  capital.  Hence  no  means  of  improvement; 
poverty  everywhere  increasing.  The  Gospel  the  only  effectual 
remedy. 

'^  At  daybreak  found  myself  within  five  miles  of  Chingleput. 
Feverish  from  want  of  proper  sleep,  and  the  disturbance  of  the 
system  by  the  shaking  and  jolting  of  the  palkee.  Stepped  out 
to  take  a  walk.  The  basin  where  I  stood  was  flat.  One  or  two 
large  tanks  or  reservoirs  of  water — fresh,  clear  water — were  in 
view.  These,  natural  and  assisted  partly  by  art,  are  used  for 
purposes  of  irrigation.  They  looked  like  small  Scotch  lakes  at 
the  foot  of  hills.  Close  to  one  of  these  I  passed ;  from  it  issued 
a  small,  clear,  purling  brook.  It  was  the  first  of  the  kind  I  had 
seen  for  years  ;  for  in  Bengal  proper,  clear,  crystalline  streams 
or  brooks  are  nowhere  to  be  found.  All  there  is  stagnant 
pond,  or  marsh,  or  muddy  water.  But  here  was  a  little  rivulet 
of  pure,    fresh  water.     My  emotions  and   fancy  wei'e   vividly 


126  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1849. 

excited.  I  felt  as  if  transported  to  tiie  Grampians.  I  thought 
of  tlie  water  of  life,  pure  as  crystal.  I  stepped  from  the 
roadside,  and  with  the  palms  of  the  hand  refreshed  my  dust- 
covered  face  and  parched  lips  from  the  sparkling,  gently  mur- 
muring brook,  lifted  up  my  soul  to  God,  and  took  courage. 

"  The  irrigated  fields  had  on  them  rich  green  crops  of  rice. 
To  see  the  naked  granite  masses  rising  here  and  there  several 
feet  above  the  surface  from  the  very  midst  of  luxuriant  rice 
crops,  was  indeed  a  novel  spectacle.  Granite,  the  primordial 
rock,  the  backbone  of  the  earth,  associated  often  with  nothing 
but  the  sterile  peaks  of  Grampian  and  other  lofty  mountain 
ranges,  in  immediate  and  actual  contact  with  thick  green 
stalks  of  rice,  was  indeed  a  novel  and  surprising  spectacle. 
The  truth  is,  that  nothing  is  wanting  but  capital,  skill, 
industry,  security  and  remunerativeness  to  turn  the  whole  of 
this  region  into  a  paradise.  By  enlarging  the  present  tanks 
and  lakes,  and  excavating  new  ones,  abundance  of  water  might 
be  collected  for  irrigation,  and  thus  a  perpetual  summer  and 
harvest  might  be  the  result.  The  hills  might  be  clothed  with 
wood  of  a  useful  description.  All  this  would  besides  improve 
the  climate,  mitigate  the  scorching  heat,  and  almost  annihilate 
the  hot  winds.  These  hills,  moreover,  abound  with  minerals, 
of  essential  utility  in  the  arts  of  life,  which  have  never  yet 
been  turned  to  any  good  account,  but  which,  in  time,  might 
be  made  to  add  indefinitely  to  the  resources,  the  comforts  and 
necessaries  of  the  greatly  multiplied  people,'^ 

So  much  for  the  Middlesex  of  South  India,  the  first 
"  jaghire  "  or  principality  acquired  by  the  East  India 
Company,  which  the  devastations  of  Hyder  All  and 
the  worse  ravages  of  famine  have  thus  marred,  and 
the  old  ryotwaree  system  of  land  tenure  and  tax  has 
prevented  from  recovering.  The  fort  was  taken  by 
Clive  from  the  French  in  1752.  Dr.  Duff  here  showed 
a  keen  interest  in  the  pottery  experiments  of  the 
Scottish  doctor,  for  which  the  Government  had  made 
a  grant.  Of  the  Sabbath  when  he  preached  to  the 
residents  he  writes  :  "  Had  a  quiet  afternoon  to  medi- 
tate and  to  pray,  the  first  I  have  enjoyed  for  many 


^t.  43-     SJ^VEN    HUNDRED    MILES    IN    A    PALANKEEN.  1 27 

weeks.  Felt  tliankful  and  refreslied."  At  midniglit 
Le  set  out  for  Sadras,  and  continued  to  take  the  coast 
road  by  French  Pondicheri,  Cuddalore,  Chillumbrum, 
Mayaveram,  Danish  Tranquebar,  Combaconum,  and 
Negapatam.  After  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  cross 
by  boat  from  Point  Calimere  to  Jaffna  in  Ceylon,  he 
struck  inland  to  Trichinopoly  and  Madura,  by  weary, 
dustladen  roads  where  now  there  is  a  busy  railway. 
From  Madura  he  made  a  second  vain  attempt,  by 
Ramnad,  to  reach  Ceylon,  and  therefore  again  struck 
inland  to  Palamcotta,  just  north  of  Cape  Comorin. 
From  that  centre  he  went  round  the  chief  Christian 
stations  of  Tinnevelli.  Thence  he  went  to  Trevandrum, 
on  the  west  coast,  by  Nagercoil.  Having  studied  the 
flourishing  mission  settlements  in  the  intensely  Brah- 
manical  state  of  Ti'avancore,  and  its  northern  neigh- 
bour of  Cochin,  he  went  up  the  Malabar  coast,  by  its 
picturesque  back-waters,  crossed  the  Western  Ghauts 
by  the  xVrungole  pass  to  Palamcotta  and  Tutticorin, 
from  which  he  sailed  to  Colombo,  the  capital  of  Ceylon. 
At  Point  de  Galle  he  took  the  mail  steamer  to  Calcutta, 
where  he  delivered  two  lectures  and  a  powerful  ser- 
mon on  his  remarkable  tour.  The  first  described  the 
missions  in  Tanjore  and  Tranquebar,  the  root  of  all 
Protestant  evangelising  in  South  India.  The  second 
discussed  the  condition  of  the  Romanist  and  Syrian 
Churches,  and  of  the  black  and  white  Jews  in  Cochin. 
The  sermon  was  followed  by  the  first  account  given  up 
to  that  time  by  a  competent  outsider  of  the  growth  and 
"territorial"  development  of  the  Tinnevelli  Church. 

Sadras,  Noon,  May  14f/i. — "Reached  weary,  as  usual,  from  the 
little  sleep,  and  that  little  so  broken,  the  occasional  closeness, 
the  flood  of  perspiration.  No  rest,  till  plunged  in  water — 
how  reviving  !  The  air  too  is  loaded  with  invisible,  impalpable 
dust,  which  fills  up  the  pores  of  the  skin  and  produces  a  sad 
irritation  there.      But    the  cleansing  officacy  of   water !      To 


128  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1849. 

know  the  significancy  of  it,  as  the  chosen  type  of  the  cleans- 
ing influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  symbolized  in  baptism,  one 
ought  to  be  steeped  in  the  dry,  heated,  dust-laden  air  of  the 
Oarnatic  for  a  day  and  night ;  and  after  emerging  from  the 
water  bath  ! — ah,  this  is  cleansing,  with  a  keen  sensation  of 
deliverance  from  the  cause  of  physical  unrest  and  dis- 
quietude ! 

AuLA-MPAENA,  15^^. — "  The  sepoy  at  the  Bungalow  very  atten- 
tive. When  he  was  getting  water  for  a  bath,  read  a  portion 
of  the  precious  Bible  on  the  verandah,  and  lifted  up  my  soul 
to  God,  not  forgetting  my  dear  wife  and  daughter  and  the 
boys  in  Edinburgh — nor  the  friends  left  behind  in  Calcutta  and 
Madras,  nor  their  great  work.  Oh  it  is  pleasing  to  have  the 
heart  touched  and  melting  by  soothing  remembrance  of  those 
that  are  dear  to  us,  and  linked  by  ties  and  relationships  at  once 
temporal  and  spiritual !  In  my  loneliness  here,  I  feel  as  if  more 
intimately  and  endearingly  present  than  ever  with  distant 
beloved  friends  ! 

"  Noon. — The  cattle  have  been  gathered  in  to  escape  the  in- 
creasing heat,  which  goes  on  accumulating  till  four.  They  are 
taken  into  the  palmyra  grove,  where  there  is  almost  a  perfect 
shade.  Looking  at  the  intense  luxuriance  of  this  tropical  herbage 
of  every  kind,  herbage  which  in  Europe  we  ever  associate  with 
the  expensive  luxury  of  greenhouses,  the  mansions  and  palaces 
of  the  titled  gentry  and  nobility  of  the  laud,  and  contrasting 
the  same  with  the  half-naked,  filthy,  rudely  clownish,  woe-be- 
gone,  care-toiled,  miserable  creatures  that  nestle  in  the  midst 
of  it  all,  calling  it  all  their  own,  I  am  constantly  struck  with 
a  resistless  feeling  of  incongruity.  The  gorgeousness  of  this 
vegetable  creation  is  not  suited  to  the  lank  leanness  and  poverty- 
stricken  tameuess  and  wretchedness  of  the  human.  They  are 
unsuited,  unmatched.  There  is  a  painful  sense  of  unadapted- 
ness  in  this  respect.  Such  seeming  natural  riches  in  such  close 
juxtaposition  with  such  unnatural  poverty.  There  is  a  sense 
of  the  incongruous  produced  by  it  which  is  positively  painful. 
I  feel  somewhat,  in  gazing  at  it,  as  I  would  if  gazing  at  a 
giant  wedded  to  a  dwarf,  decrepit  old  age  to  youthful  vigour, 
shocking  deformity  to  exquisite  beauty,  or  any  other  unre- 
sembling  union.  It  is  like  a  piece  of  untempered  mortar  im- 
bedded or  embosomed  in  a  casket  of  pure  gold,  or  splinters  of 
trap  or  whinstone  locked  up  and  cabineted  in  a  network  of 


JEt  43-  ECONOMIC    STATE    OF    MADRAS.  I  29 

diamond,  ruby  and  otlicr  gems.  I  have  no  words  wherewith 
to  portray  tho  strength  or  the  painfiilness  of  this  sensation  of 
incongruity.  Surely  it  was  not  so  always.  Oh  no.  No  incon- 
gruity between  the  first  man  and  the  first  paradise.  Intellec- 
tual beauty,  heart  holiness  and  physical  loveliness  adorned 
the  first  happy  pair;  and  a  paradise  bestud  and  garnished 
with  all  the  exuberant  excellences  of  a  world  that  had  received 
the  Almighty's  blessing  was  their  fitting  habitation.  Such 
an  abode  was  worthy  of  such  an  inhabitant ;  and  such  an  in- 
habitant of  such  an  abode  !  But  the  harmony,  the  congrnity, 
the  pai'allelism,  no  longer  exists.  Prospects  the  most  pleasing 
are  now  tenanted  by  men  the  most  vile.  Gracious  God  !  is 
one  apt  to  exclaim,  are  these  poor,  ignorant,  superstitious, 
savage-looking  people  the  descendants  of  him  made  in  the 
image  of  God,  and  the  noble  occupant  of  the  bowers  of  para- 
dise ?  It  is  even  so.  Alas,  alas!  How  has  the  gold  become 
dim,  and  the  most  fine  gold  changed  !  But  blessed  be  God, 
there  is  yet  hope.  Through  the  second  Adam,  even  these 
forlorn  specimens  of  human  degeneracy  may  be  reclaimed. 
This  is  the  great  design  of  the  gospel.  It  is  to  regenerate, 
i*enovate,  beautify  and  ennoble  the  nature  of  man,  to  make 
him  worthy  of  an  earthly  paradise,  and,  by  removing  the 
curse,  reconstitute  the  earth  into  a  paradise  fit  for  his  recep- 
tion ! 

PoNDiCHERi,  I6th. — "This  French  town  is  admirably  laid 
out,  and  quite  a  model  for  a  tropical  city.  Saw  the  Governor's 
house  in  passing ;  and  the  vast  and  splendid  church  edifice 
ei'ected  by  the  Jesuits,  when  their  Mission  was  in  the  climax 
of  its  prosperity.  Great  numbers  of  the  natives  are  still 
nominally  Christian,  that  is,  popish  idolaters  usurping  the 
Christian  name.  Pondicheri  (Pudu,  or  Puthu,  Cheri,  literally 
New  Town)  was  once  the  most  splendid  European  establishment 
in  India.  It  was  first  given  to  a  French  merchant  named 
Martin  in  1672.  To  it  resorted  a  number  of  colonists  expelled 
by  the  Dutch  from  St.  Thome,  and  the  remains  of  an  un- 
successful expedition  against  Triuomalee,  possessed  also  by 
the  Dutch.  The  system  of  French  policy  did  open  and  un- 
necessary violence  to  the  prejudices  and  customs  of  the  natives. 
Lally  forced  them  to  work  in  the  trenches  and  do  other 
military  duties  which  rudely  interfered  with  the  law  and 
usages  of  caste.     Dupleix   actually    destroyed    their   temples. 

VOL.   II.  K 


I  JO  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1 849. 

At  one  time  tlie  Frencli  Government  forbade  any  natives  to 
reside  witliin  its  boundaries  who  did  not  embrace  the  Romish- 
Christian  faith.  To  this  extreme  persecuting,  intolerant^  inter- 
fering spirit^  in  part,  may  be  attributed  the  bad  odour  of  the 
French  with  the  native  powers,  and  their  rapid  decline.  The 
British,  again,  went  to  the  other  extreme — not  of  mere  toler- 
ance, but  of  direct,  active  support  of  native  prejudices  and 
superstitions.     This  was  very  revolting. 

"  The  French  persecuted  the  Hindoo  faith  and  upheld  the 
Romish  by  unlawful  means ;  the  English  persecuted  the 
Christian  faith  and  upheld  the  Hindoo  by  unlawful  means. 
The  French  admitted  Native  Christians  into  their  service,  in 
every  department ;  and  so  far  well.  But  such  admission  was 
effected  in  a  way  not  only  to  encourage  proselytism,  but  to 
necessitate  a  vast  amount  of  hypocrisy.  The  English,  again, 
with  the  perfection  of  unreasonableness,  prohibited  Native 
Christians  from  entering  their  service  in  any  department, 
and  thus  obtrusively  and  unwari-antably  discouraged  all  con- 
version from  Hindooism — in  other  words,  the  progress  of  the 
blessed  gospel  among  this  benighted  people.  This,  probably, 
is  one  of  the  causes  of  the  slow  progress  of  Christianity  in  the 
land.  As  the  French  Popish  Church  has  done  so  much  for  this 
part  of  India,  why  should  not  the  French  Protestant  Church 
awake  to  its  duty,  and  send  its  missionaries  here,  as  it  has 
done  to  South  Africa  ?  Already  are  there  German  and 
American  missionaries  in  the  Indian  field ;  why  not  add  the 
French  ? 

CuDDALOEE,  \*lth. — "I  am  now  in  the  heart  of  the  collec- 
torate  or  county  of  South  Arcot,  a  name  of  frequent  recur- 
rence in  the  eventful  story  of  British  India.  What  has  the 
Christian  Church  done  for  this  large  district  ?  Almost  nothing. 
A  few  itineracies,  ephemeral  and  unimpressive,  while  the 
Jesuits  have  founded  mighty  establishments.  Only  one  Pro- 
testant missionary  stationed  in  the  whole  district !  That  is  a 
Propagation  Society  one,  at  Cuddalore ;  while  it  contains  some 
of  the  strongest  holds  of  idolatry — Chillumbrum  and  Trino- 
malee,  described  by  Mr.  Smith,  now  alas  !  no  more,  and  whose 
was  the  first  missionary  house  I  ever  entered  in  India,  i.e., 
at  Madras,  May,  1830. 

''  To-day  despatched  a  letter  to  Calcutta,  to  my  deai 
partner,  enclosing  a  familiar  epistle  to  the  dear  boys  in  Edin- 


Ait   43.       FORT    ST.    DAVID    AND    THE    E.  I.  COMPANY.  I3I 

burgh — giving  an  account  of  my  journey,  fitted,  I  hope,  to 
interest  thoiu.  They  are  much  in  my  thoughts  and  in  my 
prayers.  I  feel  as  if  I  had  not  prayed  enough  for  them.  May 
the  Lord  forgive  me  for  such  shortcomings  !  Indeed,  I  may 
here  record  the  fact,  that,  though  given  much  to  inward  de- 
votional meditation,  I  feel  a  difficulty  in  committing  these 
more  private  thoughts  and  feelings  to  writing.  If  this  be 
wrong,  may  the  Lord  forgive  me  and  teach  me  better  in  the 
time  to  come  !  To-day  has  been  the  hottest  I  have  yet  felt. 
At  noon  not  a  breath  of  air.  The  sultriness  and  the  scorchiug 
heat  dreadful.  All  around  is  still  as  death,  as  if  all  nature 
were  paralysed.  No  animal,  no  bird,  to  be  seen  or  heard,  no 
human  creature ;  all  are  laid  flat,  glad  to  exist,  to  survive  with 
a  bare  consciousness  of  being  without  the  ability  or  the  wish 
to  exhibit  any  signs  of  active  life.  About  two  a  slight 
breeze  sprang  up  from  the  sea  ;  and  though  it  never  increased 
much,  it  was  like  the  letting  in  of  water  from  heaven's  reser- 
voirs on  a  languid  drooping  vegetation. 

"Fort  St.  David,  the  first  occupied  by  the  British  in  India, 
lies  to  the  north-west.  As  I  passed  out  of  Cuddalore,  I  could 
not  but  think  of  it  in  ruins,  while  the  oi'iginally  small  and 
obscure  company  of  British  merchants, — by  whom  the  fort  was 
intended  to  afi'ord  a  precarious  existence  in  a  foreign  land,  then 
ruled  over  by  the  mightiest  of  Asiatic  potentates, — has  since 
risen  to  the  rank  of  sovereigns  of  the  most  powerful  empire  in 
the  East,  an  empire  that  has  swallowed  up  all  others  from  the 
happy  vale  of  Kashmir  to  Cape  Comorin  !  The  Company  once 
depended  on  Fort  St.  David  for  its  existence;  the  same 
Company  now,  installed  into  the  office  and  throne  of  the  Great 
Moghul,  has  so  many  mighty  fortresses  on  which  waves  the 
flag  of  its  uncontrolled  sovereignty,  that  it  can  afi'ord  to  allow 
the  ruins  of  Fort  St.  David  to  be  converted  into  materials  for 
road-making  and  bridge-building  and  other  works  of  utility 
and  peace. 

"  While  reminded  of  Edinburgh,  by  the  local  nomenclature 
of  'old'  and  'new  town,'  it  was  not  a  topographical  association 
alone  that  brought  it  vividly  to  my  remembrance  last  evening. 
Six  o'clock  here  would  be  almost  noon  in  Edinburgh.  Yes- 
terday, Thursday,  May  the  17th,  was  the  day  on  which  the 
great  and  solemn  General  Assembly  of  our  Church  would  con- 
vene in  Edinburgh.     And  I  could  not  but  feel  exhilarated  at 


132  LIFE   OF   DR.    DUFF.  1849. 

the  thouglit  tliat,  about  the  time  when  I  was  emerging  from 
Cuddalore,  the  first  possession  of  the  British  in  India,  the 
members  of  Assembly  would  be  meeting  in  Edinburgh  for 
the  worship  of  the  great  God  previous  to  enteriug  on  their 
deliberations,  on  whose  result  so  much  of  the  spiritual  peace 
and  prosperity  of  Scotland  and  the  world  may  depend.  The 
temporal  sword  of  the  Company,  which  first  sought  for  itself 
only  a  quiet  mercantile  settlement  at  Cuddalore,  has  beaten 
down  every  bam-ier  to  the  residence  and  labours  of  British 
Christians  in  this  land.  Will  not  the  Church  now  arise,  and, 
wielding  the  spiritual  sword  as  vigorously,  beat  down  every 
barrier  to  the  reign  of  the  Prince  of  light  and  peace,  in  this 
dark  and  long  distracted  realm  !  If  the  congregated  members 
of  Assembly  could  only  witness  with  their  own  eyes  what  I 
beheld  this  morning,  methinks,  like  St.  Paul  of  old  when 
entering  the  city  of  Athens,  their  hearts  would  be  exceedingly 
stirred  up  within  them. 

Chillumbkum,  18th,  two  o'clock,  p.m. — '^  When  I  left  Madras, 
this  day  week,  the  thermometer  in  one  of  the  coolest  houses 
stood  at  97°  in  the  shade.  The  heat  has  been  increasing  ever 
since.  Yesterday,  the  heat  was  terrific  during  the  lull  between 
the  land  wind  and  the  sea  breeze.  To-day,  being  farther 
inland,  I  found  it  still  worse.  This  is  a  wonderful  climate. 
Surely  it  may  be  ranked  as  one  of  the  chief  natural  impediments 
to  the  spread  of  the  gospel.  Here  I  am  all  alone,  seated  in 
this  bungalow ;  for  I  have  resolved  not  to  lie  down  in  the  day,  if 
the  Lord  will  give  me  strength  at  all  to  sit  up.  The  tendency 
is  to  languor  and  drowsiness  and  vegetativeness.  At  this  hour 
the  natives  all  around  in  every  direction  are  asleep ;  and  there 
is  a  stillness  like  that  of  the  Scottish  Sabbath.  But,  oh,  it  is 
a  suspension  here — and  a  temporary  suspension  too — of  the 
laborious  activities  of  heathenism  !  I  keep  myself  awake  by 
keeping  the  mind  in  constant  employment.  I  wi'ite,  I  read, 
I  meditate  alternately.  I  cannot  note  the  ten  thousand 
thoughts  that  flit  like  the  rapidly  evanishing  clouds  on 
a  gay  day  in  summer  or  harvest  at  home,  leaving,  I  fear, 
just  as  little  of  the  profitable  and  the  permanent.  I  toucli 
the  table,  I  draw  back  my  hand,  it  is  so  hot.  I  take  a  sip 
of  water,  it  is  more  than  tepid,  more  than  lukewarm — it  is 
positively  hot.  Books — everything  I  touch  is  hot.  When  I 
write,  no  matter  however  heavily,   the   ink  is  not  out  of  the 


^t.  43.  THE    EEAT    OF    MAY.  1 33 

pen  when  it  is  dry  on  the  paper.  No  need  of  blotting  paper, 
or  sand,  or  any  other  artificial  contrivance  here.  Tlie  hot  air 
answers  the  purpose  quite,  and  at  no  expense.  Tlie  ppi-spir- 
ation  is  oozing  out  in  globules  at  every  pore;  and  looking  at 
it,  I  could  say,  almost  visibly  evaporating.  This,  however, 
is  a  refrigerant  in  its  way.  If  the  perspiration  were  checked, 
how  torturing  and  feverish  !  After  a  dead  lull,  the  hot  wind 
comes  in  in  gusts ;  they  are  literally  like  hot  blasts  from  the 
mouth  of  the  furnace.  Having  once  visited  the  bottle-works 
at  Leith,  I  never  can  forget  the  sensation  when  standing  near 
the  man  who  opened  the  mouth  of  the  furnace,  to  rake  the 
liquid  materials  within.  The  heat  beat  upon  me  like  a  hot 
arrow  ;  I  thought  I  was  felled  or  suffocated.  Precisely  simi- 
lar is  the  sensation  which  I  have  repeatedly  had  this  day. 
And  if  it  be  such  inside  a  well-sheltering  bungalow,  what  must 
it  be  outside,  under  the  direct  influence  of  this  terrible  sun  ? 
What  an  impediment  to  all  locomotion  and  active  personal 
exertion  !  At  home  one  rejoices  in  a  dry  warm  summer  day, 
as  favourable  to  intended  visitation  and  usefulness.  But  here, 
this  dry  warm  summer  day,  the  18th  May,  is  so  dry  and  warm, 
that  it  compels  a  man  to  remain  as  quiet  as  he  can  in  the 
house,  in  order  to  have  some  chance  of  barely  existing  or 
passively  vegetating.  What  a  terrible  obstacle  is  this  to 
active,  all-pervading  missionary  exertion  ! 

Tranquebar,  2l6'^. — "This  is  the  classic  land  of  modern  Pro- 
testant Missions,  the  region  so  often  trodden  by  Ziegenbalg 
and  Schwartz  and  their  associates.  To  the  north  of  the 
Coleroon  scarcely  a  ray  of  light  has  penetrated  the  heathen 
gloom.  Yesterday  attended  the  Tamul  service  in  the  small 
native  chapel  at  Mayaveram.  The  ritual  was  Lutheran.  A 
native  catechist  acted  as  clerk.  There  is  an  altar,  from  which 
part  of  the  service  was  read  and  part  chauuted  very  beauti- 
fully; the  singing  was  also  very  good.  There  were  about 
thirty-six  present — some  of  the  elderly  persons  very  devout, 
some  of  the  young  not  so.  After  service  I  spoke  words  of 
exhortation  to  the  natives,  through  Mr.  Ockes  as  interpreter.^' 
Afterwards,  '^  ho  spoke  much  of  the  Christian  poet  of  Taniore, 
a  remarkable  old  man,  who  has  written  from  twenty  to  thirty 
volumes  of  poetry  of  different  kinds,  chiefly  connected  with 
Christianity,  and  exposures  of  heathenism.  He  showed  the 
.MS.  of  one,  in  which  the  daily,  hourly,  and  momently  super- 


134  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1849. 

stitions  of  the  heathen  were  depicted  at  length  and  indicated 
with  much  power  of  sarcasm.  He  promised  me  a  translation  of 
it.  It  seems  that  the  poetry  is  set  to  such  tunes  as  are 
highly  popular  among  the  Tamulians,  and  that  the  heathen 
will  often  listen  to  a  rehearsal  of  these  poemSj  though  severely 
condemnatory  of  idolatry,  when  they  would  turn  aside  from 
a  sermon  altogether.  But  Mr.  Ockes  directed  my  attention 
to  another  person,  if  possible  still  more  remarkable ;  that  is 
a  daughter  of  the  poet,  between  thirty  and  forty  years  of  age. 
Her  husband,  being  a  caste  Christian,  has  employment  in  tlie 
Collector's.  She  knows  a  little  of  Sanskrit,  speaks  and  writes 
Tamul  with  great  effect,  and  speaks  and  writes  English  with 
equal  fluency.  Not  for  pay,  but  as  a  gratuity  of  kindness  to- 
wards her  neighbours,  alike  Christian  and  heathen,  she  teaches 
a  number  of  their  boys,  varying  from  six  to  ten,  the  English 
language.  I  asked  her  what  books  she  made  them  read.  She 
said,  'such  as  she  could  obtain.'  '  After  the  spelling  books,^ 
she  '  taught  English  grammar,  with  the  irregular  verbs  and 
other  parts ;  the  English  Bible,  the  Universal  Letter  Writer, 
with  cutchery  (judicial)  papers  and  accounts!'  She  asked 
me  all  manner  of  questions  about  my  family,  about  Calcutta 
and  mission  work  there,  about  Scotland,  not  forgetting  '  Shet- 
land,' to  show  her  knowledge  of  geography.  I  never  met 
such  a  Hindoo  female,  one  exhibiting  such  versatile  talents 
and  varied  acquirements  of  a  kind  so  utterly  foreign  to  her 
class.  On  our  way  to  the  house  of  this  remarkable  woman, 
I  exhorted  her  to  steadfastness  and  perseverance  in  her  Chris- 
tian course. 

*•  In  Tranquebar  to-day  I  entered,  opposite  the  Mission-house, 
the  church  erected  with  so  much  trouble  by  the  holy  and  per- 
severing Ziegenbalg.  It  has  on  its  front  a  crown  in  large 
bas-relief;  and  beneath  it  the  date,  1718.  Its  erection  was 
one  of  Ziegenbalg's  last  works.  It  is  called  New  Jerusalem,  as 
the  old  or  first  church,  reared  by  Ziegenbalg  after  his  arrival  in 
1 706,  and  called  Jerusalem,  has  since  been  swept  into  the  sea, 
which  has  been  palpably  encroaching  on  this  coast.  The  church 
is  built  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  each  wing  being  of  equal  size. 
If  the  centre  had  a  dome,  instead  of  an  ordinary  roof,  it  might 
seem  after  the  model  of  St.  Paul's,  London,  on  a  small  scale. 
The  pulpit  is  at  one  of  the  centre  corners,  so  as  to  be  seen 
from  every  part  of  the  building.      I  mounted  the  pulpit;  and 


JEt  43-  RELICS    OF    ZIEGENBALG.  1 35 

with  no  ordinary  emotion  gazed  around  from  the  position  from 
which  Ziegcnbalg,  and  Grundler,  and  Schwartz,  etc.j  so  often 
proclaimed  a  free  salvation  to  thousands  in  Tamul,  German^ 
Danish,  and  Portuguese.  At  the  end  of  one  of  the  wings,  on 
either  side  of  a  plain  altar,  lie  the  mortal  remains  of  Ziegenbalg 
and  Grundler.  I  stood  with  not  easily  expressed  feelings  over 
the  remains  of  two  such  men,  of  brief  but  brilliant  and  immortal 
career  in  the  mighty  work  of  Indian  evangelization.  Theirs 
was  a  lofty  and  indomitable  spirit,  breathing  the  most  fervid 
piety. 

"  Afterwards  went  to  the  house  in  which  Ziegenbalg  lived, 
having  been  planned  and  erected  by  himself.  Entering  a 
gateway,  with  shi-ubs  on  either  side,  the  space  widened.  On 
the  left  was  the  dwelling  of  the  devoted  and  untiring  man ;  in 
front,  a  small  chapel ;  on  either  side  of  it,  at  the  farther  end, 
other  buildings  appeared,  in  which  were  assembled  the  children 
of  his  celebrated  boarding-schools,  but  divided  from  each  other, 
so  that  there  was  no  access  from  the  one  to  the  other ;  but  an 
open  door  from  each  into  the  chapel,  for  Divine  service.  The 
dwelling-house  is  still  entii-e,  very  neatly  and  commodiously 
planned.  In  it  are  the  remains  of  the  famous  old  library  of  the 
German  Mission  in  a  state  of  sad  dilapidation — splendid  old 
tomes  of  massive  divinity  in  German  and  Latin,  folios  and 
quartos  and  octavos,  almost  all  without  their  boards,  and  tied 
up  with  strings  to  prevent  the  leaves  from  falling  away  or 
being  blown  about  by  the  winds ;  many  of  them  in  an  utterly 
unreadable  state.  Bishop  Middleton  offered  four  thousand 
pagodas  for  the  library  in  his  day;  since  then  it  has  been 
miserably  neglected.  No  one  was  authorized  to  accept 
the  bishop's  offer,  hence  the  library  is  lost.  But  what  I  felt 
most  for  was  the  pile  of  MSS.,  partly  in  German  and  partly  in 
Latin,  in  the  handwriting  of  the  old  missionaries.  Some  of 
these  MSS.  have  disappeared — how  or  whither  nobody  can 
tell ;  only  the  dregs  now  remain,  in  a  wretched  condition.  Why 
does  not  some  one  rummage  among  them,  pick  out  the  best,  and 
have  them  published  to  the  world  ?  Some  time  ago,  the  pre- 
sent keeper  of  the  library  told  me  a  mass  of  books  and 
papers  were  in  so  decayed  and  useless  a  state  that  he  got  them 
all  sold  as  waste  paper,  for  three  rupees  !  The  report  is  cur- 
rently credited  that  many  of  them  were  used  as  wadding  for 
the  guns  of  the  Fort.      Ziegenbalg's  domestic  chapel  is  now 


136  LIFE    OP   DE.    DUFF.  1849. 

in  a  filtliy  state,  filled  with  the  mouldering  records  of  the 
Danish  Government.  The  schools  are  partly  in  existence  and 
partly  dilapidated. 

*'  Copied  the  insci'iption  in  the  church  over  Ziegenbalg's  tomb. 
Certaiuly  he  was  a  great  missionary,  considering  that  he  was 
the  first;  inferior  to  none,  scarcely  second  to  any  that  fol- 
lowed him.  Less  shining  than  Schwartz,  he  had  probably 
more  of  spiritual  unction  and  power,  and  simple-minded  zeal, 
and  devotedness,  and  practical  wisdom.  How  affecting  to 
think  of  the  wonderful  labours  of  such  men  nearly  a  century 
and  half  ago;  and  those  of  their  successors,  continued  in 
some  shape  up  to  this  hour;  and  yet  to  look  at  the  town  of 
Tranquebar,  and  ask  for  the  results  !  A  few  Danes  and 
Dutch  are  there  still;  though  the  place,  a  few  years  ago, 
was  transferred,  by  purchase,  to  the  British  Government. 
There  is  a  Collector  there,  and  some  other  officials.  The 
Portuguese,  once  so  renowned,  are  now  almost  gone.  There 
are  not  above  fifty  or  sixty  in  the  whole  town.  The  Portu- 
guese services,  to  which  Ziegenbalg  paid  so  much  attention, 
are  nearly,  therefore,  at  an  end;  the  large  church  being  used 
almost  exclusively  for  Tamuls  from  the  neighbourhood.  As 
for  Native  Christians,  where  are  they  ?  In  the  town  of  Tran- 
quebar, with  its  four  thousand  inhabitants,  there  are  not  now 
twenty  Native  Christians  !  There  are  a  considerable  number  of 
Popish  Native  Christians,  the  Goa  sect  combining  with  the 
French  Jesuits.     Perhaps  a  thousand  Romanists  ! 

"Why  is  the  Protestant  Mission,  on  which  such  time  and 
strength  and  labour  have  been  lavished,  so  languid  ?  It  is  most 
melancholy.  One  of  the  missionaries,  in  trying  to  account  for  it, 
attributed  it  very  much  to  the  fact  that  the  men  who  succeeded 
the  early  fathers  of  the  Mission,  were  not  of  like  spirit  with 
them.  Schwartz,  it  is  known,  joined  the  Propagation  Society. 
Since  1760,  the  Mission  languished,  from  want  of  men  of 
spiritual  power,  faith  and  love.  The  rationalism  of  Germany 
infected  even  the  missionaries.  Towards  the  close  of  last  cen- 
tury the  Mission  became  as  dead  as  the  Protestant  Churches 
in  Germany;  and  continued  so  well  up  through  the  present 
century.  During  the  early  part  of  this  century,  when  the  Ger- 
man missionaries  died  out,  their  place  was  supplied  by  Danish. 
They  too  were  lifeless,  and  the  work  retrograded.  Then, 
about   eight   or   nine  years  ago,    after   the   Protestantism  of 


JEt.  43.  THE    FIRST    LUTHERAN   MISSION.  I37 

Germany  was  fairly  roused,  a  National  Lutheran  Missionary 
Society  was  formed,  meant  to  embrace  all  the  Luthei*an  Churches 
in  Germany,  Denmark,  Sweden,  etc.  This  society  took  up 
the  Tranquebar  Mission,  about  to  be  wholly  abandoned  by 
Denmark.  When  the  colony  was  transferred  to  the  British, 
the  Mission  property  was  reserved ;  it  was  meant  to  be  trans- 
ferred to  the  German  Mission,  but  the  official  legal  documents 
have  not  yet  reached,  so  that  it  is  in  abeyance.  The  church, 
however,  is  given  for  use  to  the  missionaries ;  but  Zicgon- 
balg's  house,  chapel,  and  schools,  are  kept  by  the  British 
Government  till  the  official  orders,  as  to  the  disposal  of 
them,  are  i*eceived  from  home. 

"  Throughout  all  the  neighbouring  villages  there  are  sup- 
posed to  be  about  two  thousand  native  Chi-istians,  men, 
women  and  children.  One-third  of  them  are  caste  Christians, 
two-thirds  Pariahs.  Little  is  done  in  the  way  of  Christian 
education,  and  that  little  shallow  and  imperfect.  There  is  a 
school  in  the  adjoining  village  of  Puriar,  where  some  English  is 
taught.  The  caste  Christians  are  Soodras,  of  the  right  hand 
and  left.  They  will  not  eat  or  intermarry  with  Pariahs,  nor 
sit  promiscuously  even  in  the  house  of  God.  The  Soodra 
Christians  sit  apart,  and  the  Pariahs  by  themselves.  Argued 
the  subject  of  caste  at  great  length  with  Mylius,  who  thoroughly 
took  up  the  caste  side.  1  did  not  know  before  that  the  Ger- 
mans made  the  matter  one  of  religious  creed  and  ecclesiastical 
order.* 

Negapatam,  2Zrd. — "  Waited  on  Mr.  Strickland,  of  the 
Jesuit  Mission,  by  appointment.  He  received  me  in  his  own 
room,  poor-looking  indeed.  A  bedstead,  chair  and  table,  two 
tin  boxes  raised  on  wood,  with  travelling  bag,  constituted 
the  whole  furniture.  The  floor,  beaten  mud.  Strickland  is 
an  Englishman,  young,  about  thirty  apparently.  He  has 
been  here  only  two  or  three  years.  He  is  a  relative  of  Miss 
Strickland,  the  authoress  of  the  '  Lives  of  the  Queens  of  Eng- 
land.'    But  her  branch  of  the  family,  a  century  ago,  became 

•  For  all  tlie  facts,  see  History  of  the  Tranquebar  Mission,  by  the 
Danish  Fenj:,'er,  translated  into  German  and  English  by  Dr.  Emil 
Francko.  Tranquebar,  18G3.  For  the  caste  qut-stion,  see  Bishop 
Wilson's  Life,  by  Batcman,  and  the  Proceeding's  and  Resolutions  of 
the  Conference  of  120  Missionaries  at  Bangalore,  in  Juno,  1879. 


138  LirB    OP   DK.    DUFF.  1 849, 

Protestant.  And  Sir  Geoi'ge  W.  Strickland,  M.P.,  is  of  that 
branch,  the  Jesuit  having  it  that  he  obtained  his  baronetcy 
as  a  bribe  for  changing  his  faith.  He  asked  if  I  had  seen  the 
*  Lives/  I  said  I  had.  Had  I  seen  her  Elizabeth  and  Mary  ? 
Yes.  Does  she  not  make  out  a  very  difterent  character  for 
them  than  that  usually  given  ?  I  admitted  the  fact,  and 
lamented  her  subtle  insinuating  leanings  tovsrards  Popery.  He 
said  he  had  heard  that  Miss  Strickland  had  become  Catholic, 
but  was  not  sure. 

"  Xavier  originated  the  Mission.  Thousands  were  converted 
along  the  coast,  but  the  people  of  the  interior  were  obstinate 
and  prejudiced.  Robert  de  Nobili  came,  assumed  the  garb  of 
a  Brahman  in  order  to  win  natives  to  Christ,  as  also  many  of 
the  forms  and  manners  of  Brahmanism,  such  as  were  not  sup- 
posed to  interfere  with  the  doctrines  of  Catholicism.  But  dis- 
putes arose.  Eobert  might  be  so  far  wrong,  but  his  errors  were 
exaggerated.  At  length  the  pope  forbade  certain  practices ; 
but  the  Brahman  converts,  rather  than  leave  these,  renounced 
their  Christianity.  Various  success  till  about  the  end  of  last 
century,  when,  by  the  labours  and  intrigues  of  the  French 
philosophers,  the  order  of  Jesuits  was  unhappily  abolished  by  the 
pope.  Then  the  pope  requested  the  Archbishop  of  Goa  to  send 
what  priests  he  could  to  the  different  stations,  to  keep  Catho- 
licism in  existence.  The  Portuguese  once  in  the  ascendant,  Goa 
became  supreme.  But  since  the  Portuguese  were  banished,  and 
Goa  reduced  to  a  corner,  it  was  unreasonable  that  it  should 
be  sovereign  over  India,  under  the  change  of  dynasty.  So  the 
pope  at  last  settled  that  Bombay,  Madras  and  Calcutta  be  seats 
of  sees ;  in  1865,  it  was  resolved  that  the  Jesuits  should  proceed 
to  India  (the  order  being  revived)  and  reassume  their  own. 
They  come  everywhere,  with  the  pope's  commission,  and  order 
the  Goa  priests  to  decamp.  The  latter  refuse  ;  hence  the  schism 
and  quarrel  about  property.  The  latter  the  Jesuits  claim  as  all 
their  own  ;  the  Goanists  resist.  The  latter  in  state  of  eccle- 
siastical rebellion.  Being  priests,  their  admin  is  ti-ation  of  ordi- 
nances were  valid,  though  not  legal,  being  in  an  attitude  ot' 
defiance  to  the  pope. 

"  The  large  buildings  here  were  set  on  fire  by  the  Goa  priests 
and  their  party.  Hence  necessity  for  new  edifice.  Strickland 
travelled  everywhere,  and  obtained  by  address  and  importunity 
large   sums   of  money.      The    plan   of   a   really   magnificent 


JFA.  43-  XAVIER  S    MISSION    AND   TUB   JESUITS.  1 39 

structure  has  been  approved.  It  is  of  three  storeys;  has 
ample  accommodation  for  professors  and  students,  European 
and  native.  The  first  storey  of  the  front  range  or  elevation 
already  completed.  It  is  said  that  fifty  or  sixty  thousand 
rupees  have  been  obtained  by  Strickland  for  it,  from  natives, 
Europeans,  Christians,  Protestants  and  heathen.  At  present 
twelve  fathers  are  hei'e — six  new,  learning  the  language,  six 
stationary.  There  are  twenty-five  native  youths,  most  of 
them,  gratuitously  taught,  some  of  them  to  be  agents.  Half 
a  dozen  are  sons  of  Europeans.  The  most  complete  classical 
education  is  given,  as  the  accompanying  pi'ospectus  will 
show.  These  pay  board,  some  twenty-five,  some  fifteen  rupees 
per  month.  The  fathers  have  no  personal  property,  but  a 
common  fund  or  stock.  Strickland  came  out  at  his  own 
expense,  took  money  and  other  property  with  him ;  when  he 
reached  Tanjore  ib  all  went  to  the  common  fund.  In  the  great 
fire  his  library  of  books,  worth  eighty  pounds,  was  burnt ;  a 
friend  in  England  sent  him  out  a  hundred  pounds  to  replace 
it,  the  money  went  into  the  common  stock.  He  knows  not 
what  has  been  made  of  it.  He  receives  a  salary  for  acting 
as  chaplain  to  the  Popish  soldiers  in  Trichinopoly ;  he  never 
sees  it,  it  goes  into  the  common  stock.  Food  and  raiment 
are  provided  them  out  of  this  stock,  which  in  the  aggregate 
amounts  only  to  an  ordinary  average  of  twenty-five  rupees 
per  month  !  Besides  this  they  get  no  salary.  When  any- 
thing exti'a  is  required  for  travelling,  etc.,  the  want  is  stated 
to  the  superior,  and  supplied  b}'^  him  if  the  fund  admits  of  it. 
The  former  Jesuits  tried  to  live  out-and-out  like  natives,  on 
rice  and  water.  This  did  well  for  a  year  or  so,  while  European 
strength  lasted.  But,  by-and-bye,  they  got  weak,  their 
system  relaxed,  they  took  ill  of  cholera  or  other  disease, 
and  died  like  rotten  sheep.  In  this  way,  in  eight  years, 
sixteen  were  cut  ofi".  This  mortality  was  wondered  at,  till  a 
brother  of  Lord  Clifford  came  out  as  missionary.  He  with 
his  English  habits  and  strong  practical  sense,  soon  found  out 
the  cause,  wrote  home  to  the  General  in  Rome  for  an  order, 
which  enjoined  the  lathers  to  live  better,  in  order  to  save 
their  lives.  This  they  have  done,  though  simply.  That  is, 
they  take  daily  a  little  fresh  meat,  such  as  mutton,  fowls,  etc., 
but  no  beef,  out  of  respect  to  prejudices  of  natives.  As  to 
drink,  if  one  is  unwell  or  weakly  a  hi  lie  wine  is  allowed  ;  but 


140  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1849. 

tte  ordinary  fare  is,  to  take  a  bottle  of  brandyj  make  it  iuto 
four  by  mixing  it  with  water,  and  allow  one  wine-glass  of 
this  grog  daily  at  dinner  for  each  father.  This  is  little;  but 
it  helps  digestion.  It  is  only  as  an  extreme  measure,  in  curing 
drunken  soldiers,  that  total  abstinence  literally  is  to  be  insisted 
on.  They  wear  a  sort  of  white  or  yellow  gown  and  red  cap. 
This  reconciles  the  natives  to  them.  They  also  keep  no  Pariah 
servants,  except  horse  grooms — all  caste  men. 

"He  allowed  caste  to  be  of  superstitious  origin,  and  evil 
in  some  of  its  workings ;  but  good  when  worked  properly  for 
right  ends.  I  asked  him  to  explain.  For  instance,  if  a  man 
begin  to  disobey — live  immorally  or  such  like — he  may  despise 
the  priest  and  his  ecclesiastical  censures ;  and  these  censures 
cannot  be  executed  {at  least  at  present,  added  the  Jesuit  with 
emphasis)  ;  but  if  the  head  man  of  the  caste  threatens  the 
offender  with  loss  of  caste  if  he  do  not  mend  his  ways,  he 
instantly  attends  to  this ;  since  to  lose  caste  would  be  to  lose 
kith  and  kin,  and  be  hurried  adrift  from  house  and  home  and 
everything  valued  here  below.  This  was  one  example  of  the 
right  use  of  caste.  The  number  of  native  Romish  proselytes 
south  of  the  Cauvery  to  Comorin  he  reckoned  at  between 
125^000  and  150,000.  Unless  Goa  priests,  most  of  these  ho 
admitted  to  be  extremely  ignorant,  but  now  they  are  all  to  be 
taught. 

"  The  adults  to  be  taught  ?  Yes  !  not  indeed  to  write  or 
read,  for  he  and  his  order  saw  no  necessity  for  the  mass  to 
learn  so.  But  orally  they  were  to  be  taught  creed,  command- 
ments, and  prayers,  so  that  they  should  not  be  ignorant  of  the 
doctrines  of  their  Church.  Thus  little  knowledge  is  necessary 
to  salvation.  If  they  get  a  few  elementai-y  fragments  and 
the  water  of  regeneration,  so  as  to  give  them  a  chance  of 
getting  to  heaven,  this  is  all  that  would  be  attempted  in  their 
case.  But  the  children  of  Native  Christians,  what  of  them  ? 
Those  of  the  great  mass  not  to  be  taught  reading,  but  to  be 
instructed  orally  like  the  parents.  He  was  an  enemy  to  the 
forcing  of  education,  in  the  ordinary  sense,  upon  all ;  and  to 
force  a  high  education  on  the  majority  he  did  not  approve. 
But  the  door  would  be  opened  to  the  capable.  They  would 
have  schools  for  the  able  and  the  willing ;  and  a  college  (at 
Negapatam)  for  the  best  scholars  to  obtain  a  high  education  ; 
especially  such  as  wei"e   destined  to  be  agents  for  propagating 


^t.  43.  ROMAN    CATUOLIC    MISSIONS.  I4I 

the  gospel.  They  had  one  native  now  who  had  passed  the 
first  part  of  his  novitiate  towards  bciug  a  full  priest,  and  five 
or  six  raore  preparing.  But  he  did  not  expect  many  fit  to 
be  guides  and  leaders  to  supply  place  of  Europeans,  for  two 
or  three  centuries  to  come.  At  present  all  the  leaders  must 
come  from  Europe;  but  in  eight  or  ten  years  he  expected  all 
their  missions  to  be  self-supporting,  as  to  temporal  means. 
There  were  now  between  thirty  and  forty  Jesuits  in  the 
southern  districts  ;  fifteen  or  sixteen  had  arrived  within  the 
last  two  years.  While  theoretically  they  did  not  soon  expect 
a  native  ministry,  they  were  doing  more  to  secure  it  than  most 
of  those  who  are  always  crying  out  about  the  necessity  of 
raising  it. 

"  I  asked  whether  they  did  not  owe  much  of  their  success  to 
the  use  of  pictures,  forms,  and  ceremonies — more  fitted  to 
tickle  and  captivate  the  senses,  than  to  enlighten  the  under- 
standing, or  affect  the  heart  with  spiritual  impressions.  He 
acknowledged  that  they  made  lai-ge  use  of  visible  representa- 
tions, signs,  pictures,  etc.  Many  of  these  were  disagreeable 
to  themselves;  they  would  rather  not  have  them.  But  the 
people  were  children  led  by  the  senses.  And  if  they  gave 
them  only  dry  sermons,  they  never  would  get  on.  The  people 
must  have  something  to  fascinate  the  senses ;  but  through  these 
they  aimed  at  the  awakening  of  more  spiritual  sensibilities. 
And  as  the  people  were  rude  and  gross,  the  pictures,  etc., 
were  often  so  too.  This  arose  from  necessity,  not  design. 
Such  was  '  the  state  of  the  arts*  amongst  them,  that  any- 
thing more  refined  was  beyond  their  taste  or  power  of  compre- 
hension. But,  I  said,  was  not  the  tendency  of  dealing  so  much  in 
the  sensuous,  only  to  keep  the  people  sensuous  still — in  a  state 
of  pupillage  and  perpetual  imbecility  ?  Was  it  not  to  rivet  the 
chains  of  sense  upon  tlietn  ?  Was  it  not  to  externalize  the  mind, 
instead  of  subduing  the  dominion  of  external  objects,  and 
leading  the  soul  to  high  and  heavenly  contemplations  ?  He 
did  not  think  so.  Their  wish  and  hope  were  that  the  people 
might  be  gradually  led  along  the  ladder  of  the  senses  to 
better  things.  The  ears  must  be  stunned  with  sounds,  the 
eyes  glared  with  visible  portraitures,  and  the  other  senses 
regaled  with  objects  connected  with  sacrcdness,  so  as  ulti- 
mately the  inner  man  might  be  reached.  I  asked,  if  such  a 
method    of    procedure    was    not    fitted    to    prevent    the    soul 


142  LIFE    OP  DR.    DUFF.  1849. 

from  ever  attaining  to  the  spiritual  meditative  mood  of  Tlaomas 
a  Kempisj  Fenelon  and  Pascal  ?  He  allowed  it  was  so,  in  the 
first  instance,  but  it  could  not  be  helped,  the  people  were  so 
gross. 

"  He  then  asked  what  I  thought  of  the  condition  of  tLe 
Israelites,  intellectually  and  morally,  when  they  came  out  of 
Egypt,  as  compared  with  the  Hindoos.  I  perceived  his  design. 
It  was  no  doubt  this,  that  if  I  said  they  were  highly  refined 
and  civilized,  he  would  argue  that  if  God  gave  such  a  people 
such  a  multitude  of  ceremonies,  why  should  not  they  to  the 
Hindoos  ?  But  not  believing  the  Israelites  to  be  so  refined,  I 
answered  that,  after  the  bondage  and  oppression  of  two  hundred 
years,  they  were  slaves,  and  had  all  the  lowness,  grossness, 
and  carnality  of  slavish  heads  and  hearts,  and  so  required  a 
very  severe  discipline  of  forty  years  in  the  wilderness  partially 
to  cure  them,  and  even  then  they  continued  a  stiffnecked, 
backsliding,  idolatrously  inclined  people.  Why,  then,  did 
God  give  them  such  ceremonies,  etc.  ?  Because  theirs  was  a 
preparatory  ceremonial  of  types  and  shadows,  to  serve  the 
purpose  of  schooling  and  discipline  until  the  substance  came. 
When  the  substance  came,  in  the  one  great  propitiatory 
all-sufficient  sacrifice  of  Chi-ist,  then  the  types  and  shadows 
were  done  away.  The  system  developed  itself,  unfolded  itself, 
unshelled  or  unkernelled,  or  unlocked,  or  uncabineted  itself, 
into  the  purely  spiritual,  the  unchanging,  the  eternal.  And 
ultroneously  to  impose  forms  and  ceremonies  now,  when  the 
spiritual  economy  was  introduced,  was  worse  than  to  impose 
the  toys  and  rattles  and  garb  of  childhood  on  the  man.  It 
vas  to  perpetuate  the  childhood,  and  render  the  mani- 
festation of  the  manhood  impossible.  He  of  course  differed 
from  this  view  of  the  case ;  but  seemed  to  feel  a  little  awkward 
in  opposing  it. 

'^  I  then  asked  whether  it  was  true,  that,  not  satisfied  with 
mere  pictures  and  sounds,  they  resorted  to  still  more  imposing 
representations,  even  such  as  were  of  a  downright  theatrical 
character :  whether,  for  example,  at  Easter,  the  whole  scene 
of  the  trial  of  our  Saviour  before  Pilate,  and  the  crucifixion 
itself,  was  not  exhibited  by  living  personages  on  a  stage? 
He  admitted  it  was,  but  not  wholly  by  living  persons : 
that  the  difi"erent  characters  were  usually  represented  by 
wooden  figures  as  large  as  life  :  that  these  were  fastened  on 


^t.  43.  TWO   IDOLATEIES.  1 43 

poles  wliicli  pierced  into  them  from  beneatli :  that  they  were 
carried  by  men  in  such  a  way  that  only  the  moving  figures 
were  visible  to  the  audience — a  screen  interposing  between  the 
carriers  and  the  audience  :  that  he  knew  only  of  Pilate  being 
acted  by  a  living  man  :  that  the  service  was  read  giving  an 
account  of  the  whole  as  narrated  in  the  Gospels,  and  that  the 
different  figures  were  introduced  and  acted  their  part  as 
speakers,  through  the  men  that  carried  them,  in  succession, 
after  the  manner  of  a  sacred   drama :  and   that  he   regarded 

'  CD 

all  this  as  only  a  more  living,  graphic,  affecting  picture  to  aid 
the  conception  and  quicken  the  sensibilities — exciting  towards 
the  different  objects  the  feelings  respectively  due.  He  also 
allowed,  that  at  the  hour  which  the  Catholic  Church  has  fixed  on 
as  that  on  which  the  Saviour  rose,  the  Resurrection,  repre- 
sented by  wooden  figures  and  living  persons,  is  carried  about 
in  procession,  round  the  church  or  through  the  town !  To- 
wards the  saints  they  wished  to  excite  reverence,  not  worship. 
"  He  asked  whether  I  did  not  consider  the  recent  rise  and 
growing  ascendancy  of  the  Romish  Church  as  remarkable  ?  I 
did  so.  He  considered  this  as  a  sign  of  the  Church  being  the 
true  one,  while  Protestantism  was  at  a  discount  all  over  the 
world.  Tho  latter  proposition  I  denied;  as  respected  the 
former  I  stated  that,  far  from  regarding  the  present  revival  of 
the  Church  of  Rome  as  a  proof  of  its  being  the  true  one,  in 
common  with  other  Protestants  I  noted  it  as  an  infallible  sign 
of  its  being  the  false  and  counterfeit  one  !  He  looked  aston- 
ished, and  asked  how  I  could  think  so  ?  I  told  him,  from  our 
interpretation  of  prophecy  we  expected,  and  Protestant  inter- 
preters centuries  ago  expected,  that  the  Romish  Church,  after 
having  sunk  and  decayed  through  the  great  Reformation, 
would  again  revive,  and  obtain  a  short-lived  ascendancy — pre- 
paratory, however,  only  to  its  speedy,  final  and  irretrievable 
destruction.  He  marvelled  still  moi-e  j  and  asked  what  pro- 
phecies I  referred  to.  I  told  him  among  others,  to  the  latter 
Dortion  of  Revelation.  'Ah,'  said  he,  'you  thiak  Rome  to  be 
Babylon  ? '  '  Yes,  I  do — the  Babylon,  the  mother  of  harlots, 
red  and  drunk  with  the  blood  of  saints,  destined  ultimately  to 
be  utterly  annihilated.'  He  said,  I  would  not  long  think  this 
if  1  was  acquainted  with  Catholic  writers.  I  asked  him  if 
he  considered  Bossuet's  Treatise,  the  articles  of  the  Council  of 
Trent,  the  creed  of  Pope  Pius  IV.,  and  such  like,  to  be  fair 


144  I-I^^    OF   ^^-   DUFF.  1849. 

exposes  of  tlie  Romish  system  ?  He  said  he  did.  'Then/  said 
I,  'in  these  and  such  like  Popish  documents  I  have  studied  the 
system ;  and  having  done  so,  my  opinion  of  it  is  what  I  have 
stated/  He  asked  what  docti'ines  in  particular  I  objected  to.  I 
stated  a  few,  but  said  their  name  was  Legion,  and  it  would 
require  a  pretty  long  catalogue  only  to  enumerate  them. 

"  I  asked  what  he  considered  the  chief  impediments  to  the 
spread  of  Christianity  in  South  India  ?  He  said  the  character 
of  the  natives — especially  caste — their  apathy,  their  weakness 
of  mind,  etc,  Second,  the  conduct  of  the  British  Grovernment 
in  not  encouraging  Christians  in  its  service,  but  rather  the 
contrary.  The  natives  ivill  not  become  Protestants,  it  is  too 
tame,  bare,  naked  for  them  ;  become  Catholics  they  dare  not, 
as  they  would  then  have  little  chance  of  promotion  in  good 
offices.  If  not  for  this  hindrance,  thousands  more  would  at 
once  become  Catholics.  In  passing  through  the  hall  where 
native  pupils  assembled  saw  several  pictures,  as  usual. 
Among  others  the  Virgin  treading  on  the  head  of  the  ser- 
pent ;  because,  said  he,  '  we  interpret  the  passage  about  the 
seed  of  the  woman  bruising  the  head  of  the  sei'pent,  of  the 
woman,  the  virgin  mother,  bruising  the  head.' 

"  He  attributed  the  failure,  as  he  called  it,  of  Protestant 
missions  to  the  fact  of  their  being  upheld  by  Churches  that  be- 
longed not  to  the  true  one.  I  attributed  the  apparent  success 
of  the  Popish  missions  to  the  use  of  means  which  could  be 
employed  only  by  the  false  Church.  Moreover,  I  insisted  on 
it,  that  genuine  success  was  not  to  be  reckoned  by  numbers  or 
quantity,  but  by  quality.  Estimated  by  this  test,  I  showed 
that  Protestant  missions,  as  a  whole,  are  no  failure,  gave  some 
particulars  respecting  the  results  of  our  own  Missions  at  Madras 
and  Calcutta,  and  solemnly  averred  my  belief  that  we  had 
converts,  whom,  in  point  of  intellectual  culture,  and  heart 
purity,  and  graciousness  of  disposition,  and  self-denial  and 
proofs  of  integrity,  the  Popish  missions  could  not  parallel.  He 
allowed  that  if,  as  he  fancied,  Protestant  missions  had  failed, 
it  was  not  for  want  of  zeal  or  ability  or  devotedness.  In  par- 
ticular, he  said  this  was  the  opinion  of  the  fathers  respecting 
myself.      I  took  the  compliment  at  what  it  was  worth.''  * 

*  See  CathoUc  Missions  in  Sotithern  India,  to  1865.  By  Rev.  W. 
Stricklaud,  S.J.,  and  T.  W.  M.  Marshall,  Esq.  (Loi.gmaj<s). 


.Kt.  43-  '^^^    PAGODAS    OF    SOUTH    INDIA.  145 

First  at  Cliillumbrum  and  again  at  Combaconum 
Dr.  Duff  entered  the  great  country  of  pagodas. 
Tlie  famous  Dravidian  dynasties  of  the  Pandyas,  the 
Cholas  and  the  Chcras,  have  left  behind  them  in 
Madura,  along  the  Cholaniandalam  or  Coromandel 
coast,  and  in  the  western  districts  including  Mysore 
and  the  Kailas  of  Elora,  temples  and  palaces  which  so 
good  an  authority  as  Mr.  James  Fergusson,  D.C.L., 
pronounces  "  as  remarkable  a  group  of  buildings  as 
are  to  be  found  in  provinces  of  similar  extent  in  any 
part  of  the  world,  Egypt,  perhaps,  alone  excepted, 
but  they  equal  even  the  Egyptian  in  extent."  The  de- 
vastating iconoclasm  of  the  Muliammadan  invader  did 
not  penetrate  so  far  as  Taujore,  till  the  aggressiveness 
of  Islam  in  India  had  been  exhausted  or  driven  back. 
Against  the  perfect  mosques  of  marble  and  cities  of 
forts  and  palaces  in  Hindostan — perfect  in  their  archi- 
tectural beauty  and  strength  as  even  the  Saracenic 
structures  are  not — the  Dravidic  Brahmans  of  the 
south,  allied  to  the  Moghuls  in  race,  can  set  build- 
ings which  surpass  even  these  in  tlie  finish  of  details, 
though  altogether  barbarous  compared  with  these,  in 
the  falseness  of  their  design.  As  if  in  unconscious 
mockery  of  divine  revealings,  the  city  of  priests  and 
prostitutes,  which  forms  the  Yaishnava  or  Sivaite 
temple,  lies  four-square  for  a  mile  on  each  side, 
entered  by  imposing  gateways  and  dominated  by 
towers  of  gigantic  height.  But  as  you  pass  through 
court  after  court  to  the  hideous  gloom  of  the  con- 
temptible sanctuary,  and  approach  the  obscene  pene- 
tralia, the  buildings  diminish  in  size  and  elaboration, 
producing  what  even  the  pure  architect  pronounces 
"  bathos."  Of  such  in  the  Tanjore  district  alone 
there  are  upwards  of  thirty  groups,  any  one  of  which 
has  cost  more  to  build,  even  in  a  laud  of  cheap 
labour  and  oppressive  superstition,  than   an  English 

VOL.    II.  I 


146  LIFE   OP   DE.    DUEP.  1849. 

cathedral.*  The  most  imposing  mass  of  all  is  the 
Seringham  pagoda,  near  Trichinopoly.  That  "it  is 
severe  and  in  good  taste  throughout'*  is  ascribed  to 
the  fact  that  its  completion  was  arrested  bj  the 
French  and  English  wars.  If  it  grew  from  less  to 
greater,  instead  of  greater  to  less,  Mr.  Fergusson 
declares  it  would  be  one  of  the  finest  temples  in  the 
south  of  India. 

"Anxious  to  improve  time,"  writes  Dr.  Duff,  the 
keenest  and  most  thoughtful  of  travellers,  "I  got  an 
order  from  the  Collector,  Mr.  Onslow,  to  visit  the  great 
pagoda."  His  companions  were  Colonel  and  Mrs. 
Wahab,  who  had  been  Dr.  Wilson's  hosts  long  before 
at  Jalna,  and  Captain  Boswell,  worthy  brother  of  an 
evangelical  chaplain  in  Calcutta,  well  known  in  those 
days. 

"  There  are  not  fewer  than  seven  great  courts  or  squares 
each  surmounted  by  a  high  and  massive  wall  one  within  tlie 
other,  with  a  considerable  space  between.  Each  great  square 
has  its  own  gigantic  granite  entrances,  surmounted  by  vast 
columns  or  towers  in  the  middle  of  each  wall  of  the  square. 
The  towers  are  covered  all  over  with  the  usual  mythologic 
sculptures.  Each  of  these  open  courts  is  surrounded  by 
minor  shrines,  small  mandapums  or  Brahmanical  receptacles. 
Through  six  of  them  we  wez'e  allowed  to  pass,  but  the  seventh 
is  like  Hhe  holy  of  holies,'  impassable  by  any  but  the  sacred 
Brahmans,  who  revel  within  without  fear  of  interruption  from 
unholy  gaze  or  unholy  tread.  Close  to  the  seventh  court  is 
the  great  mandapum  for  pilgrim  worshippers,  a  covered  roof 
sustained  by  a  thousand  pillars  wider  apart  and  much  loftier 
than  those  of  Conjeveram.  To  the  roof  of  this  we  were  taken, 
whence  we  surveyed  the  whole,  our  attention  being  specially 
directed  to  the  gilded  dome  over  the  shrine  of  the  principal 
idol.  On  descending  it  was  getting  dark,  so  we  were  preceded 
by  torch-bearers.      We  then  entered  a  spacious  hall,  in  the 


*  History  of  Indian  and  Eastern  Architecture.     By  James  Fergus- 
son,  D.C.L.,  etc.,  1876  (Murray). 


/Et.  43.  THE    PAGODA    OF    SEKINGHAM.  1 47 

centre  of  which  were  several  largo  lamps^  and  around  them 
a  few  chairs.  Then  were  brousfht  out  a  larcjo  number  of 
boxes  with  massive  locks,  and  placed  in  a  row  before  us. 
These  contained  a  portion  of  the  jewels  and  ornaments  of  the 
god  of  the  shrine.  One  box  was  opened  after  another. 
Certainly  the  profusion  of  gold  and  jewels,  wrought  up  into 
varied  ornaments,  was  astonishing.  There  were  many  large 
vessels  of  solid  gold,  from  one  to  several  stones  weight.  The 
golden  ornaments  were  bestud  with  diamonds,  rubies,  emeralds, 
pearls,  etc.  Such  a  spectacle  I  never  saw.  Conjeveram  was 
nothing  to  it.  I  had  always  looked  on  the  accounts  of  such 
things  as  hyperbolic  exaggerations  before.  And  as  to  silver 
vessels  and  ornaments,  they  were  countless.  But  the  most 
sui'prising  part  of  the  exhibition  was,  the  great  golden  idol  or 
swamy.  It  was  not  a  solid  figure,  but  hollow ;  and  so  con- 
structed as  to  be  set  up  and  taken  down  in  parts  again,  like 
the  steel  armour  which  completely  clad  the  knights  of  the 
middle  ages.  The  whole  was  of  massive  gold.  There  must  be 
a  huge  wooden  framework,  of  the  shape  and  proportions  of  a 
man,  around  which  these  golden  pieces  are  fixed  so  as  to 
appear  one  solid  piece  of  gold.  The  immense  size  of  the 
figure  may  be  inferred  from  this :  when  the  feet  and  the  hands, 
etc.,  were  shown  us  in  parts,  I  took  the  hand  from  the  wrist  to 
the  extremity  of  the  fingers,  and  having  applied  my  arm  to 
it,  found  it  extended  fi'om  my  elbow  rather  beyond  the  top 
of  my  middle  finger ;  the  feet  and  every  other  part  in  pro- 
portion. The  figure,  therefore,  joined  and  compacted  into 
one,  must  form  a  huge  statue  of  at  least  fifteen  feet  in  height, 
all  apparently  of  solid  gold.  The  joinings  will  be  per- 
fectly concealed  by  the  ornaments  by  which  it  is  overlaid 
— ornaments  for  the  feet,  anklets,  and  such  like  ;  ornaments 
for  the  arms,  thighs,  waist,  neck,  head,  etc.  In  fact  the 
sight  of  it,  when  erected,  and  covered  with  its  ornaments, 
must  be  probably  the  most  amazing  spectacle  of  the  sort  now 
in  the  world.  The  platform  on  which  it  is  carried,  with  its 
long  projecting  arms  resting  on  the  shoulders  of  those  who 
carry  it,  is  also  overlaid  with  massive  gold,  the  central  part 
being  brass  for  durability  and  strength.  They  also  showed  us, 
spread  out  at  length,  the  covering  gown  of  the  deity  nicely 
fitted  to  suit  him.  It  was  a  fabric  the  tissue  of  which  was 
like  golden  thread,  inlaid  most  curiously  with  a  countless  pro- 


148  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1849. 

fusion  of  pearls.  No  doubt  the  whole  taken  together  must 
have  been  almost  fabulously  costly.  They  were  the  gifts  of 
kings,  princes,  and  nobles,  when  Hindooism  was  in  its  prime ; 
and  must  convey  an  awful  idea  of  the  hold  which  it  took  of  a 
people  naturally  so  avaricious,  ere  they  would  be  so  lavish 
of  their  substance.  Whoever  desires  to  know  what  a  potent 
— yea,  all  but  omnipotent — hold  Hindooism  must  once  have 
taken  of  this  people,  has  only  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  great 
temple  of  Seringham  !  It  is  worth  a  thousand  fruitless  argu- 
ments and  declamations. 

"  We  asked  what  was  supposed  to  be  the  value  of  all  these 
golden  materials  with  the  countless  jewels  ?  They  replied,  at 
least  fifty  lakhs  of  rupees,  or  half  a  million  sterling !  And 
what  might  have  been  the  cost  of  erecting  the  whole  temple? 
At  least  ten  crores  of  rupees,  was  the  prompt  reply,  or  a  million 
sterling.  And,  very  probably,  this  is  no  oriental  exaggeration. 
Look  at  the  cost  of  St.  Paul's,  London,  or  the  Taj  Mahal,  near 
Agra,  each  said  to  have  been  a  million  sterling.  If  so,  I 
cannot  regard  it  as  incredible  that  the  awful  and  indescribably 
vast  fabric  of  the  Seringham  pagoda  cost  less  ! 

"  To  witness  the  riches  of  this  earth,  which  is  the  Lord's,  so 
alienated  from  Him  and  devoted  to  a  rival  deity  that  holds 
millions  in  thraldom,  was  sad  enough.  But  what  shall  I  say 
as  to  what  followed  ?  Verily  these  shrines  are  the  receptacles 
of  the  god  of  this  world  and  his  army  of  lusts  !  A  ring  of 
ropes  was  placed  around  us,  and  the  lights  and  boxes  of  gods 
and  their  ornaments,  to  keep  off  the  immense  crowd  which 
gathered  to  witness  the  spectacle  !  Then  the  guardians  of  the 
temple  came  to  me,  and  asked  if  I  wished  to  see  a  nacli  (a 
dance  of  the  prostitutes  of  the  temple) .  In  the  most  emphatic 
way,  and  in  a  tone  indicative  of  real  displeasure,  I  said,  *  No, 
no ;  I  wish  nothing  of  the  soi't.  It  would  give  me  real  pain, 
and  not  pleasure.  Do  not,  therefore,  for  a  moment  think  of  it.' 
The  guardians  or  trustees  of  the  temple  spoke  a  little  broken 
English,  and  so  I  spoke  simply  that  they  might  understand 
me.  Still,  whilst  the  ornaments  were  being  exhibited,  I  heard 
the  tinkling  of  bells,  and  the  preparatory  notes  of  instruments 
of  music.  Then,  sideways,  I  saw  a  procession  of  the  temple 
girls,  gaily  and  gaudily  arrayed,  march  with  the  bearers 
of  all  manner  of  musical  instruments.  I  took  no  notice  of 
it  but  felt   pained  and  wounded  to  the  quick.      I  said  no- 


^t.  43.  THE    GOD    OF   THIS    WOULD.  1 49 

thing  to  my  companion.  But  as  they  were  about  to  open  new 
boxes  of  ornaments  I  abruptly  rose,  and  said  I  had  seen  enough 
as  specimens  of  the  whole,  thanked  the  trustees  for  their 
courtesy,  and  begged  to  bid  them  '  good-bye  ;■*  on  which  one 
of  them  cried  out  in  broken  English,  *  Oh  sir,  oh  sir,  your 
honour  not  stop  to  see  the  fun  ! '  meaning  the  intended  dance. 
'No,  no,'  said  I,  moving  hastily  on;  '  I  have  seen  enough — 
more  than  enough — may  the  Lord  forgive  me  if  my  curiosity 
(or  rather  desire  to  know  what  heathenism  really  is)  has  led 
me  beyond  the  threshold  of  forbidden  ground.'  So  saying, 
and  rushing  precipitately  onward,  the  rope  ring  was  raised  to 
let;  me  pass  on  with  my  friend.  The  crowd  hurled  themselves 
pell-mell  inwardly,  and  so '  the  fun '  for  that  time  was  at  an  end. 

"  With  joy  I  again  got  out,  and  began  to  breathe  the  fresh  air 
of  heaven,  thankful  to  have  escaped  the  sad  contagion.  But 
doubtless,  the  matter  of  course  way  in  which  they  expected 
that  the  crowning  gratification,  on  our  part,  would  be  to  see 
the  dance,  must  serve  as  an  index  to  their  ideas  of  our 
countrymen  generally,  judging  from  past  experience.  Oh, 
for  the  dawn  of  a  brighter  day  !  Surely  the  first  rays  of 
early  twilight  have  emerged  from  the  midnight  darkness  ! 

"  Captain  Boswell  tells  me  that  when  he  joined  his  present 
regiment  he  found  two  funds  established,  to  which  each 
oflBcer  was  expected  in  honour  to  subscribe :  one  was  for 
the  improvement  of  the  native  soldiery  in  personal  appearance, 
etc. ;  the  other  was  with  the  view  of  granting  donations  of 
about  a  hundred  rupees  to  the  sepoys,  to  enable  them  to 
celebrate  with  more  eclat  their  own  heathen  festivals,  that  is, 
in  adding  to  the  grandeur  of  processions,  lighting  up  the 
temples,  etc.  Captain  Boswell  demurred  to  the  latter;  but  said 
he  would,  in  lieu,  give  double  to  the  former.  His  command- 
ing officer  was  angry,  and  declared  he  would  report  him  to  the 
Commander-in-Chief,  and  meanwhile  kept  him  back,  depriv- 
ing him  of  certain  command,  etc.  Such  a  fund,  it  appears, 
was  formerly  in  every  regiment.  The  very  sepoys  at  last  felt 
it  was  inconsistent,  and  respected  more  those  who  refused 
than  those  who  gave. 

"  The  trustees  of  the  temple  walked  out  with  us  to  the  outer 
gate ;  they  asked  who  I  was  and  whence  ?  I  told  them. 
They  seemed  gratified,  and  we  parted.  Formerly  the  Govern- 
ment managed  the  temple  funds  and  affairs  generally  through 


150  LIFE    OF    DK.    DUFF.  1849. 

its  officers,  especially  tlie  Collector.  But  now,  the  whole 
management  is  vested  in  trustees,  nominated  by  the  Brahmans 
of  the  temple,  subject  to  veto  of  Collector.  The  pagoda  lands 
of  Seringham  yield  annually  about  Ks.  40,000  (£4,000)  ;  offer- 
ings besides  in  plenty. 

'^  At  the  outer  gate  of  the  outer  court,  which  is  about  four 
miles  square,  some  of  the  stones  are  twenty  or  thirty  feet  in 
length,  and  five  feet  broad.  Hence  the  Hindoos  say  it  waa 
the  work  of  the  gods  !  Certainly  it  is  far  beyond  their  present 
mechanical  skill  and  power.  The  great  columns  here  (as  at 
Conjeveram)  which  support  the  roof  of  the  one  thousand  pillar 
mandapum  within,  are  made  out  of  one  stone  ;  and  the  style  of 
ornament  seems  the  same  everywhere,  the  chief  difference 
being  in  the  size.  From  the  pillars,  projecting  in  bold  relief, 
are  many  mythologic  figures — of  men  or  demi-gods  or  gods 
on  horseback,  contending  with  elephants,  tigers,  bears,  and 
other  ferocious  creatures.  These  are  often  very  large,  and  cut 
out  of  the  same  block  as  the  pillar  to  which  they  are  attached. 
A  work  of  vast  labour,  skill,  and  expense  !" 

As  at  Tranquebar  Dr.  Duff  had  fondly  lingered  over 
the  traces  of  the  earliest  Protestant  missionary  to  In- 
dia, Ziegenbalg,  he  sought  out  in  Tanjore  everywhere 
traces  of  the  still  greater,  Schwartz.  At  Combaconum 
he  especially  noted  how  Schwartz  had  devised  an  educa- 
tional policy  not  unlike  his  own,  and  how  his  schools, 
supported  by  the  British  Government  and  by  the 
Raja,  were  stopped  only  by  the  wars  with  Tippoo.  At 
Tanjore  Dr.  Duff  was,  as  everywhere,  received  with 
much  kindness  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Guest,  of  the  Propaga- 
tion Society,  which  in  1829  had  taken  over  Schwartz's 
mission  as  commenced  by  the  Christian  Knowledge 
Society  in  1756. 

"  The  present  hall  of  the  house,  which  otherwise  has  been 
enlarged  by  the  addition  of  wings,  verandahs,  etc.,  is  the 
identical  one  in  which  Schwartz  died.  It  was  the  hall  of  his 
ordinary  dwelling  and  is  still  used  as  such.  At  7  a.m.  the  church 
bell  tolled  ;  I  was  really  delighted  with  the  sound.  I  went  out 
to  the  church;  it  was  the  bell  summoning  the  pupils  in  the 


JEL  43.  SCHWARTZ.  I  5  I 

boarding  schools,  male  and  female,  to  prayer.  Besides  tlic 
cliiklren  a  few  adult  Cliristians  from  the  neighbourhood  at- 
tended. A  native  catechist  read  the  prayers,  and  the  clerk 
sung  several  hymns,  the  boys  and  girls  joining.  The  desk 
•was  the  one  in  which  Schwartz  was  wont  to  officiate ;  for  this 
was  his  church  for  the  out-population  in  the  vicinity  of  Tanjore. 
After  the  service  was  ended  I  mounted  Schwartz's  pulpit. 
Coming  down,  near  the  altar,  I  observed  many  monumental 
flag-stones  on  the  floor.  Reading  the  inscriptions,  I  saw  that 
they  were  the  tombstones  of  some  of  the  missionaries  and  mem- 
bers of  their  families.  But  the  one  that  attracted  and  absorbed 
my  attention  was  the  plain  stone  beneath  which  the  mortal  re- 
mains of  Schwartz  now  lie  till  the  dawn  of  the  resurrection  morn. 
With  a  pencil  I  took  down  the  simple  inscription,  which  Mr. 
Guest  assured  me  was  the  unaided  composition  of  Schwartz's 
royal  ward  aud  pupil,  the  Maharaja  of  Tanjore  !  It  is  precisely 
as  follows,  with  respect  to  the  division  of  the  lines  and  words : — 

"  Sacred  to  the  memory  of 
The  Revd.  Christian  Fredk. 
Swai  tz  Missionary  to 
The  Honbe.  Society  for 
Promoting  Christn.  know- 
ledge in  London,  who 
Departed  this  life  on 
The  13th  of  February  1798 
Aged  71  years  and  4  months. 

Firm  was  thou,  humble  and  wise, 
Honest,  pure,  free  from  disguise  ; 
Father  of  orphans,  the  widow's  support, 
Comfort  in  sorrow  of  every  sort ; 
To  the  benighted,  dispenser  of  light. 
Doing,  and  pointing  to,  that  which  is  right: 
Blessing  to  princes,  to  people,  to  me, 
May  I,  my  Father,  be  worthy  of  thee, 
Wisheth  and  prayeth  thy  Sarabojee. 

"These  lines  are,  indeed,  as  a  composition  of  the  order  of 
doggerel.  But,  considering  who  the  author  was — a  heathen 
prince — do  they  not  contain  a  wondei-ful  testimony  to  a 
Christian  missionary  ?  And,  notwithstanding  the  doggerel, 
does  there  not  break  throughout  them  a  simple,  touching,  warm- 
hearted  pathos,  which  moves  and  stirs  up  the  feelings,  and 
which,   as   in  a  mirror,   porti'ays    or    reflects    the    kindliness. 


152  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1849. 

the  gi'atitude  and  the  amiable  unaffected  simplicity  of  their 
author  ? 

"  Besides  the  mission  premises  outside  the  fort,  it  is  well- 
known  that  Schwartz,  through  his  paramount  influence  with  the 
Raja^  was  enabled  to  erect  a  church  within  the  fort.  Nor  is 
this  all.  Beside  the  large  fort  which  contains  the  tower,  there 
is  a  small  fort  or  citadel,  at  the  western  extremity  of  the  large 
one,  somewhat  more  elevated  than  the  latter,  and  separated 
from  it  by  a  high  wall,  at  the  summit  of  a  slight  ascent.  It 
must  have  been  the  citadel.  Besides  being  more  strongly 
fortified,  as  the  citadel,  it  was  the  sacred  ground  or  enclosure 
on  which  the  most  famous  pagoda  in  the  province  of  Tanjore 
was  reared.  Near  it  too  is  the  most  sacred  tank  in  the  pro- 
vince— a  tank  from  which  water  is  conveyed  to  most  of  the 
other  pagodas  in  the  surrounding  country  ;  a  tank  of  whose 
water  alone  the  Raja,  Brahmans  and  other  respectable  people 
will  drink;  a  tank  which  has  diS'erent  flights  of  steps  descends 
ing  into  it,  separated  from  each  other  by  low  walls,  along  which 
the  women  of  different  castes  may  pass  in  drawing  water ;  that 
is,  a  flight  of  steps  for  Brahman  women,  another  flight  for 
Soodras,  etc.  Within  this  small  fort,  also,  none  but  Brahmans 
are  allowed  to  reside  as  the  guardians  of  the  pagoda  and  its 
accompaniments.  Yet,  within  this  comparatively  small  and 
most  sacred  place,  Schwartz  had  influence  to  secure  the  erection 
of  a  tolerably  spacious  Christian  church,  and  near  it  a  house  for 
the  minister  to  reside  in  whenever  he  pleased ;  and  the  property 
of  the  church,  house,  and  grounds  has  been  secured  in  such  a 
way  that  neither  Raja  nor  Brahmans,  under  the  existing  order 
of  things,  can  possibly  touch  it !  Towards  evening  I  went 
to  see  this  singular  monument  of  the  triumph  of  Protestant 
influence  and  ascendancy  at  a  heathen  court,  the  most  remark- 
able visible  monument  of  the  sort,  perhaps,  in  the  whole  realm 
of  Gentilism.  Having  reached  it,  and  looked  into  Schwartz's 
dwelling  rooms,  humble  and  unostentatious,  close  by,  I  en- 
tered with  something  like  an  indefinable  awe  over  my  spirit, 

"The  church  is  a  neat  edifice,  nothing  very  imposing,  and 
containing  nothing  very  superfluous.  At  one  end  (the  eastern) 
are  the  pulpit,  desk,  altar,  etc.,  with  benches  for  Europeans  or 
East  Indians  to  sit  on  if  present.  The  greater  half  is  simply 
matted,  so  that  the  native  Tamulian  Christians  may  sit  down 
there  (tailor-like)  in  their  own  way. 


JEt.  43-     SCHWARTZ  S   CHURCU    IN   THE    HINDOO    PALACE.      1 53 

"  At  the  west  end  is  the  marble  monument^  the  product  of 
a  London  genius  erected  at  the  expense  of  the  Maharaja  of 
Tanjore,  the  'wisheth  and  prayeth  tliy  Sarabojee'  of  the  pre- 
vious epitaph.  It  is  simple,  touching',  affecting.  It  has  been 
pronounced  a  failure,  a  disappointment;  I  know  not  why. 
Men  of  the  world,  men  of  carnality,  men  of  mere  ostentation 
and  show  in  the  fine  arts,  that  is,  men  guided  and  lorded 
over  by  the  senses,  may  discern  nothing  very  remarkable,  very 
striking,  very  imposing,  very  overpowering  there.  But  the 
Chi-istian,  the  Protestant  Christian,  cannot  help  being  over- 
powered. The  spectacle  is,  indeed,  extraordinary.  I  confess  it 
overpowered  me.  The  monument  is  fixed  in  the  wall ;  in  front 
of  it  there  is  a  railing ;  I  approached  it ;  instinctively  leant  my 
elbow  on  it,  gazed  at  the  monument  as  if  I  were  in  a  trance. 
I  had  no  consciousness  as  to  what  had  become  of  my  compan- 
ions ;  I  was  literally  absorbed.  I  am  not  given  to  sentimentalism, 
yet  I  was  absorbed.  There  was  a  spell-like  power  in  that  simple 
monument.  I  stood  before  it,  I  forgot  time  and  space.  I  knew 
not  where  I  was,  for  consciousness  was  gone.  Call  it  dream,  or 
vision,  or  trance,  or  absorption,  I  care  not.  It  was  human  na- 
ture, human  feeling,  human  sympathy.  Before  me,  in  solid,  Avell 
grained  marble,  iu  bold  but  not  obtrusive  or  glaring  relief,  was 
the  couch  of  the  dying  saint;  on  it  stretched  lay  the  pale,  bald, 
worn-out  veteran  apostolic  man,  whose  assistance  and  mediation 
heathens,  Hindoo  and  Muhammadan,  as  well  as  Christian 
governing  powers,  eagerly  coveted,  in  the  last  gasp  of  expiring 
nature.  Behind  him,  at  his  head,  stood  the  affectionate,  tender, 
sympathising,  loving  fellow-labourer,  Guericke,  who  ever  looked 
up  to  him  as  a  father,  and  who,  in  the  last  communication  from 
his  pen,  thus  wrote  of  Schwartz : 

" '  Mr.  Schwartz  said  nothing  relative  to  his  speedy  decease 
until  Wednesday ;  but  appeared  to  entertain  a  wish  and 
expectation  to  recover.  When  I  spoke  to  him  on  the  sub- 
ject, and  expressed  a  hope  that  God  might  yet  restore  him 
to  health,  he  said,  '  But  I  should  not  be  able  to  jDreach,  on 
account  of  my  breath.'  I  replied,  'If  you  only  sit  here  as 
you  do  at  present,  and  aid  us  with  your  counsel,  all  things 
would  go  on  quite  differently  from  what  they  would  if 
you  were  to  leave  us,  etc'  Bub  on  Wednesday,  he  said,  as 
soon  as  I  entered,  '  I  think  the  Lord  will  at  last  take  me  to 
Himself.'     I  spoke  to  him  a  great  deal  on  the  subject,  but  he 


154  I^I^^    or    DE.    DUFF.  1849. 

remained  silent,  settled  some  pecuniary  matter  with  me,  and 
gave  me  some  money  for  Palamcottali.  All  this  troubled  me 
much.  I  prayed  and  wept ;  could  get  no  sleep  for  several  nights, 
and  lost  my  appetite  and  strength,  for  various  thoughts  how 
things  would  go  on  after  his  departure  made  me  very  restless. 
I  wrote  an  account  of  his  state  to  Mr.  Macleod,  and  expressed 
a  wish  that  he  would  consult  physicians  as  to  the  best  method 
of  treatment.  Mr.  Macleod  wrote  immediately  to  General 
Floyd  at  Trichinopoly,  to  send  a  skilful  physician  to  us  on 
Friday,  when  the  latter  had  a  consultation  with  the  Vallam  and 
Tanjore  physicians.  They  prescribed  a  medicine  which  had  the 
effect  of  stopping  the  vomiting.  Our  joy  was  great,  and  on 
Saturday  night  I  got  a  little  sleep.  At  three  in  the  morning  I 
was  waked  up  and  informed  that  Mr.  Schwartz  wished  to  take 
the  Holy  Supper.  I  found  him  very  weak,  and  spoke  to  him 
with  much  emotion.  His  great  humility,  his  love  to  Christ, 
and  his  desire  after  grace,  excited  my  astonishment.  Prior  to 
his  communicating  he  prayed  fervently,  and  for  some  length  of 
time,  in  German,  and  acknowledged  and  bewailed  himself  as  a 
sinner,  who  had  nothing  to  bring  before  the  justice  of  God 
but  the  sufficient  merits  of  Christ.  The  humility,  self-renun- 
ciation, poverty  of  spirit,  the  trust  and  thirst  after  grace  and 
righteousness,  which  his  prayer  evinced,  were  witnessed  by  us 
all.  He  concluded  with  a  petition  for  the  whole  human  race, 
saying,  '  They  are  all  Thy  redeemed.  Thou  hast  shed  Thy  blood 
for  them ;  have  pity  upon  them/  Last  of  all,  he  prayed  for 
the  Christians  especially,  mentioned  the  Mission  with  sighs, 
and  commended  it  to  the  compassion  of  Jesus.  He  received 
the  Holy  Supper  (Mr.  Kahlhoff  and  I  taking  it  with  him) 
with  great  emotion  and  joy,  and  was  afterwards  full  of  praise 
and  thanksgiving.  Finding  himself  weak  he  then  lay  down 
again,  but  soon  raised  himself,  and  occasionally  spoke  some- 
what confusedly.  During  the  night  he  evinced  some  occasional 
wandering  of  mind  ;  but  soon  recollected  himself  when  spoken 
to,  and  even  mentioned  that  his  head  was  affected.  Contrary 
to  our  expectation  he  slept  from  two  o'clock  till  ten,  when  the 
physician  awoke  him.  We  found  him  very  feeble,  but  still 
sensible.  He  said  to  the  physician,  'My  whole  meditation  is 
the  death  of  Jesus,  and  that  I  may  be  like  Him,'  and  then 
added,  '  the  whole  world  is  a  maslc ;  I  wish  to  be  where  all  is 
real.'     He  likewise  spoke  to  me  to  the  same  effect.    At  twelve 


ALt.  43-  SCHWARTZ    DYIXO.  1 55 

he  laid  himself  down  again_,  and  so  he  continues.  He  can  speak 
but  little,  but  what  ho  does  say  is  intellii^-ent,  and  refers  to  that 
which  is  his  element^  and  on  which  his  mind  is  singly  and  solely 
employed.  The  physicians  say  there  is  no  danger  as  yet,  but 
it  now  appears  to  me  that  our  dear  father  will  soon  leave  us. 
Oh,  if  God  would  graciously  strengthen  him  and  spare  him  to 
us  yet  a  little  while  !  If  he  depart  to  his  rest,  what  shall  we 
both  do  ? ' 

"Who  could  have  been  represented  as  standing  at  the 
head  of  the  dying  father  with  better  eftect  and  more  appro- 
priately, than  this  affectionate,  loving  son  ?  And  there  he  is, 
a  striking  likeness,  it  is  said,  in  bold  relief  at  the  head  of  the 
couch,  looking  wistfully  at  the  pale  collapsed  features  of  the 
mighty  saint,  whose  spirit  was  then  departing  to  join  the 
general  assembly  of  the  firstborn.  And  there  is  the  Maha- 
raja Serfojee,  in  his  full  dress,  standing  by  the  couch,  and 
holding  the  left  hand  of  the  dying  father  in  his,  the  heathen 
pi'ince  emphatically  acknowledging  his  grateful  obligations,  as 
a  son,  to  the  Protestant  Christian  Missionaiy;  while  his  ministers 
of  state  stand  respectfully  and  sorrowfully  and  sympathisingly 
behind  him,  gazing,  too,  at  that  bland  countenance,  which  re- 
tains the  stamped  impress  of  benevolence  even  in  death.  Al- 
together it  is  a  simple,  natural,  and  aifecting  scene,  and  the 
group  who  compose  it  possess  an  interest  to  the  Christian 
mind  beyond  what  mere  words  can  express. 

"  There  is  a  mistake,  an  obvious  one,  in  the  artistes  design. 
The  Raja  holds  the  father's  left  band  in  his  own  left  hand. 
This  is  not  an  oriental  custom.  No  real  oriental  would  do  so. 
But  it  is  a  poor,  petty  and  gossamer-like  criticism  that  would, 
on  account  of  this  natural  mistake  in  a  British  artist,  condemn 
the  whole,  and  allow  it  no  merit,  and  evade  and  stifle  all  the 
sanctified  impressions  which  it  is  fitted  to  impart. 

"  It  was  once  rumoured  that  Sei'fojee  wanted  to  have 
Schwartz's  church  removed  from  the  fort  and  transplanted  to  a 
distance  in  the  country  beyond,  out  of  view.  He  was  asked  if 
this  was  true.  He  replied,  with  indignation,  '  No  !  So  far 
from  this,  if  the  English  were  without  a  church  in  the  fort  I 
would  let  them  have  the  use  of  my  own  palace ! '  And  true  to 
the  spirit  of  the  remark,  when  it  was  reported  that  there  were 
rents  in  the  walls  of  the  church,  and  that  it  threatened  to  fall, 
he,  at  his  own   expense  and  of  his  own  proper  motion,  con- 


156  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1849. 

structed  massive  buttresses  to  support  the  walls  all  around, 
and  they  remain  to  this  day,  to  testify  of  his  sincerity  and  zeal 
for  what  concerned  the  honour  of  his  father,  Schwartz. 

Slst  May,  1849. — "  Last  evening,  the  celebrated  Tanjore  poet, 
with  two  or  three  of  his  sons,  grandsons,  and  one  unmarried 
daughter,  came  to  Mr.  Guest's  house  to  visit  me,  as  well  as  re- 
gale me  with  a  concert  of  sacred  music,  the  hymns  sung  being 
those  of  the  poet  himself.  As  a  young  man  he  was  brought 
up  by  Schwartz  from  Palamcottah  to  Tanjore.  About  twenty 
he  began  decidedly  to  feel  the  inspiration  of  the  muse.  He 
was  twenty-two  when  Schwartz  died,  so  that  he  distinctly  re- 
members him,  with  many  of  his  instructions  and  ways  of  pro- 
ceeding ;  though  I  could  learn  nothing  very  material  from  him 
beyond  what  is  already  known,  except  the  following  anecdote 
which  I  give  as  I  received  it. 

"'Schwartz  lived  very  simply  and  sparingly,  taking  little 
else  to  his  dinner  than  curry  and  rice.  One  day  he  was  invited 
to  dine,  or  lunch  rather,  with  the  chief  British  authorities.  He 
did  not  relish  this  much,  but  complied.  His  young  assist- 
ants and  others,  who  were  wont  to  partake  of  his  sober  meals, 
thought  this  a  good  occasion  for  having  a  little  feast.  So 
some  roast  meat,  a  little  wine,  etc.,  were  ordered  for  dinner, 
which  was  early,  about  two  o'clock.  Schwartz,  returning 
earlier  than  was  expected,  and  the  dinner  in  his  house  being  a 
little  later  than  usual  (owing  to  the  greater  preparations), 
was  back  as  the  table  was  covering,  to  the  surprise  and  dismay 
of  his  assistants.  ^Ay,  ay,'  said  he,  'you're  all  determined 
on  a  feast  to-day ;  then  let  as  many  as  possible  partake  of  it.' 
So,  sending  for  the  senior  pupils  in  the  boarding  school,  he 
got  them  all  seated  somehow  at  the  table.  At  the  head  of  it 
he  sat  himself,  helped  his  assistants  to  their  wonted  curry  and 
rice,  while  the  roast  meat  and  wine  were  distributed  in  small 
portions  among  the  pupils.' 

"  Before  parting  with  the  poet,  I  solemnly  asked  him  whether 
in  his  old  age  he  vividly  realized  the  consolations  of  the  gospel, 
and  felt  true  joy  in  believing;  and  whether  he  leaned  his  whole 
soul  and  expectation  on  the  sole  work  and  sacrifice  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  ?  He  promptly  answered  that  he  renounced  all  reliance 
on  self — on  works  of  merit  of  any  sort,  that  he  trusted  simply, 
absolutely  to  the  Redeemer's  righteousness,  and  in  so  doing  be 
experienced  inward  comfort  and  joy. 


JEt  43-  SCHWARTZ    AND    HEBEB.  1 57 

1st  June. — "  A  note  from  Dr.  Tweedie  gave  rather  a  discoui*ag- 
ing  view  of  the  finances  of  the  Church's  missions.  Oh  eternal 
Father,  spare  me,  if  it  be  Thy  holy  pleasure,  and  fit  me  to  do 
Thy  woi-k  and  will,  in  the  attempt  to  arouse  the  Church  to  her 
high  duty  and  destiny,  in  connection  with  the  evangelization 
of  the  world ! 

Asth  Jane. — "  Yesterday  and  to-day  there  has  been  an  oppres- 
sive stillness  in  the  air,  up  till  four  or  five  in  the  afternoon.  Then 
a  slight  gust  arose.  Not  a  leaf  moved  on  any  tree.  It  seemed 
as  if  all  nature  drooped  and  were  ready  to  die — unable  even  to 
gasp — for  want  of  breath.  The  heat  intense  and  awfully  un- 
bearable; yet  I  contiuue  well  in  the  midst  of  it.  What  shall 
I  render  unto  the  Lord  ?  I  think  I  can  truly  say  that  I  feel 
the  Lord's  dealiugs  far  beyond  what  I  can  express.  Bless  the 
Lord,  oh  my  soul !  He  is  a  wonderful  Lord — eternity  alone 
can  show  forth  His  praise ;  and  yet  eternity  will  never  end, 
nor  His  praise  be  exhausted  ! 

bth  June. — "  When  the  lamented  Heber  visited  Trichinopoly, 
early  in  April,  1826,  he  mourned  over  the  decay  of  the  native 
church  of  that  city.  Its  members  were  the  objects  of  his  latest 
care,  and  amongst  them  he  left  his  latest  blessing.  '  This,'  says 
his  chaplain,  Mr.  Robinson  (afterwards  Archdeacon  of  Madras),  in 
his  funeral  sermon,  preached  in  St.  John's  Church,  Trichinopoly, 
April  9th,  1826,  'This  was  the  first  mission  established  by 
the  venerable  Schwartz,  and  his  successors  have  foi;  many  years 
watched  over  its  interests.  But  their  hands  are  feeble,  and 
the  Church  which  is  already  gathered  from  among  the  heathen 
requires  the  aid  of  a  nursing  father  to  rear  and  protect  its  in- 
fancy. We  fondly  hoped  we  had  found  that  protecting  hand 
in  our  late  excellent  bishop.  He  loved,  and  if  God  had  spai'ed 
his  life  he  would  have  cherished  them  as  his  own  children.  A 
few  minutes  only  before  he  expired  he  spoke  to  me  of  their 
distress  and  helpless  state,  and  of  his  plans  for  their  revival 
and  perpetual  establishment.  'Brethren,  I  commend  them 
now  to  you.'     The  bishop  died  on  the  3rd  April. 

Madura,  Gth  June. — "  This  was  the  scene  of  the  celebrated 
experiment  of  Robertus  De  Nobilibus  and  his  associates  and 
successors.  It  is  astonishing  how  little  remains  of  the  fruit 
of  their  labours.  The  tomb  of  Robert  existed  till  within 
a  recent  period.  It  became  to  the  Papists  a  sort  of  idola- 
trous   shrine,    where    offerings    and    prayers    were    presented. 


158  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1849. 

Collector  Blackburne  was  a  very  energetic  man  and  great  im- 
prover. Chiefly  through  him  were  the  walls  of  the  fort  and 
city  o£  ancient  Madura  entirely  levelled  and  removed,  the  fosse 
filled  up,  and  the  streets  widened  and  enlarged ;  so  that  now 
Madura  is  really  one  of  the  finest,  cleanest,  healthiest  speci- 
mens of  an  Indian  city.  Well,  the  tomb  of  Robert  lay  on  the 
line  of  some  of  these  improvements.  The  Collector  decreed 
it  should  be  removed.  Appeal  was  made  to  Government, 
which  simply  resolved  to  let  the  Collector  act  on  his  own  res- 
ponsibility; and  he  assumed  it.  The  brother  of  Lord  Clifford 
(subsequently  drowned  in  the  Cauvery)  was  here  as  a  Jesuit 
father.  He  got  his  brother  to  move  in  the  House  of  Lords 
for  inquiry  and  arrest  of  the  Collector's  designs.  But  it  was 
quashed.    The  tomb  was  removed  and  over  it  a  street  opened. 

1th  June. — "  Spent  a  day  with  the  American  missionaries. 
They  asked  all  manner  of  questions,  which  I  endeavoured  to 
answer.  In  return,  I  asked  many  to-day.  Having  asked,  if  they 
once  tolerated  caste,  what  made  them  change  their  mind  on  the 
subject  ?  they  replied  by  stating  some  of  its  discovered  evils. 
Mr.  Cheny  also  added,  'that  there  was  an  expression  in  a  work  on 
"  India  Missions,"  by  Dr.  Duff,  of  Calcutta,  which,  more  than 
anything  else,  had  opened  the  eyes  and  influenced  the  con- 
duct of  most  of  them,  and  that  was,  that,  in  the  stupendous 
system  of  Hindooism,  the  legends  of  the  gods,  etc.,  were  but 
the  bricks,  while  caste  was  the  cement  of  the  whole  edifice. 
I  feel  humbled  and  rejoiced  that,  unknown  to  myself,  this  work 
should  have  been  the  impulsive  cause  of  so  gi'eat  a  revolution 
in  their  method  of  pi'oceeding,  as  that  of  unsparingly  lopping 
off  caste !     To  God  alone  be  the  praise  and  the  glory  !  " 


From  Madura  Dr.  Duff  went  on  to  Ramnad,  and 
thence,  after  long  delay,  made  a  second  vain  attempt 
to  cross  to  Jaffna,  then  the  seat  of  the  most  famous 
missions  in  Ceylon.  While  delayed  on  the  coast  he 
made  a  careful  study  of  the  engineering  efforts,  as  yet 
fruitless,  so  to  deepen  the  Paumben  Channel  as  to 
allow  ships  to  reach  Madras  and  Calcutta  without 
doubling  Ceylon.  There,  too,  he  read  up  the  legends 
of   the  Ramayan  epic,  which    describe  the  march  of 


ALt.  43.   TlNNEVELLl  :    BISHOPS  SAEGENT  AND  CALDWELL.     I  59 

Rara  nncl  his  monkey  hosts  to  rescue  his  wife  Sita  from 
Ravana,  and  here  make  the  Ramisseram  temple  and 
Adam's  Bridge  the  objects  of  popular  pilgrimage. 
Again  turned  back,  Dr.  Duff  carefully  surveyed  the 
now  most  prosperous  Churches  of  Tinnevelli  and 
Travancore.  We  come  upon  these  references,  in  the 
Journal,  to  the  able  missionaries  who  are  now  Bishops 
Sargent  and  Caldwell : 

SuviSESSiPOORAM,  Juiie  26f/i.— "This  day  spent  at  this  place, 
as  elsewhere,  examining  school  children,  addressing  catechists, 
etc.  The  station  is  a  very  neat  one,  where  before  was  no 
village  at  all.  The  name  of  it  means  '  the  city  of  the  gospel.' 
The  new  church  is  large  and  nearly  finished.  It  is  used  now 
for  worship,  and  having  in  the  evening  visited  perhaps  the 
most  famous  devil  temple  in  the  south  of  Tinnevelli  district,  two 
miles  from  our  station,  in  a  solitary  awe-inspiring  grove,  I  in 
the  evening  addi'essed  the  assembled  congregation,  chiefly  on 
the  subject  of  devils,  dwelling  on  the  Bible  doctrine  of  the  fall 
of  Satan  and  his  angels,  and  their  absolute  subjection  to  God, 
and  the  sin  and  folly  of  worshipping  them. 

"  The  number  of  temples  in  the  grove,  the  strange  variety 
of  the  figures  and  forms  of  the  devils  and  the  animals  sacred 
to  them,  and  the  pottery  horses  on  which,  at  night,  they  are 
supposed  to  ride,  are  all  fitted  to  impress  the  imagination; 
and  with  torches  blazing,  music  the  most  loud  and  discord- 
ant sounding,  and  the  cries  and  yells  of  the  devil  dancers 
intermingled,  all  fitted  to  inspire  terror.  In  a  paper  given 
me  by  Mr.  Sargent  is  a  full  account  of  the  devil  worship. 
The  song  of  the  officer  Pole,  whose  spirit  is  said  to  haunt 
the  neighbouring  grove,  in  which  he  is  believed  to  have 
been  buried,  is  the  most  remarkable  specimen  I  have  ever  met 
with,  of  the  assimilating  and  appropriating  character  of  the 
popular  superstition ;  and  of  the  '  pious  fraud '  of  the  Jesuit 
author,  who  composed  it  in  order,  through  the  vulgar  supersti- 
tion, to  introduce  the  dogmas  of  his  own  Church. 

"  Mr.  Sargent  is  a  superior  Tamul  scholar.  He  has  charge 
of  six  or  seven  elderly  persons  from  twenty- five  to  forty  years 
old,  who  were  long  catechists  and  are  candidates  for  holy  orders. 
Their  perseverance  is  remarkable.  At  this  advanced  age,  within 


l6o  LIFE   OF   DR.   DUFF.  1849. 

the  last  two  or  tliree  years  tliey  have  so  far  mastered  English 
as  to  read  a  simple  book  like  the  Bible.  But  their  chief 
instruction  has  been  in  Tamul.  They  have  got  hold  of  the 
leading  points  in  Paley's  Evidences,  on  which  I  examined 
them.  I  never  saw  any  of  their  uneducated  stamp  before  able 
so  to  acquit  themselves.  The  annual  collection  for  all  pur- 
poses by  Mr.  Sargent's  people,  Rs.  450.  They  gave  Rs.  1,500 
for  new  church. 

Eydenkoody,  27  th  June. — "This  is  the  most  southern  of  the 
mission  stations.  Its  name  imports  the  '  shepherd's  dwelling.' 
Mr.  Caldwell  is  a  Scotsman  brought  up  in  Glasgow  or  Aber- 
deen. He  first  came  out  in  connection  with  the  London 
Missionary  Society,  which  ho  left  several  years  ago,  and 
allied  himself  to  the  Propagation  Society.  He  is  a  thought- 
ful, i-eflective,  contemplative  man,  perhaps  the  most  so  of 
all  the  missionaries.  He  has  got  the  mission  premises  and 
village  into  admirable  order.  Indeed  I  have  been  more 
struck  with  his  arrangements  and  success  in  this  outward, 
physical  aspect  of  things,  than  with  anything  previously  seen. 
His  new  church  is  only  begun,  the  foundations  laid,  and 
materials  collected.  Most  of  these  southern  churches  are  built 
of  stone,  chiefly  a  sandstone  grit.  Mr.  Caldwell  said  he  was 
most  anxious  first  about  the  living  stones  of  the  spiritual 
Church,  and  he  was  afraid  of  the  '  church  building  fever  !'  He 
is  said  to  have  been  once  very  high  church.  But,  having 
married  a  daughter  of  old  Mr,  Mault,  of  Nagercoil,  he  has 
since  softened  down.  Several  miles  to  the  south  of  this  station 
the  palmyra  cultivation  ceases,  the  country  opens  up  and  is 
more  pastoral,  and  so  towards  Cape  Comorin.'^ 

Nagercoil,  June  28th. — ''The  'temple  of  the  serpent'  is  buried 
in  wood  of  all  sorts.  Mr.  Mault  and  Mr.  Russel  from  the 
eastern  station  (a  Scotsman)  received  me  with  the  utmost  cor- 
diality. The  church,  though  not  imposing  from  architectural 
style,  is  a  very  large  one,  capable  of  holding  2,000  people.  The 
mission  premises  are  very  handsome  and  extensive.  The  girls' 
school  is  a  veiy  superior  one ;  I  examined  it  with  pleasure.  Mr. 
Mault  has  been  there  since  1817,  and  never  once  home  !  Ha 
has  been  a  diligent,  laborious  and  successful  labourer.  Mrs. 
Mault  introduced  the  working  of  lace.  Many  who  have  left 
the  school  still  support  themselves  by  making  it.  The  ma- 
terials come  from  England ;  and  the  work  and  patterns  are 


^^:t.  43.  TBAVANOORE    AND    GENERAL    MUNRO.  161 

varied  and  beautiful.  Saw  them  at  work,  to  my  great  amaze- 
ment/' 

"  The  mission  premises  were  betowed  as  a  gift  by  the  Raja 
of  'Pi-avancore,  at  the  instigation  of  Colonel,  now  General 
Munro.  The  seminary  is  supported  mainly  from  the  proceeds 
of  an  endowment  in  land,  granted  in  the  same  way.  Having 
introduced  the  name  of  Muni-o,  it  is  impossible  not  to  advert 
to  his  successful  administration  of  the  country.  When  it 
had  been  reduced  to  the  last  extremity  of  anarchy  aud  con- 
fusion the  British  Government  assumed  the  administration. 
Colonel  Munro  was  at  once  president  and  dewan,  or  prime 
minister;  that  is,  really,  autocrat  or  dictator.  He  accom- 
plished wonders.  He  reduced  what  was  most  creditable  in 
the  most  ancient  Hindoo  laws  into  a  code,  from  the  Sanskrit 
getting  them  interpreted  into  Malayalam.  He  divided  the 
country  into  five  zillahs,  giving  each  a  regular  court  of  justice, 
with  a  court  of  appeal  from  them  at  Trevandrum,  presided  over 
by  the  dewan,  as  his  representative ;  and  also  subordinate  police 
agents  thi'oughout  the  country,  under  regular  supervision  and 
control.  He  settled  also  the  revenue  laws,  and  introduced 
some  degree  of  fixity  and  order  and  equity.  He  encouraged 
improvements  of  every  kind,  especially  intellectual,  moral  and 
religious.  As  there  are  so  many  Syrians  and  Papists,  in  the 
country,  ho  secured  the  appointment  of  a  Christian  judge  in 
every  zillah  court,  where  the  first  is  usually  a  Brahman,  and 
the  second  always  a  Christian,  with  a  Brahman  shastree  or  law 
expounder.  He  also  secured  the  deciding  of  questions  in  which 
Christians  were  involved,  by  Christian  law,  not  Hindoo.  The 
spirit  of  this  was  meant  to  apply  to  converts  from  Hindooism. 
But  though  the  constitution  and  the  laws  remain  the  same, 
everything  depends  on  the  administration,  and  now  the  prac- 
tice is  often  in  direct  opposition  to  the  law.  Colonel  Muuro's 
policy  was  to  give  power  aud  influence  to  the  Christians,  as 
an  antagonistic  power  to  the  Brahmans ;  this  led  him  to  seek 
the  revival  of  the  Syrian  Church,  according  to  the  scheme 
proposed  by  Dr.  C.  Buchanan.  For  this  end  he  got  from 
the  Raja  grants  of  land  for  endowments,  and  sums  of  money 
for  building  colleges,  etc.  The  lands  were  worth  more  than  a 
lakh  of  rupees. 

'*  He  was  very  decisive  in  his  measures.  He  had  to  do  with 
desperadoes,  and  he  put  them  down  with  a  high  hand.     The 

VOL.   II.  M 


l62  LIFE    OF    DB.    DUFF.  1849. 

place  is  still  pointed  out,  between  Aleppi  and  Quilon,  where, 
when  passing  by  the  canal  by  night,  his  boat  was  shot  at  by 
robbers  who  knew  not  who  was  there.  He  was  out  instantly 
with  his  sepoy  guard  in  pursuit ;  the  robbers  were  seized  and 
hung  up  in  trees,  on  the  very  spot,  to  the  wholesome  terror 
of  all  robbers.  His  name  is  still  everywhere  spoken  of ;  and 
associated  with  the  pacification,  the  legislation,  jurisprudence, 
police,  education,  of  Travancore.  An  old  Syrian  katanar  or 
priest,  hearing  I  was  from  Scotland,  earnestly  asked  me  about 
Munro  Saheb,  whether  he  was  alive  and  well,  adding,  '  Tra- 
vancore, and  especially  the  Syrians,  never  had  such  a  friend  ! ' 

"  In  order  to  give  a  fair  start  to  the  new  courts,  he  got  Mr. 
Mead,  missionary  of  the  London  Society,  now  of  Neyoor,  to 
become  the  Christian  judge  of  the  south-east  coast,  near  Nager- 
coil ;  and  Mr.  Norton,  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  at 
Aleppi.  The  design  was  admirable;  but  it  is  questionable 
whether  even  the  excellence  of  the  object  could  justify  an 
ordained  missionary  in  becoming  a  civil  judge.  The  plan  did 
not  succeed.  The  home  society  naturally  disapproved  of  the 
measure;  and  Mr.  Norton  in  particular  was  often  heard  to 
complain  that,  in  spite  of  all  vigilance  and  checks,  bribes  were 
constantly  taken  by  subordinates,  so  that  his  name  became 
associated  with  bribery  and  corruption,  no  very  likely  recom- 
mendation to  his  functions  as  a  missionary.  In  the  ziliah 
where  Mr.  Mead  was  judge  three  or  four  thousand  of  the 
natives  came  forward  to  embrace  Christianity.  They  were  re- 
ceived on  profession,  as  catechumens  to  be  instructed.  Bat, 
after  Mr.  Mead  relinquished  his  judicial  office,  almost  all  of 
these  quickly  and  unblushingly  apostatized  from  their  profes- 
sion of  Christianity,  and  re-embraced  heathenism  !  This  is  a 
pregnant  fact !  " 

After  a  curious  account  of  the  Brahmanical  princi- 
pality of  Travancore,  the  old  Syrian  Chui'ch  and  the 
Jews  of  Cochin,  Dr.  Duff  describes  his  third  but  long 
protracted  effort  to  reach  Ceylon,  which  he  at  last 
accomplished  by  native  schooner  from  Tuticorin  to 
Colombo.  There  the  Rev.  Dr.  Macvicar,  the  chaplain, 
found  him  in  the  vestry  in  an  exhausted  state.  He 
was  able  to  study  the  missions  and  the  administration 


JEt  43.  CEYLON.  163 

only  in  tlie  soutliwest  corner  of  the  island.  At  a  time 
before  that  crown  colony  had  begun  to  prosper  he 
wrote,  "  One  collector  and  one  judge  at  Palamcottah 
appear  to  govern  Tiunevelli,  which  has  nearly  as 
many  people  in  it  as  Ceylon,  much  more  quietly, 
peaceably  and  effectively."  What  delighted  him  most 
was  the  circulation  in  manuscript  of  an  anonymous 
appeal  to  all  the  faithful  in  Christ  Jesus  throughout 
the  world,  to  devote  the  first  Sabbath  of  1850  to  united 
prayer  for  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit  for  tho 
diffusion  of  the  gospel.  He  ascertained  that  the 
author  was  Mr.  Murdoch,  head-master  of  the  Kandy 
Normal  School.  He  published  the  appeal  on  his  re- 
turn to  Calcutta  with  the  remark,  "  No  earnest  mis- 
sionary can  peruse  it  without  responding  to  the  noble 
and  magnanimous  spirit  of  Moses,  when  told  of  Eldad 
and  Medad  prophesying  in  the  camp  : — '  Enviest  thou 
for  my  sake?  Would  God  that  all  the' Lord's  people 
w'ere  prophets,  and  that  the  Lord  would  put  His 
Spirit  upon  them.'  " 

Hardly  had  Dr.  Duff  returned  to  Calcutta  in  August, 
the  worst  part  of  the  Bengal  rainy  season,  when  he 
made  his  preparations  for  the  completion  of  his  mis- 
sionary survey  of  India.  Early  in  October,  when  the 
first  breath  of  the  delightful  cold  weather  of  Northern 
India  began  to  be  felt,  he  took  steamer  up  the  G-anges, 
relieving  the  tedium  of  a  voyage  against  its  mighty 
current  by  clearing  off  the  arrears  of  his  correspon- 
dence. Many  an  epistle  of  touching  affection  and 
fatherly  counsel  did  he  send  to  the  native  converts  and 
Hindoo  students,  and  especially  to  the  young  Bengalee 
missionaries.  At  Benares  he  could  contrast  the  Brah- 
manism  of  the  Ganges  with  that  of  the  Coleroon  and 
the  Cavery  countries.  At  Agra  and  Futtehpore  Sikri 
he  saw  the  glories  of  Akbar  and  Shah  Jahan.  The 
latter  place  he  thus  described  in  a  lady's  album  on  his 
return  to  Scotland  : 


164  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1849 

"  About  twenty-four  miles  to  the  west  of  Agra  is  a  narrow 
ridge  of  sandstone  hills,  about  three  miles  in  length,  called 
Futtehpore  Sikri.  There  dwelt  an  aged  Muhammadan  saint, 
who  was  consulted  by  the  celebrated  Moghul  Emperor  Akbar, 
about  an  heir  to  his  throne.  Having  reason  to  be  satis- 
fied with  the  result  of  the  consultation,  the  Emperor,  in 
order  to  secure  the  continual  counsel  and  intercession  of  so 
holy  a  man,  took  up  his  abode  at  Sikri,  covering  the  hill  with 
supei'b  buildings  of  red.  sandstone  for  himself,  his  family,  his 
courtiers  and  public  offices.  The  whole  hill  is  now  one  enormous 
mass  of  ruins  and  rubbish,  with  the  exception  of  the  mosque 
and  tomb  of  the  old  hermit.  The  mosque  is  one  of  the  largest 
and  most  imposing  in  the  world.  Its  chief  gateway,  one 
hundred  and  twenty  feet  in  height  and  the  same  in  breadth, 
facing  the  south,  on  the  brow  of  the  hill,  is  truly  magnificent. 
Inside  this  gateway,  on  the  right  of  the  entrance,  is  engraved 
on  stone  in  large  characters,  which  stand  out  boldly  in  bas- 
relief,  a  remai'kable  sentence  in  Arabic.  Literally  translated  it 
is  as  follows,  '  Jesus,  on  whom  be  peace,  has  said.  The  world 
is  merely  a  bridge ;  you  are  to  pass  over  it  and  not  to  build 
your  dwellings  upon  it.'  There  is  no  such  sentence  authentic- 
ally recorded  of  Jesus  ;  but  it  does  embody  the  spirit  of  some 
of  His  teachings.  As  an  Arabic  tradition  it  is  singular  and 
striking.  True  in  itself,  the  spectacle  of  ruins  by  which  it  was 
sui'rounded  seemed  to  be  the  most  emphatic  commentary  on 
its  truth.  It  was  with  peculiar  emotions  that  I  gazed  at 
this  curious  inscription,  and  then  at  the  ruined  edifices  which 
once  were  imperial  palaces  and  courtly  establishments  re- 
plenished with  all  the  grandeur  and  glory  of  the  greatest  and 
wisest  of  Asiatic  sovereigns.  Poor  Akbar  !  with  all  his  magni- 
ficence lie  built  his  dwellings  on  the  bridge  ;  and  now  they  are 
all  gone !  Let  us  take  a  lesson  from  the  inscription  and  com- 
mentary of  Futtehpore  Sikri !  Let  us  lay  up  our  treasures 
in  heaven ;  and  through  faith  in  the  Divine  Redeemer  look 
forward  to  the  mansions  of  everlasting  light  and  glory 
there ! " 

Zigzagging  up  the  Ganges  and  Jumna  valleys,  and 
visiting  all  the  mission  stations  as  well  as  historical 
and  architectural  sites,  Dr.  DufF  reached  the  then  little 
frequented  sanitarium  of  Simla,  in  the  secondary  range 


^t.  43.  THE    SHEPHERD    OF   TEE    EAST.  1 65 

of  the  Himialaya.  Bat  he  would  not  rest  until  he  had 
penetrated  five  marches  farther,  to  Kotghur,  near  the 
Upper  Sutlej.  That  was  then  the  most  extreme  station 
of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  although  the  Mo- 
ravian brethren  have  since  distanced  it,  by  planting 
themselves  in  snow-encompassed  Lahoul,  near  forbid- 
den Thibet.  The  Simla  commissioner  ordered  such 
arrangements  of  horses  and  bearers,  that  Dr.  Duff 
made  the  journey  to  and  from  Kotghur  in  half  the 
usual  time.  Not  even  Mr.  Prochnow's  mission  seems  to 
have  interested  him  so  much  as  the  following  incident, 
which  he  often  afterwards  applied.  When  on  a  narrow 
bridle  path  cut  out  on  the  face  of  a  precipitous  ridge,  he 
observed  a  native  shepherd  with  his  flock  following 
him  as  usual.  The  man  frequently  stopped  and  looked 
back.  If  he  saw  a  sheep  creeping  up  too  far  on  the  one 
hand,  or  coming  too  near  the  edge  of  the  dangerous 
precipice  on  the  other,  he  would  go  back  and  apply 
his  crook  to  one  of  the  hind  legs  and  gently  pull  it 
back,  till  it  joined  the  rest.  Though  a  Grampian 
Highlander,  Dr.  Duff  saw  for  the  first  time  the  real 
use  of  the  crook  or  shepherd's  staff"  in  directing  sheep 
in  the  right  way.  Going  up  to  the  shepherd,  he 
noticed  that  he  had  a  lono^  rod  which  was  as  tall  as 
himself,  and  around  the  lower  half  a  thick  band  of 
iron  was  twisted.  The  region  was  infested  with 
wolves,  hyenas,  and  other  dangerous  animals,  which 
in  the  night-time  were  apt  to  prowl  about  the  place 
where  the  sheep  lay.  Then  the  man  would  go  with  this 
long  rod,  and  would  strike  the  animal  such  a  blow  as 
to  make  it  at  least  turn  away.  This  brouglit  to  the 
traveller's  remembrance  the  expression  of  David,  the 
shepherd,  in  the  twenty-third  Psalm,  "  Thy  rod  and 
Thy  staff*  they  comfort  me  " — the  staff  clearly  meaning 
God's  watchful,  guiding  and  directing  providence,  and 
the  rod  His  omnipotence  in  defending  His  own  from 


1 66  LIFE    OP   DR.    DUFF.  1850. 

foes,  wlietlier  witliout  or  witliin.  The  incide»t  showed 
that  the  expression  is  no  tautology,  as  many  of  the 
commentators  make  it  out  to  be. 

Before  the  close  of  1849  Dr.  Duff  reached  Lahore, 
by  Jellundhur  and  Umritsur.  Lord  Dalhousie  had  be- 
come Govern  or- General  before  he  was  forty,  and  was 
then  entering  the  Punjab.  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  had 
returned  from  his  shortened  furlough  and  was  at  the 
head  of  the  new  administration,  with  his  brother  John 
and  Sir  Robert  Montgomery  (after  Mr.  Mansell)  as  his 
colleagues.  The  second  Sikh  war  had  been  fought, 
and  the  most  triumphant  success  of  British  adminis- 
tration in  the  East  was  just  beginning.  Dr.  Duff 
became  Sir  Henry's  guest  in  Government  House,  of 
course,  and  many  were  the  conversations  they  had  on 
affairs  public  and  private,  missionary  and  philanthro- 
pic.    On  the  last  day  of  the  year  Dr.  Duff  thus  wrote  : 

"  Yesterday  I  had  the  privilege  of  preaching  the 
everlasting  gospel  to  an  assembly  of  upwards  of  two 
hundred  ladies  and  gentlemen,  civil  and  military,  in 
the  great  hall  of  the  Government  House,  now  worthily 
occupied  by  Sir  Henry  Lawrence,  whose  guest  I 
have  been  since  my  arrival.  And,  as  indicative 
of  the  radicalness  of  the  change  that  is  come 
over  the  firmament  of  former  power  and  glory  in 
this  city,  I  may  state  that  I  had  the  option  of 
holding  public  worship  either  in  the  Government 
House,  formerly  the  residence  (though  now  greatly 
enlarged)  of  the  redoubted  Eunjeet  Singh's  French 
generals,  or  in  the  great  audience  or  Durbar  Hall 
of  the  Muhammadan  Emperors  and  Sikh  Maharajas. 
What  a  change  !  The  tidings  of  the  great  salvation 
sounding  in  these  halls — once  the  abodes  of  the  lords- 
paramount  of  the  most  antichristian  systems  and 
monarchies!  Surely,  the  Creator  hath  gone  up  before 
us,   though  in   the  rough   and  giant  form   of  blood- 


JEt.  44-       HENEY   LAWBENOE    AND   COLIN    MACKENZIE.  167 

stained  war.  God  iu  mercy  grant  that  in  these  re- 
gions, so  repeatedly  drenched  with  human  blood,  men 
may  soon  learn  to  '  beat  their  swords  into  plough- 
shares and  their  spears  into  pruning-hooks ; '  and 
thus  cultivate  the  arts  of  peace,  and  make  progress  in 
the  lessons  and  practice  of  heavenly  piety  ! 

*'  Many  of  our  friends  in  these  quarters  have  been 
very  anxious  that  we  should  extend  a  branch  of  our 
mission  to  Lahore.  And,  if  we  did  so,  I  doubt  not 
that  very  considerable  local  support  would  be  obtained. 
But  it  appears  that  the  missionaries  of  the  American 
Presbyterian  Church,  who  have  for  years  occupied 
many  important  stations  in  Northern  India,  had  long 
contemplated  the  establishment  of  a  mission  at  Lahore. 
For  the  promotion  of  this  object  two  of  their  number 
reached  this  place  some  time  ago ;  and  already  have 
some  practical  steps  been  taken  in  connection  with 
their  long-projected  design.  Such  being  the  fact,  let 
us  rejoice  that  brethren,  like-minded  with  ourselves 
not  only  in  articles  of  faith  but  of  discipline  and 
government,  have  so  seasonably  and  so  vigorously 
entered  on  a  field  so  vast  and  so  promising.  With 
thirty-five  millions  of  unconverted  heathen  in  the  single 
province  of  Bengal,  we  can  have  little  real  temptation 
to  rush  into  regions  so  remote,  and  so  much  less 
densely  peopled.  But  let  us,  if  possible,  speedily 
spread  out  from  our  various  centres  until  we  pervade 
the  whole  land." 

There  was  another  famous  man  in  Lahore,  then  a 
young  Scottish  captain  who  had  done  such  deeds  in 
Afghanistan  that  Lord  Dalhousie  was  consultiug  him 
about  the  new  frontier  finally  fixed  at  Peshawur,  and 
was  sending  him  to  be  Brigadier  in  the  Nizam's  country. 
Colin  Mackenzie  had  raised  the  4th  Sikhs,  and  he  was 
then  bidding  his  sepoy  children  farewell.  He  and  Duff 
were  brother   Higlilanders,   were  brethren   in   Christ. 


1 68  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1850. 

In  her  vivid  journal  Mrs.  Colin  Mackenzie  has  de- 
scribed the  farewell  parade,  how  Dr.  Duff  followed  the 
gallant  but  sorely  affected  commandant,  as  he  passed 
along  every  rank  of  the  men  drawn  up  in  open  column 
of  companies,  and  witnessed  a  devotion  on  both  sides 
such  as  has  given  India  to  Great  Britain,  and  given  it 
for  Christ.  Then  to  holy  communion  in  the  American 
chapel,  just  before  he  took  boat  down  the  Sutlej  and 
Indus,  clothed  in  the  large  "  postheen  "  or  sheepskin 
presented  to  him  by  Greneral  Mackenzie. 

Dr.  Duff  was  amazed  at  the  progress  made,  even  at 
that  early  time,  in  the  pacification  and  civilization  of 
the  Punjab,  which  forms  the  triumph  of  Dalhousie*  and 
John  and  Henry  Lawrence.     In  a  letter  full  of  detail 


*  The  fact  that  the  Marquis  of  Dalhousie's  Diary  and  papers  are 
shut  up  from  publication  till  1910,  adds  interest  to  this  specimen  of 
his  letters  to  the  officers  who  served  him  :  "  (Private),  Government 
HoDSE,  loth  Sept.,  1852.  Mt  dear  Mackenzie, — I  have  to  thank 
you  for  two  letters,  one  enclosing  a  memo,  regarding  Sir  W. 
Macnaghten,  the  other  on  the  Contingent.  I  am  sorry  you  should 
have  had  any  doubt  regarding  the  propriety  of  addressing  me  on 
that  subject.  I  have  been  long  painfully  conscious  of  the  difficulties 
■with  which  you  have  had  to  contend  in  common  with  the  whole 
body.  The  peculiarity  of  our  position  at  the  Court  of  the  Nizam, 
and  the  existence  of  this  war,  have  lately  combined  to  retard  a 
remedy,  but  I  hope  to  apply  it  before  long.  This  expression  of 
mine  will,  I  am  confident,  not  pass  beyond  yourself.  As  for  taking 
the  country,  I  fervently  hope  it  will  not  be  taken  in  my  time,  at 
least.  It  does  not  depend  on  me,  as  you  seem  to  assume.  Treaties 
can't  be  torn  up  like  old  newspapers,  you  know.  The  testimony  to 
your  wife's  work  must  be  doubly  gratifying  to  you  from  its  obvious 
impartiality,  since  Lord  Ashley  does  not  seem  even  to  have  known 
that  it  was  her  work.  I  hope  she  is  better.  Tour  Singhs  are 
behaving  beautifully — coming  down  wading  rivers  up  to  their  necks, 
and  carrying  plump  Captain  Bean  in  his  palkee  through  on  tbeir 
heads  besides,  all  readiness  and  good  humour — and  I  hear  with 
100  supernumeraries.  They  shall  certainly  go  to  the  front.  Tours 
always  sincerely,  Dalhousie." 

"  p.S. — I  have  omitted  the  acknowledgment  of  your  handsome 
offer  to  serve  with  the  corps  brigaded.  The  arrangement  you  sup- 
posed has  not  been  made  however,  and  the  4th  form  part  of  an 
ordinary  Brigade.     D." 


JEt.  44.  THE    ADMINISTRATION    OP   THE    PUNJAB.  1 69 

and  description,  written  for  the  instruction  of  liis 
younger  son,  he  remarks  that  he  now  felt  no  hesita- 
tion in  saihng  down  the  Indus  in  a  country  boat,  alone 
and  unarmed — "  save  by  prayer  " — where,  a  short  time 
before,  lawless  robber  tribes  infested  the  banks  and 
life  was  in  perih  When  at  the  point  nearest  to  Mool- 
tan,  yet  sixty-two  miles  from  the  famous  fort,  he  was 
hailed  at  noon  by  the  driver  of  a  riding  camel,  sent  by 
friends  to  enable  him  to  visit  the  city.  In  twelve 
hours  he  reached  them,  but  at  what  a  sacrifice  those 
know  best  who  have  ridden  a  camel  even  for  one. 
-As  he  returned  across  country  by  Bhawulpore,  he 
would  have  been  gladdened  could  he  have  foreseen 
that  one  of  his  own  converts  would  be  appointed 
Director  of  Public  Instruction  in  that  long  mis- 
governed Muhammadan  principality,  on  the  succession 
of  a  minor.  Schools  and  railways,  missionaries  and 
British  ofi&cers,  civil  and  military,  have  since  done  for 
the  Punjab  and  Sindh,  more  than  any  other  province, 
under  imperial  Rome  or  Christian  England  has  ever 
witnessed  in  the  same  brief  period.  And  yet  only  a 
beginning  has  been  made. 

It  was  thus  that  the  Bengal  met  the  Bombay  mis- 
sionary. Dr.  Wilson  *  having  come  as  far  as  Sehwan 
on  the  first  missionary  tour  through  Sindh. 

*'  Indus  River,  February  4<th,  1850. 

"  Need  I  say  with  what  intense  feeling  of  delight 
we  hailed  each  other,  face  to  face,  on  the  banks  of  that 
celebrated  stream,  and  in  a  spot  so  isolated  and  remote 
from  the  realms  of  modern  civilization — a  spot  never 
before  trodden  by  the  feet  of  two  heralds  of  the  Cross, 
but  conspicuously  displaying,  among  the  edifices  that 


*  The   Life   of  John   Wilson,  D.D.,  F.B.8.  (Murray),  page  248, 
second  edition. 


lyO  Lire    OP   DR.    DUFF.  1850. 

crown  tlie  rocky  heights  of  Sehwan,  the  symbols  of 
the  Crescent ;  and  as  visibly  exhibiting,  in  the  scat- 
tered ruins  and  desolation  all  around,  the  impress  of 
rapacious  and  shortsighted  tyranny  ?  Joyous  was  our 
meeting,  and  sweet  and  refreshing  has  been  our  inter- 
course since.  How  have  our  souls  been  led  to  praise 
and  magnify  the  name  of  our  God,  for  His  marvellous 
and  ineffable  mercies !  It  is  now  ten  years  since  we 
last  parted  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Bombay;  and 
what  centuries  of  events  have  been  crowded  into  these 
ten  years — alike  in  Europe  and  Asia,  alike  in  Church 
and  in  State  !  And  nowhere,  assuredly,  have  the  ex- 
ternal changes  been  greater  than  in  the  regions  which 
we  are  now  traversing.  A  few  minutes  ago  we  passed 
Meanee,  a  name  which  instantly  recalled  the  strange 
series  of  events  that  terminated  in  the  final  overthrow 
of  the  Mussulman  dynasties  of  Sindh,  and  added  this 
once  flourishing,  but  now  greatly  desolated  realm  to 
the  vast  Indian  dominion  of  a  Christian  state.  What 
a  revolution  already,  with  reference  to  the  social  and 
political  relations  of  the  people,  and  security  of  person 
and  property !  Lawless  violence  and  anarchy,  abusive 
rudeness  and  barbarism,  have  already  been  exchanged 
for  peacef  ulness  and  established  order,  outward  civility 
and  respect." 

At  Bombay  Dr.  Duff"  roused  the  native  city  by  an 
address  on  the  necessity  of  the  Christian  element  in 
education,  even  when  conducted  by  the  Grovernment, 
which  produced  a  long  newspaper  war  but  with  the 
best  results.  The  end  of  April  is  the  time  when  there 
is  a  rush  of  home-going  Anglo-Indians  eager  to  escape 
the  worst  of  the  hot  season.  Dr.  Duff  could  secure 
only  "  a  den  in  the  second  lower  deck,"  and  had  a  fall 
on  board.  But  the  end  of  May  saw  him  once  more  in 
Edinburgh,  eager  to  begin  his  new  crusade. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

1850-1853. 
DB.   BUFF  OBGANIZINO    AGAIN. 

foreign  Mission  Finance. — Retrenchment  or  Advance  ? — "  Living 
Machinery." — Dr.  Duff  tells  how  he  prepared  his  Speeches. — 
General  Assembly  of  1850. — His  Five  Orations. — His  Appeal  for 
Men  for  India. — Rajahgopal. — Mr.  Justice  Hawkins. — Three  and 
a  Half  Tears  of  Organizing  Toil. — His  Success. — The  Education 
Question  in  India. — With  Dr.  M'Neile. — Sermon  to  Twenty  Thou- 
sand Welsh. — The  Poor  Helping  him. — Tender  Reminiscences. — 
Spiritual  Breathings. — Great  Meetings. — Highland  Emigrants 
from  Skye. — Suffering  and  Triumphing. — Stranraer  and  the  New 
Hebrides  Mission. — Loudoun  and  the  Marchioness  of  Hastings. — 
Persecuted  by  Self-seekers. — New  Missionaries. — Summons  to 
the  Young  Men  of    London. 

Dr.  Duff  found  that  he  had  returned  to  Scotland  not 
a  day  too  soon.  There  was  urgently  wanted  for  the 
Foreign  Missions  of  the  Free  Church  a  financier  in  the 
best  sense,  one  who  could  create  a  revenue  self-sustain- 
ing and  self-developing,  as  well  as  control  expenditure 
so  as  to  make  it  produce  the  best  possible  results.  The 
financial  management  of  religious  and  philanthropic 
organizations  has  been  too  often  marked  by  the  ignor- 
ance of  mere  enthusiasm  on  the  one  side,  or  the  selfish- 
ness of  dead  corporations  on  the  other.  The  men  who 
have  made  the  missionary  enterprise  of  the  English- 
speaking  races  one  of  the  most  remarkable  features  of 
the  century's  progress  since  the  French  Rev^olution, 
have  not  always  allowed  economic  law  to  guide  them 
in  their  pursuit  of  that  which  is  the  loftiest  of  all  ideals 
just  because  the  Spirit  of  Christ  has  made  it  the  surest 


172  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1850, 

of  realities.  It  is  a  lesson  to  all  philautliropic  agencies, 
that  he  who  was  the  most  spiritual  of  men  and  most 
fervid  of  missionaries,  with  a  Celtic  intensity  of  fervour, 
was  at  the  same  time  most  practical  as  an  economist 
and  far-sighted  as  an  administrator.  He  had  shown 
this  in  the  establishment  of  his  first  school  and  college 
in  Calcutta ;  he  had  proved  it  in  his  first  home  cam- 
paign of  1835-39,  to  which  Dr.  Chalmers  had  pub- 
licly acknowledged  his  indebtedness.  Of  both,  all  the 
material  fruit,  in  subscriptions,  legacies,  buildings  and 
capital  endowments  had  been  at  once  surrendered  to 
the  Established  Church,  when  the  civil  authority 
decided  in  1842 — as  it  vainly  reversed  the  decision  in 
1874 — that  the  '  residuaries  '  legally  formed  the  Church 
of  Scotland.  In  Calcutta  and  Bengal  he,  his  colleagues 
and  his  converts  every  one,  re-created  the  college 
and  made  the  new  yet  old  Mission  more  prosperous 
than  ever,  with  the  sympathy  and  assistance  of  all  the 
Evangelical  churches.  It  was  now  necessary  that  he 
should  repeat,  in  Scotland,  the  organizing  toil  of  his 
previous  campaign,  if  the  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Free 
Church  were  to  be  worthy  of  its  history  and  of  the 
professions  of  its  duty  to  the  one  Head  of  the  Church 
Catholic. 

Not  that  the  Free  Church  had  been  illiberal,  even  to 
the  missions  abroad,  in  the  first  seven  years  of  its  opera- 
tions. On  the  contrary,  while  contributing  to  Church 
History  a  new  fact  since  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  in 
what  then  appeared  to  all  Christendom  the  marvellous 
contributions  of  a  million  of  comparaJ:ively  poor  people, 
it  had  added  to  the  original  twenty  Indian  and  Jewish 
missionaries  with  which  it  started,  new  fields  in  South 
Africa,  in  Central  India,  in  rural  Bengal  and  in  Bom- 
bay. But  while  Chalmers,  Guthrie  and  Dr.  R.  Macdonald 
created  sustentation,  manse  and  school  funds,  there 
was  no  one  to  put  the  foreign  mission  subscriptions 


JEt  44.  EAJAHGOPAL.  1 73 

on  an  organized  and  self-acting  system.  When 
Dr.  Duff  was  summoned  home,  after  the  death  of  Chal- 
mers, the  first  annual  deficit  was  met  by  "  a  week  of 
collecting  "  in  July,  1847,  which  yielded  £5,500.  Next 
year  the  ladies  of  the  Church  filled  the  gap  between  a 
growing  expenditure  and  a  stationary  revenue.  In 
1849  the  normal  expenditure  of  ten  thousand  pounds, 
exclusive  of  much  more  met  by  friends  in  India,  was 
raised,  but  on  no  certain  plan  which  brought  the 
people  into  the  close  harmony  of  knowledge,  prayer 
and  faith,  with  the  missions.  The  missionaries  them- 
selves offered  to  take  less  than  the  merely  subsistence 
allowance  made  to  them,  until  the  Church  should  have 
done  its  home  work,  rather  than  permit  withdrawal  from 
any  station.  The  Cape  Town  mission  was,  indeed, 
given  up,  but  only  because  its  agent  was  transferred 
to  the  new  Bengal  station  at  Chin  surah.  Mr.  Anderson 
and  the  Rev.  P.  Rajahgopal  were  lighting  up  again  in 
Scotland  the  missionary  flame  which  Dr.  Duff's  first 
visit  had  kindled  and  Dr.  Wilson's  happy  furlough 
at  the  Disruption  had  spread.  A  critic  so  good  as 
Hugh  Miller  thus  wrote  of  the  Tamul  convert,  whom, 
remembering  the  Parsee  minister  Dhunjeebhoy,  thou- 
sands crowded  to  see  and  hear :  "  One  of  the  most 
remarkable  speeches  made  in  the  Assembly  was 
that  by  the  young  India  convert  and  missionary, 
Rajahgopal.  All  that  appeared  to  us,  judging  with 
the  eye  of  a  European,  as  defects  in  his  appear- 
ance were  speedily  forgotten  in  the  force  of  his 
oratory.  His  features  began  to  glow  with  animation, 
a  wondrous  power  seemed  to  pervade  and  breathe 
through  all  his  frame,  and  his  tones  rang  clear  and  full 
through  the  remotest  corner  of  the  great  hall.  Nor 
did  we  less  admire  his  intellectual  power."  But 
while  large  sums  were  thus  contributed  for  the  more 
pressing  wants  of  the  Madras  Mission,  the  genius  of 


174  LIFE    OF    DB.    DUFF.  1850. 

a  master  was  needed  to  call  into  existence  a  peren- 
nial supply  for  all.  The  £15,000  raised  in  1847-48 
was  twice  the  normal  annual  revenue  before  the 
Disruption,  but  what  guarantee  was  there  for  the 
future  ? 

Before  starting  on  his  tour  in  South  India,  Dr.  Duff 
thus  referred  to  the  financial  outlook,  in  a  private 
letter  to  his  loyal  friend  Dr.  Tweedie  : 

"  I  see  you  have  had  a  discussion  in  the  Edinburgh  Pres- 
bytery on  the  subject  of  Associations.  I  truly  sympathise  with 
you  in  the  midst  of  these  waspish  annoyances.  I  suppose  it  is 
part  of  the  penalty  which  all  must  pay  who  strive  with 
earnestness  to  push  on  God's  great  work  in  this  world.  Mean- 
while the  trial  to  mere  flesh  and  blood  is  not  small ;  but 
mighty  is  the  grace  and  support  of  the  Great  Promiser. 
Your  clear  explanations  cannot  fail  to  have  done  good.  The 
same  mail  brought  a  Witness,*  containing  an  editorial  which, 
from  internal  evidence,  I  think  must  be  from  the  pen  of  Mr. 


*  Dr.  DuiF  was,  like  all  public  men  of  that  day  who  loved  liberty, 
a  grateful  admirer  of  the  Witness  all  the  time  it  was  edited  by  Hugh 
Miller.  It  is  inexplicable  that  that  newspaper  should  have  been 
allowed  to  become  extinct — its  name  and  influence  might  be  yet 
revived.  Mr.  Hugh  Miller,  of  H.M.  Geological  Survey,  has  sent  to 
us,  too  late  for  insertion  in  the  proper  place,  the  only  letter  from 
Dr.  Duff  preserved  by  his  distinguished  father.  "  Calcutta,  Jtme 
2nd,  1845  (Private).  Mt  Dear  Sir, — Though  personally  unknown 
to  me,  methinks  that  in  all  broad  Scotland  there  is  no  one  better 
known.  Being,  through  the  kind  attention  of  my  friend  Mr.  John- 
stone, a  reader  of  the  Witness  from  its  very  commencement,  it  has 
often  been  in  my  heart  to  write  to  you.  Not  that  I  had  anything 
particular  to  say,  but  having  derived  such  unceasing  gratification 
from  the  products  of  your  pen,  I  often  felt  impelled  to  thank  you 
as  for  a  personal  favour  conferred.  Often,  when  wearied  and  worn 
out  by  the  never-ending  ripple  and  attrition  of  labours  in  a 
strange  field,  have  I  been  led  to  turn  to  the  columns  of  the  Witness, 
.ind  there,  in  one  or  other  of  its  fresh,  racy  and  uniquely  original 
editorials,  have  I  often  found  a  means  of  relaxation  combined  with 
profit.  To  you,  Dear  Sir,  Scotland  owes  a  debt  of  gratitude  which, 
I  fear,  it  neither  will  nor  can  ever  repay.  The  Free  Church  in  par- 
ticular, if  it  be  lawful  to  indulge  in  such  heathenish  though  classical 
allusions,  owes  you  a  nobler  than  an  Olympian  crown.  May  the 
Lord  uphold  and  bless  you  still  more  and  more." 


^t.  44-  '^^^    J^UTY    OF   THE    CHUUCH.  I  75 

Lewis  of  Leith,  on  the  subject  of  Associations.  I  think  it 
adrairable  in  spirit  and  conclusive  in  argument.  I  know  this, 
that  had  I  the  means  myself,  I  would  print  a  hundred  thousand 
copies  of  it  and  scatter  it  broadcast  over  the  whole  Church. 
I  must  say,  that  the  Free  Church  cuts  a  sorry  figure  in  the 
eyes  of  the  missionary  world,  from  having  no  provision  of  any 
kind  made  for  the  widows  of  those  who  jeopard  their  lives  in 
the  high  places  of  the  field,  in  the  evangelistic  service  of  the 
Church.  My  own  trust  has  simply  been  all  along  in  God,  and 
therefore  I  have  been  silent  on  the  matter ;  but  on  some  the 
subject  operates  very  depressingly. 

"  Since  I  last  wrote  a  fine  young  man  has  come  boldly  out, 
and  hitherto  has  resisted  the  importunities  of  friends.  But 
the  thought  that  your  committee  cannot  employ  any  more  as 
catechists,  etc.,  operates  most  fatally  in  checking  aspirations 
and  preventing  resolutions  from  being  formed,  at  the  time 
when  the  heart  is  warm  and  glowing — compelling,  in  fact, 
every  young  man,  henceforward,  to  look  to  some  secular  calling 
as  a  means  of  livelihood.  The  Church  prays  and  sighs  for 
fruit ;  and  when  God  gives  it,  she  then,  owing  to  her  own 
pcnuriousness,  deliberately  flings  it  all  away.  This,  I  think,  is 
siu,  on  account  of  which  the  Lord  will  visit  her  by  withholding 
His  blessing.  Indeed,  here  and  elsewhere,  it  looks  as  if  there 
were  ominous  signs  of  His  doing  so  ah'eady.  In  that  case 
missionaries  had  better  at  once  retire ;  and  then  let  the  faithless 
carnal  ones  see  whether  they  can  gather  in  the  dribble  now 
devoted  to  Missions,  and  add  it  to  their  own  Sustentation  Fund  ! 
I  trow  not,  or  if  they  do,  as  material  comforts  increase  at  the 
expense  of  Missions,  spiritual  blessings  will  be  withheld  from 
their  own  souls  and  those  of  their  flocks.  God  will  not  thus 
be  mocked.  I  sometimes  feel  as  if  it  were  cowardly  faithless- 
ness on  my  own  part  not  plainly  to  speak  out  all  this,  and  wash 
my  hands  of  the  whole  guilt  of  it  and  retire  to  some  other 
field  of  labour.  For  it  stands  to  reason  that,  if  moneys  for 
spiritiial  work — work  designed,  through  God,  to  convert  souls 
— be  given  with  a  grudging,  grumbling  spirit,  no  real  blessing 
can  be  expected.  But  I  do  believe  that  the  grudging, 
grumbling  spirit  is  very  much  confined  to  ministers  of  little 
faith,  and  carnal-miuded  deacons,  who  are  better  at  keeping 
than  giving  money.  I  think  the  bulk  of  the  donors  give  con 
amove,  for  Christ's  sake;  and  that  is  my  ground  of  hope  in  the 


176  LIFE   OF   DR.    DUFF.  1850. 

matter.     Would  to  God  that  there  were  more  prayer  along 
with  the  money  ! 

"  Let  me  again  say,  now  is  the  time  to  send  us  out  a  thorough 
educationist  with  a  missionary  spirit.  A  man  of  talent,  ac- 
quired attainments,  and  especially  conversant  with  improved 
methods  of  teaching,  is  needed  more  than  I  can  tell.  The 
work  of  this  sort,  which  was  once  my  delight,  is  far  too  much 
for  me  now ;  one  hour  of  it  now  tells  on  my  frame  more  than 
six  hours  of  it  was  wont  to  do  when  I  first  landed  on  these 
shores.  And  yet  without  it  we  have  no  proper  foundation — 
no  prepared  materials  for  higher  teaching.  I  would  there- 
fore implore  the  committee  to  send  us  such  a  man,  in  lieu  of 
the  late  Mr.  Miller,  of  Chinsurah." 

Amid  the  discomforts  of  sixteen  days'  imprison- 
ment in  a  steerage  berth,  and  during  the  rest  of  a  few 
days  at  Southampton,  he  much  revolved  the  remedy. 
When  pacing  the  deck  on  his  long  Cape  voyage  in  1834 
he  had  decided  on  Presbyterial  Associations.  Now, 
placing  the  support  of  a  missionary  to  the  heathen 
beside  the  "  sustentation "  of  its  own  minister,  as  a 
spiritual  duty  equally  imperative  on  every  congre- 
gation, he  aimed  at  weekly  collections  for  both. 
Hurrying  north  to  the  General  Assembly  of  1850, 
after  preaching  in  Regent  Square  Church,  "  to  identify 
myself  in  spirit  with  our  London  friends,"  he  thus 
again  poured  out  his  heart  to  Dr.  Tweedie,  on  the 
3rd  of  May : 

"  Tuesday,  the  28th,  would  do  well  for  our  Missions.  Could 
we  not  get  the  whole  day  for  them  ?  How  often  is  a  whole 
day  given  to  the  discussion  of  a  case  of  discipline  !  And  is 
too  much  to  give  to  that  of  the  greatest  cause  on  earth  ?  There 
is  your  report;  Anderson,  Nesbit,  perhaps  Rajahgopal,  will 
speak,  why  not  some  other  members  of  Assembly?  Then 
I  would  require  at  least  two  or  three  hours,  to  be  able  to 
say  anything  at  all.  If  the  whole  day  were  given  to  the 
Mission,  I  would  prefer  to  have  the  evening,  so  as  to  take 
up  any   matters  that  may  have  dropped  during  the  day,  etc. 


/Et.  44-  LIVING    MACHINERY.  1 77 

For  yourself  alone,  at  present,  let  me  state  a  few  things 
that  appear  to  me  higlily  desirable  to  bo  done.  First :  To 
appoint  a  day  of  humiliation  and  prayer  throughout  the 
Church  for  past  sins  of  negligence,  with  reference  to  the 
Redeemer's  great  command  to  evangelise  the  nations.  This 
would,  if  done  con  amorc,  go  nmch  to  the  root  of  our  evils,  and 
mellow  people's  hearts  and  open  the  windows  of  heaven. 
Second :  Substitute  regular  weekly  subscriptions  for  the  an- 
nual collections,  as  the  only  stable  and  productive  and  becoming 
source  of  supply  for  a  great  and  permanent  undertaking. 
Third :  Let  the  rule  of  proportion  be  better  established,  with 
reference  to  men's  liberalities  towards  different  objects. 
Fourth  :  Cut  me  off  a  county  or  a  synod  in  which  to  give  fair 
trial  to  the  new  experiment.  There  is  no  other  way  of  fairly 
testing  it.  Occasional  addresses  and  appeals  go  for  nothing. 
I  should  like  to  see  a  living  machinery  established  as  a  speci- 
men somewhere/' 

The  *'  living  macliinery,"  the  "  stable  and  productive 
and  becoming  source  of  supply  for  a  great  and  per- 
manent undertaking,"  was  created.  Such  was  the 
effect  of  his  spiritual  suasion  on  the  country,  the  elders 
and  the  ministers,  that  the  demands  which  he  made,  in 
the  name  of  his  Master,  were  conceded  in  the  form 
of  a  quarterly — not  weekly — Association  in  every  con- 
gregation. The  whole  ten  days'  meeting  was  so  marked 
by  the  contagion  of  the  enthusiasm  of  himself  and 
his  Madras  and  Bombay  coadjutors  that  it  was  pro- 
nounced "  a  Foreign  Missions  General  Assembly." 

Before  we  proceed  to  the  details  of  his  crusade,  let 
us  look  a  little  more  closely  at  the  oratorical  weapon 
which  he  wielded.  Since  discussing  the  influences 
which  moulded  his  rhetoric  in  1835,  we  have  received 
this  account  of  his  methods  as  given  by  himself  in  con- 
versation with  his  children  during  the  last  months  of 
his  life.  Beginning  with  a  reference  to  his  university 
experiences  at  St.  Andrews  he  said  :  "  Among  my 
fellow-students  were  Dr.  Lindsay  Alexander;  Dr.  Robert 

VOL.    II.  N 


178  LIFE    OP    DR.    DUFF.  1850. 

Lee;  Dr.  Arnot,  of  St.  Giles's,  Edinburgh;  Dr.  Forbes, 
the  orientalist,  and  the  three  Craiks.  In  those  days 
Robert  Lee  was  as  much  of  an  Evangelical  as  myself,  if 
not  more.  There  were  some  finical  notions  he  used  to 
express  which  led  me  to  expect  his  mind  would  take  a 
turn  that  would  prevent  him  from  becoming  a  mis- 
sionary. Henry  Craik  was  about  the  noblest  of  the 
whole  set.  I  had  a  letter  from  his  daughter  the  other 
day,  with  a  little  volume  of  poems,  sent  to  me  because 
she  knew  the  feeling  of  regard  I  had  for  her  father. 
The  three  Craiks  were  most  remarkable  men  in  their 
way.  George,  whose  aspirations  were  all  towards 
literature,  had  made  up  his  mind  to  support  himself  by 
literature.  Some  of  his  works  are  worth  studying 
now;  for  instance,  '  The  Life  of  Lord  Bacon,'  a  very 
remarkable  book.  He  threw  light  on  some  points  in 
Bacon's  literary  character,  which  I  have  not  seen  taken 
notice  of  by  any  other  author.  His  life  of  Bacon  used 
to  be  one  of  my  resources  in  Calcutta,  as  supplying 
profitable  suggestions.  The  second  was  James,  a 
most  upright  exemplary  character,  afterwards  minister 
of  St.  George's,  Glasgow,  who  also  had  a  great  zeal 
for  missions.  I  remember,  on  my  first  return  from 
India,  he  was  minister  of  Scone. 

When  I  was  at  Perth,  I  used  to  walk  out  on  a 
summer  morning  to  the  manse,  to  breakfast  with 
him,  and  had  conversations  on  missions  which  were 
always  refreshing.  I  remember  one  morning  in 
particular,  in  the  course  of  conversation  Craik 
remarked  (we  were  very  intimate  in  those  days), 
*  Duff,  there's  one  thing  connected  with  your  speeches 
which  I  cannot  understand.'  I  said,  'What  is  that?' 
He  said,  '  To  a  stranger  who  knows  nothing  about 
your  mental  character,  or  how  you  go  about  pre- 
paring for  public  speaking,  there  is  one  thing  which  is 
always  striking ;  it  is  this  :  they  seem  from  beginning 


^t.  44-  li^^^'    ^E    PREPARED   UlS    SPEECHES.  179 

to  end  to  be  sudden,  impromptu,  spontaneous 
effusions,  and  yet  there  are  parts  of  them  that  look 
so  artistically  (I  don't  forget  his  words)  and  arti- 
ficially prepared  that  it  is  difficult  to  believe  they 
are  impromptu  effusions.'  Well,  I  said  to  him  as  a 
friend  in  confidence,  in  a  general  Tvay  when  I  was 
called  upon  to  make  a  specific  speech  on  a  special 
occasion,  my  method  was  this  :  I  abhorred  the  idea  of 
addressing  a  great  public  audience  on  any  subject 
without  thorouglily  mastering  all  the  principles  and 
details  of  it.  I  revolved  these  over  repeatedly  in  my 
own  mind,  until  they  became  quite  familiar  to  me.  I 
then  resolved,  having  a  perfect  understanding  of  the 
subject,  to  leave  the  modes  of  expressing  my  views,  or 
embodying  them  in  language,  till  the  time  of  delivery. 
I  felt,  if  I  myself  entirely  understood  my  subject  I 
ought  to  be  able  to  make  it  reasonably  intelligible  to 
all  thoughtful  men.  In  the  course  of  a  long  and 
elaborate  speech  on  a  vital  and  important  subject, 
there  were  often  points  of  a  delicate  nature  which 
required  equal  delicacy,  or  even  nicety  in  giving  them 
formal  expression.  These  particular  points  I  thought 
over  and  over  again,  until  not  only  the  thought  became 
fixed  and  confirmed,  but  also  the  very  modes  of  ex- 
pressing it.  So  in  the  delivery  of  the  speech;  when 
these  particular  points  came  up,  I  did  not  leave  them 
to  any  expressions  which  at  the  time  might  occur  to  me, 
but  gave  them  in  the  language  with  which  they  had 
become  riveted  and  associated  in  my  own  mind ;  but 
coming  up  in  this  way  in  their  natural  place  and  con- 
nection, strangers  might  not  know  but  that  they  were 
the  spontaneous  effusion  of  the  moment,  like  all  the 
rest  of  the  speech. 

"  On  the  spur  of  the  moment  I  gave  Craik  several 
illustrations  of  the  real  meaning  and  significancy  of 
all  this.     To  his  great  joy  I  was   enabled  to  state  to 


l8o  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1850. 

him  that  one  morning,  going  out  from  Perth  to 
Scone,  the  beauty  of  the  morning  sky,  the  fresh- 
ness of  the  verdure  everywhere,  the  warbhng  of  the 
birds,  etc.,  suggested  a  passage  then  wrought  out  in 
my  own  mind,  which  afterwards  formed  what  was 
reckoned  one  of  the  most  stirring  of  the  passages 
in  one  of  my  Assembly  speeches.  If  I  ever  com- 
mitted a  speech  to  writing  and  then  to  memory,  to 
my  own  mind  it  always  seemed  to  prove  more  or 
less  a  failure.  The  sermon  I  delivered  in  Calcutta, 
on  the  day  of  thanksgiving  appointed  by  Lord 
Canning  after  the  Mutiny,  was  delivered  without 
a  note,  and  though  urgently  pressed  to  publish  it,  I 
found  it  impossible  to  recall  it.  Sir  James  Outram, 
Beadon  and  others  were  present." 

During  the  ten  days  and  nights  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  1850,  of  which  the  Rev.  Dr.  N.  Paterson, 
of  Glasgow,  was  the  Moderator,  Dr.  Duff  delivered  five 
addresses.  Published  separately  because  of  the 
crowds  whom  they  drew  to  the  great  Tanfield  Hall  of 
Disruption  memories,  and  of  the  interest  which  the 
imperfect  report  excited  throughout  Scotland  and  the 
evangelical  churches,  these  orations  cover  eighty  pages. 
As  a  whole  they  are  marked  by  a  condensation  of  style 
which  the  very  fulness  and  variety  of  the  speaker's 
experience,  drawn  from  the  wide  extent  of  India, 
forced  upon  him.  "  This  time  twenty-one  years  ago," 
he  began,  "  when  I  was  set  apart  by  the  Church  of 
Scotland  to  proceed  to  India,  all  the  world  seemed 
to  be  in  a  state  of  calm ;  there  might  be  said  to 
be  a  universal  calm  at  least  in  the  world  of  politics. 
Many,  however,  regarded  it  as  the  calm  which  was 
to  precede  the  storm  and  earthquake ;  and  truly  the 
earthquake  speedily  came — the  French  Revolution  and 
its  convulsions,  and  social  changes  in  this  land  in  con- 
nection with  the  Reform  Bills  and  such  like.     So  that, 


^t.  44.      FIRST   ADDRESS   TO    FREE    CUUROH    ASSEMBLY.      181 

on  returning  four  or  five  years  afterwards,  it  appeared 
as  if  something  like  an  earthquake  had  passed  over  the 
social  fabric  of  this  country ;  as  if  the  accustomed 
manners  and  habits  of  the  people  had  exhibited  some- 
what the  aspect  of  a  social  chaos,  and  to  it  might 
figuratively  be  applied  the  words  of  a  national  poet — 

'  Crags,  rocks,  and  knolls  conf us'dly  hurled, 
The  fragments  of  an  earlier  world.' 

"  Since  returning  the  last  time,  and  looking  about 
expecting  to  find  greater  social  changes  from  the  still 
greater  earthquake  which  had  passed  over  this  land, 
especially  in  the  Church  department,  it  was  the 
delight  not  only  of  myself  but  of  others  from  abroad, 
to  find  that  instead  of  such  a  chaos  all  things  had 
quietly  settled  down  and  were  progressing  in  harmony 
and  in  order ;  that  the  old  Church  in  its  new  and  free 
form  had  risen  up  entire  in  all  its  organisms  and  com- 
plete in  all  its  parts."  Now,  he  argued,  that  the 
machinery  is  perfect,  apply  it  to  foreign  missions. 
"  When  addressing  the  General  Assembly  fifteen  years 
ago,  my  knowledge  of  India  was  comparatively  limited. 
It  is  so  no  longer.  I  feel  this  night,  if  there  were 
time  and  patience  on  the  part  of  the  House,  and  if 
strength  on  my  part  were  vouchsafed,  that  it  would 
be  easier  for  me  to  speak  for  six  hours  than  for 
one.  If  the  Lord  spare  me  and  I  am  privileged  to 
visit  different  parts  of  the  land,  all  I  have  gathered  in 
connection  with  India  shall  be  poured  throughout 
Scotland  in  good  time." 

His  first  speech,  on  the  first  business  day  of  the 
Assembly,  was  on  the  report  of  the  committee  for  the 
conversion  of  the  Jews.  As  a  missionary  to  the  Gen- 
tiles he  sought  to  express  the  intensity  of  his  sym- 
pathies with  a  cause  which  is  cmplialically  that  of 
foreign  missions.  He  told  of  his  own  Jewish  converts; 


1 82  LIFE    OF    DB.    DDFF.  1850. 

he  described  tlie  last  hours  and  Christian  confession  of 
the  Rabbi  whom,  and  whose  family,  he  had  baptized. 
He  sketched  the  condition  of  the  three  Jewish  settle- 
ments in  Western  and  Southern  India,  and  he  pled  for 
"  harmony  and  earnest  co-operation  in  promoting  the 
spiritual  and  eternal  welfare  alike  of  Jews  and  Gentiles." 
On  this  the  first  occasion  of  addressing  a  General 
Assembly  of  the  Free  Church,  he  then  asked  the  vast 
audience  to  bear  with  him  while  he  poured  out  his 
testimony  to  the  principles  of  spiritual  and  civil  liberty 
for  which  the  missionaries  and  ministers  of  the 
Disruption  had  sacrificed  their  all.  Two  days  after, 
*'  as  a  colonist,"  he  moved  the  adoption  of  the  report 
on  colonial  and  continental  missions,  telling  the  story  of 
the  Calcutta  congregation,  and  advocating  the  claims 
of  the  Eurasians  on  the  brotherhood  of  Englishmen  as 
they  had  "  never  yet  been  pled  before  an  ecclesiastical 
court  in  this  land."  He  had  still  to  sweep  away 
another  prejudice  against  the  cause  he  represented, 
and  yet  it  exists.  Reminding  the  Church  that  he 
had,  from  the  banks  of  the  Ganges,  long  since  volun- 
teered the  assertion  that  Dr.  Chalmers's  Sustentation 
Fund  for  the  ministers  "  is  the  backbone  of  the  whole 
ecclesiastical  establishment,"  he  said,  "  With  the 
same  intensity  with  which  I  wish  to  see  all  nations 
evangelised  and  the  gospel  carried  to  all  lands,  I 
would  wish  to  see  this  and  other  sustentation  funds 
augmented  vastly  beyond  their  present  measure,  so 
as  not  only  to  uphold  the  existing  ministry  at  the 
present  rate,  but  in  the  way  of  vastly  greater  com- 
petency ;  yea,  and  to  see  the  fund  increased  so  that 
it  may  maintain  double  the  number  of  ministers,  and 
overtake  not  only  the  existing  religionism  but  the 
existing  heathenism  of  the  land." 

Then  in  his  fourth  and  fifth  speeches  he  came  to 
bis  own  special  subject  of    the  India  Mission.     The 


^1.44-  A.S   AN   ORATOR.  1 83 

present  writer  remembers  the  time  as  that  of  liis  first 
experience  of  the  orator's  power.  On  each  night,  now 
swaying  his  arms  towards  the  vast  audience  around 
and  even  above  him,  on  the  roof,  and  now  jerking  his 
left  shoulder  with  an  upward  motion  till  the  coat 
threatened  to  fall  off,  the  tall  form  kept  thousands 
spell-bound  while  the  twilight  of  a  northern  May  night 
changed  into  the  brief  darkness,  and  the  tardy  lights 
revealed  the  speaker  bathed  in  the  flood  of  his  im- 
passioned appeals.  As  the  thrilling  voice  died  away 
in  the  eager  whisper  which,  at  the  end  of  his  life, 
marked  all  his  public  utterances,  and  the  exhausted 
speaker  fell  into  a  seat,  only  to  be  driven  home  to  a 
couch  of  suffering,  and  then  of  rest  barely  sufficient  to 
enable  his  fine  constitution  to  renew  and  repeat  again 
and  again  the  effort,  the  observer  could  realize  the 
expenditure  of  physical  energy  which,  as  it  marked 
all  he  did,  culminated  in  his  prophet-like  raptures. 

In  the  midst  of  the  speech  of  the  29th  May,  Dr. 
Tweedie  took  advantao-e  of  the  climax  which  followed 
the  description  of  the  Seringham  pagoda,  to  interrupt 
him.  In  truth,  the  leading  men  around  him  trembled 
for  his  life  if  he  were  to  go  on  when  it  was  near 
midnight,  and  in  an  atmosphere  which  could  scarcely 
be  breathed,  and  must  be  particularly  oppressive  to 
the  eloquent  speaker.  The  alarmed  friend  begged 
that  the  conclusion  might  be  postponed.  Dr.  Duff 
was  roused  by  the  applause  of  the  House  to  declare 
that  he  must  go  on ;  and  he  did  so  for  two  hours 
more,  while  not  a  hearer  moved  save  to  catch  the 
almost  gasping  utterance  towards  the  close.  His 
last  speech,  introduced  by  a  debate  on  Popery,  after 
vividly  describing  the  Jesuit  order  in  India,  and  the 
Protestant  Missions  in  the  South,  glided  again  into 
the  loved  theme  of  the  Church's  duty  to  the  heathen. 
The  Assembly  had  risen  towards    liis   ideal   a   little 


184  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1850. 

nearer  than  in  liis  letters  to  Dr.  Tweedie  be  had 
ventured  to  expect.  "  Not  only  since  the  commence- 
ment of  this  Church  in  its  present  protesting  form, 
but  since  the  day,  I  may  well  and  emphatically  add, 
when  the  trumpet  peal  of  victory  sounded  forth  on 
the  completion  of  the  great  Reformation  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  there  has  not  been  manifested  by  any 
Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  such  a  vital 
interest  in  the  cause  of  Missions  as  has  been  mani- 
fested by  this  Assembly.  Night  after  night  has  been 
devoted  to  the  consideration  of  missionary  objects." 
Spoken  by  a  Highlander  to  a  Scottish  audience,  this 
passage  produced  an  effect  which  we  have  never  seen 
equalled  in  any  audience,  popular  or  cultured  : 

"  In  days  of  yore,  though  unable  to  sing  myself,  I  was  wont 
to  listen  to  tlie  Poems  of  Ossian,  and  to  many  of  those  melodies 
that  were  called  Jacobite  songs.  I  may  now,  without  any  fear 
of  being  taken  up  for  high  treason  or  for  rebellion,  refer  to 
the  latter,  for  there  never  was  a  Sovereign  who  was  more 
richly  and  deservedly  beloved  by  her  subjects  than  she  who 
now  sits  on  the  throne  of  Great  Britain — Queen  Victoria — and 
there  are  not  among  her  Majesty^s  subjects  any  men  whose 
hearts  beat  more  vigorously  with  the  pulse  of  loyalty  than  the 
descendants  of  those  chieftains  and  clansmen  who  a  century 
ago  shook  the  Hanoverian  throne  to  its  foundation.  While 
listening  to  these  airs  of  the  olden  time,  some  stanzas  and 
sentiments  made  an  indelible  impression  upon  my  mind. 
Roving  in  the  days  of  my  youth  over  the  heathery  heights,  or 
climbing  the  craggy  steeps  of  my  native  land,  or  lying  down 
to  enjoy  the  music  of  the  roaring  waterfalls,  I  was  wont  to 
admire  the  heroic  spirit  which  they  breathed ;  and  they 
became  so  stamped  in  memory  that  I  have  carried  them  with 
me  over  more  than  half  the  world.  One  of  these  seemed 
to  me  to  embody  the  quintessence  of  loyalty  of  an  earthly 
kind.  It  is  the  stanza  in  which  it  is  said  by  the  father  or 
mother, — 

*  I  hae  but  ae  sou,  the  brave  young  Donald ;  * 


^t.  44.  LOYALTY,    HUMAN   AND   DIVINE.  1 85 

and  then  the  gush   of  emotion  turned  his  heart  as  it  were 
inside  out,  and  ho  exclaimed, — 

*  But,  oh,  had  I  ten,  they  would  follow  Prince  Charlie' 

Are  the^e  the  visions  of  romance — the  dreams  of  poetry  and 
of  song  ?  01),  let  that  rush  of  youthful  warriors,  from 
'bracken,  bush,  and  glen,'  that  rallied  round  the  standards 
of  Glenfinnan, — let  the  gory  beds,  and  cold,  cold  grassy 
winding-sheets  of  bleak  Cullodcn  Muir  bear  testimony  to  the 
reality,  the  intensity  of  the  loyalty  to  an  earthly  prince  ;  and 
shall  a  Highland  father  and  mother  give  up  all  their  children 
as  an  homage  to  earthly  loyalty,  and  shall  I  be  told  that  in 
the  Churches  of  Christ,  in  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland, 
fathers  and  mothers  will  begrudge  their  children  to  Him  who 
is  the  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords  ?  Will  they  testify 
their  loyalty  to  an  earthly  prince,  to  whom  they  lie  under  very 
little  obligation,  by  giving  up  all  their  sons,  while  they  refuse, 
when  it  comes  to  the  point  of  critical  decision,  even  one  son 
for  the  array  of  Immanuel,  to  whom  they  owe  their  life,  their 
salvation,  their  all  ?  Surely,  if  this  state  of  things  be  con- 
tinued, we  may  well  conclude  that  we  are  in  an  age  of  little 
men,  and  that  with  all  our  loud  talkings  we  have  not  risen 
beyond  the  stature  of  pigmies  in  soundness,  or  loyalty,  or 
devotedness  to  our  heavenly  King.  Oh,  then,  let  this  matter 
weigh  heavily  on  our  minds.  I  have  been  affected  beyond 
measure  during  the  last  twelve  months  at  finding,  from  one 
end  of  India  to  the  other,  monuments  of  British  dead.  In  a 
solitary  place  at  Eamnad,  on  the  banks  of  the  Straits  of  Palk 
that  overlook  Ceylon — a  place  entirely  out  of  the  way — I  was 
deeply  affected  to  find  a  humble  tombstone  erected  to  the 
memory  of  a  young  officer  brought  up  on  the  braes  of  Athole, 
in  a  parish  adjacent  to  my  own.  I  thought  the  father  and 
mother  of  this  young  man  had  no  objection  to  send  out  their 
son  here  in  search  of  military  renown,  only  to  find  his  grave ; 
but  probably  they  would  have  refused  him  to  the  service  of 
Christ  as  a  humble  missionary  of  the  Cross.  From  one  end 
of  India  to  the  other  the  soil  is  strewn  with  British  slain  or 
British  dead.  There  is  not  a  valley,  nor  dell,  nor  burning 
waste,  from  one  end  of  India  to  the  other,  that  is  not  enriched 
with  the  bones,  and  not  a  rivulet  or  stream  which  has  not 
been  dyed  with  the  blood  of  Scotia's  children.     And  will  you. 


l86  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1 850. 

fathers  and  motlierSj  send  out  your  cliildi-en  in  thousands  in 
quest  of  this  bubble  fame — this  bubble  wealth — this  bubble 
honour  and  perishable  renown,  and  will  you  prohibit  them 
from  going  forth  in  the  army  of  the  great  Immanuel,  to  win 
crowns  of  glory  and  imperishable  renown  in  the  realms  of 
everlasting  day  ?  Oh,  do  not  refuse  their  services — their 
lives  if  necessary — or  the  blood  of  the  souls  of  perishing 
milliona  may  be  required  at  your  hands.  Fathers  and  mothers 
are  not  responsible  for  grace  in  the  hearts  of  their  offspring, 
but  they  are  responsible  for  using  the  means  in  their  power ; 
and  I  now  refer  only  to  those  who  habitually  discourage  their 
sons  and  daughters,  and  throw  obstacles  in  the  way,  when 
they  would  enter  the  missionary  field,  while  they  would  hurl 
them  forth  to  battle  and  to  death." 

The  Assembly  of  1850  was  remarkable  for  the  ad- 
dresses, not  only  of  Dr.  Duff,  Mr.  Nesbit  of  Bom- 
bay, Mr.  Anderson  of  Madras,  and  his  first  convert, 
the  Rev.  P.  Rajahgopal.  The  distinguished  Bengal 
civilian  and  lawyer,  Mr.  Justice  Hawkins,  who  passed 
away  within  the  last  year,  vindicated  the  system  of 
Dr.  Duff  as  the  peculiar  glory  of  the  Scottish  Mis- 
sions, and  gave  his  honorary  services  as  the  home 
secretary  of  the  congregational  associations  about  to 
be  formed  for  their  extension.  Citing  as  a  further 
authority  the  evangelist,  who,  after  opposing  that 
system  when  a  London  minister,  had  devoted  the 
rest  of  his  life  to  working  it,  he  said,  "  I  remember 
when  speaking  on  this  subject  to  the  dearest  friend 
I  ever  had,  the  late  John  Macdonald,  he  observed, 
*  Were  our  Church  alone  the  Church  of  Christ  in  this 
land,  were  missionary  operations  confined  to  us,  I 
would  then  desire  to  see  our  Church  diverting  some 
of  her  present  strength  from  teaching  to  the  more 
direct  preaching  of  the  Word.  But  in  looking  on  all 
the  various  sections  combined  as  forming  the  Church 
of  Christ,  and  in  seeing  others  chiefly  engaged  in 
preaching,  is  it  not  a  sufl&cient  answer  to  objectors  to 


^t.  44.  HIS    SYSTEM    OP   MISSIONS.  187 

say  tliat  both  means  are  necessary,  and  tliat  we  by 
toacliing  are  supplementing  what  is  wanting  in  their 
system?'  But  there  is  a  reason  of  greater  weight 
still,  and  that  is  what  our  young  friend  from  Madras 
(Rajahgopal)  has  well  pointed  out.  The  mere  preach- 
ing of  the  Word  would  not  have  reached  the  vast 
majority  of  the  people.  The  better  classes  will  not 
attend  the  preaching  of  the  missionary  ;  the  only  way 
in  which  they  can  be  reached  is  by  the  agency  of  such 
Institutions  as  those  of  the  Free  Church.  Rajaligopal 
declared  that,  but  for  your  Institution  in  Madras, 
he  would,  humanly  speaking,  have  been  a  heathen 
still,  for  in  the  days  of  his  darkness  he  would  never 
have  gone  near  a  preacher  of  the  truth." 

Before  the  most  solemn  and  pathetic  act  when  the 
Moderator,  the  whole  House  and  audience  standiuo-, 
speaks :  "  Reverend  Fathers  and  Brethren,  as  this 
Assembly  was  constituted  in  the  name  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  the  sole  King  and  Head  of  His  Church, 
I  am  now  called,  in  His  holy  and  blessed  name,  to 
l^ronounce  it  dissolved  "  ;  and  all  unite  in  singing  the 
rugged  strains  of  Rous's  version  of  the  133rd  Psalm, 
the  last  resolution  was  this  :  "  The  Assembly  instruct 
the  committee  to  take  steps  for  bringing  the  subject  of 
Foreign  Missions  fully  before  the  mind  of  the  Church, 
and  that  in  such  a  way  as  may  be  arranged  between 
the  committee  and  the  synod  or  presbytery  which 
Dr.  Duff  or  the  other  brethren  may  agree  to  visit. 
The  Assembly  appoint  these  visitations  to  begin  with 
the  synod  of  Perth,  and  after  that  has  been  over- 
taken, to  be  extended  from  synod  to  synod,  as  cir- 
cumstances may  direct,  until  they  shall,  if  possible, 
have  gone  over  the  whole  bounds  of  the  Church." 

For  the  next  three  and  a  half  years  Dr.  Duff  gave 
himself  to  the  creatino^  of  his  new  ororanization — an 
association  for  prayer,  information,  and  the  quarterly 


1 88  LIFJ3    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1850. 

collection  of  subscriptions  for  the  Missions  in  every  one 
of  the  then  700  and  now  1,040  congregations  of  the  Free 
Church  of  Scotland.  In  1835-39  he  had  addressed  the 
seventy-one  presbyteries  and  the  larger  congregations 
only,  all  over  Scotland.  Now  he  undertook,  and  ac- 
complished, the  still  more  serious  task  of  exhorting 
and  informing  not  only  a  new  generation  of  presby- 
teries, but  every  congregation,  however  humble,  or 
distant,  or  diflBcult  of  access.  He  must  put  every 
member,  adherent,  and  even  Sunday  scholar,  en  rapport 
with  the  Master's  work  in  India  and  Africa.  His  first 
crusade,  and  all  that  Chalmers  and  Guthrie  had  since 
done  both  before  and  after  the  Disruption,  had  edu- 
cated the  people  into  giving  as  no  section  of  the 
universal  Church  had  done  since  Barnabas  had  sold 
his  all.  What  was  wanted  was  such  intelligence  on 
the  part  of  a  new  race  of  ministers  and  elders  that 
the  free-will  offerings  of  the  half  of  the  Scottish 
nation.  Highland  and  Lowland,  might  systematically 
flow  out  beyond  the  bounds  of  sect  and  party  into  the 
wider  and  truly  catholic  region  of  their  Indian  and 
African  fellow-subjects.  He  had  to  teach  his  own 
countrymen,  and  especially  his  fellow-ministers,  a 
second  lesson  in  Christian  economics.  Chalmers,  like 
Inglis,  was  gone;  save  Dr.  Gordon,  advancing  in 
years,  and  Dr.  Tweedie,  then  inexperienced,  there  was 
none  to  raise  the  Church  to  a  still  higher  level  by  a 
foreign  or  imperial  policy  greater  than  that  of  the 
noblest  statesmen  of  earth  because  divine.  "I  shall 
give  Thee  the  heathen  for  Thine  inheritance,  and  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  Thy  possession,"  was 
the  charter  to  which  he  appealed. 

In  his  own  country,  as  in  India,  separated  from  his 
family  then  requiring  most  of  all  a  father's  care ;  in 
winter  and  in  summer;  in  weariness  and  often  in 
pain;     cast     down    by    disco aragomeuts,    but    more 


^t.  44.  HIS    SECOND    CRUSADE    AT    UOME.  1 89 

frequently  cheered  by  sympathetic  success  and  every- 
where received  with  the  warm  hospitaUty  of  the 
manse,  he  who  was  still  the  first  missionary  of  his 
country  pursued  his  work,  inspired  by  an  enthusiasm 
before  which  the  most  repulsive  and  exhausting  work 
was  sweet.  His  almost  daily  letters  to  his  wife  form 
a  record  of  affection  sublimated  by  the  divinity  of  his 
mission  which  cannot,  for  long  at  least,  be  submitted 
to  the  world.  But  there  are  passages  which  may  bo 
quoted  now,  revealing  the  man  as  well  as  his  work. 
In  the  four  months  between  the  close  of  the  General 
Assembly  and  the  meeting  of  its  "  commission  "  in 
November,  1850,  he  visited  every  congregation  of 
what  may  be  called  his  own  synod  of  Perth,  where 
he  began  well  with  the  people  of  Dr.  R.  Macdonald, 
then  of  Blairgowrie.  Before,  or  soon  after  his  return 
to  Bengal,  he  had  secured  the  establishment  of  five 
hundred — since  increased  to  seven  hundred — associa- 
tions, yielding  a  "  sure  and  continuous  increase "  of 
funds  to  meet  "  the  requirements  of  a  continuous  ex- 
penditure." Not  till  after  his  own  death,  and  in  the 
past  year  of  calamity  in  Scotland  unexampled  since 
the  Darien  expedition,  did  that  increase  cease  to  go 
on  growing.  But  the  fund  has  still  to  reach  the 
permanent  mininmm  of  "not  less  than  £30,000  or 
£40,000,  for  our  Foreign  Missions  "  fixed  by  him  thirty 
years  ago,  though  it  has  once  or  twice  exceeded  that, 
and  the  whole  annual  revenue  for  the  Missions  from 
foreign  as  well  as  home  sources  has  long  been  above 
£50,000. 

As  during  his  first  furlough  in  1835,  Dr.  Du0"'s 
campaign  included  England,  Wales  and  Ireland,  in 
addition  to  Scotland,  though  the  first  three  rather 
that  he  might  tell  the  Church  of  England,  Wesleyan 
and  Welsh  societies,  and  the  Ulster  Presbyterians, 
how    worthy    their    Indian     agents     were    of    more 


190  LIFE    OF    DB.    DUFF.  1851. 

generous  support.  He  liad  another  object  in 
view.  The  time  for  the  East  India  Company  ap- 
plying to  Parliament  for  a  renewal  of  its  twenty  years 
charter  was  at  hand,  and  he  desired  to  create  among 
the  governing  as  well  as  missionary .  classeSj  and 
the  Directors,  such  an  intelligent  interest  as  would, 
■without  public  agitation,  in  the  first  instance,  secure 
justice  to  non-Government  education  in  India,  whether 
Christian,  Hindoo,  Parsee  or  Muhammadan.  To  Dr. 
Tweedie  he  wrote  confidentially  from  London  on  the 
11th  February,  1851 : 

"  My  deak  Fkiend^ — Yesterday  I  had  a  grand  meeting  with 
the  leading  men  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  Be- 
tween forty  and  fifty  assembled  during  the  business  hours  of 
the  day.  That  so  many  influential  laymen  should  so  assemble 
to  hear  about  their  Indian  missions  and  receive  suggestions 
concerning  them,  was  one  of  the  pleasantest  and  healthfulest 
symptoms  I  have  yet  met  with.  Truly  when  the  Church  of 
England  people  are  devoted,  their  devotedness  is  of  a  rarely 
simple,  graceful,  and  winning  order.  The  flower  of  English 
devotional  piety  woven  around  the  sturdy  trunk  of  our  Scottish 
orthodoxy  would  give  us  the  highest  attainable  relative  per- 
fectionism of  the  Christian  man.  To  see  men  like  Lord  H. 
Cholmondeley,  Sir  Peregrine  Maitland,  Admiral  Hope,  and 
others  of  like  rank,  enter  with  childlike  simplicity  into  mis- 
sionary details — not  as  a  dry  matter  of  business,  but  of  hearty 
love — was  a  cheering  spectacle  not  soon  to  be  forgotten. 

"  Last  night  I  spent  out  at  Teddington  with  Mr.  Strachan 
and  friends,  to  see  and  come  to  understanding  with  them  as  to 
the  ground  that  should  be  occupied  in  a  conjoint  movement 
on  the  subject  of  Government  education  in  India.  It  was  well 
that  we  had  the  meeting.  With  earnest  desires  to  do  what  they 
could  in  so  noble  a  cause,  they  were  lamentably  deficient  in 
information  on  many  vital  points ;  and  had  they  gone  for- 
ward earlier,  as  they  once  meant  to  have  done,  they  would 
assuredly  have  greatly  damaged  the  cause  which  they  meant 
to  revive.  I  am  happy  to  say  that  we  parted  with  a  clear 
mutual  understanding  on  the  subject.      The  first  object  is  to 


^t.  45-        INFLUENCING   THE    COURT    OP    DIRECTORS.  I9I 

see  privately  some  of  the  leading  members  of  the  court,  that 
may  be  most  open  to  conviction  ;  n^xt  to  place  a  statement  on 
the  subject  before  the  court  as  a  remedy — since,  were  the 
court  to  take  up  the  matter,  and  resolve  to  do  substantially 
what  is  required,  there  would  be  no  occasion  for  agitating  the 
country  at  all.  While,  however,  I  deem  this  the  most  Chris- 
tian course  in  itself,  and  the  most  respectful  to  the  court, 
I  confess  I  have  no  very  sanguine  expectation  that  it  will 
take  action  in  the  right  direction,  unless  constrained  to  do 
so  by  'the  pressure  from  without.^  But  our  having  tried 
the  quieter  and  more  peaceful  mode  first,  will  give  us,  in  the 
eye  of  the  public,  a  great  advantage  should  an  appeal  to  its 
verdict  be  rendered  necessary/' 

We  shall  see,  in  the  next  chapter,  tbat  the  very 
effectual  pressure  of  Parliament  and  prolonged  public 
discussion  were  required  to  secure  the  concession 
of  justice.  We  now  confine  the  narrative  to  Dr. 
Duff's  revelations  of  himself  and  his  work  in  brief 
letters  to  his  wife,  written  in  all  the  haste  of  incessant 
travel  and  public  meetings.  The  spiritual  breathings 
sbow  the  source  of  tlie  energy  which,  while  it  fed  the 
Church  and  attracted  the  world,  ever  renewed  his  youth 
till  the  last  hour,  according  to  the  old  promise  to  those 
who  thus  wait  on  tlie  Lord  :  "  they  shall  run,  and  not 
be  weary ;  they  shall  walk,  and  not  faint." 

Carnarvon,  10^/i  Sept.,  1851. — "On  Tuesday  forenoon  I 
had  a  long  and  animated  interview  with  the  celebrated 
Dr.  McNeile,  of  Livei-pool.  We  both  harmonized  famously 
on  the  whole  subject  of  Popery,  and  so  had  an  exhilarating 
conversation.  Missions  too,  and  prophecy,  the  preparatives 
to  the  millennial  glory,  were  fully  discoursed  of — agreeing 
fully  on  all  points,  but  agreeing  to  differ  as  to  dogmatic 
views  on  the  personal  advent  and  reign  of  Christ;  Dr. 
McNeile  seeing  his  way  to  be  very  positive  on  that  head,  while 
I  do  not.  But  he  spoke  with  exceeding  candour  and  forbear- 
ance, and  so  we  parted  full  of  warm  expressions  of  mutual 
regard  and  goodwill;  Dr.  McNeile  again  and  again  thanking 
mo  for  the  visits  and  saying  he  was  rejoiced  and  strengthened 


192  LIFE    OP   DK.    DUFF.  1851. 

by  what  he  heard  from  me,  with  many  more  complimentary 
things  besides. 

"  This  morning,  at  nine  o'clock,  attended  a  meeting  of  the 
Welsh  Conference.  They  were  putting  questions  to  five  can- 
didates for  the  ministry,  in  Welsh.  Suddenly  I  was  asked  by 
the  Moderator  to  address  them  on  the  duties  of  the  ministry, 
in  English,  which,  by  God's  help,  I  attempted  to  do. 

Bangor,  13th  Sejpt. — "  Yesterday,  at  two  o'clock,  I  preached 
to  the  largest  audience  I  ever  addressed  in  this  world — amount- 
ing by  computation  to  between  fifteen  and  twenty  thousand 
people  !  At  the  synod  meetings  of  the  Calvinistic  Methodists 
of  Wales  there  are  open-air  preachings,  at  which  some  of  their 
more  popular  men  officiate.  On  the  present  occasion  the 
place  chosen  was  a  green  park  behind  the  city  of  Carnarvon — 
being  a  continuation  of  the  upward  acclivity  on  which  the 
town  is  built.  It  looks  to  the  west  on  the  Menai  Straits  and 
the  Isle  of  Anglesea — the  small  hill  of  Holyhead,  whence  the 
Irish  packet  sails,  in  the  distant  west.  To  the  north-east,  east, 
and  south-east,  are  the  lofty  Vf  elsh  hills,  Snowdon  distant  only 
eight  or  nine  miles.  At  the  foot  of  the  park  a  temporary  stage 
is  erected  for  the  preacher  and  fifty  more,  covered  over  with 
canvas  above,  and  all  around  except  the  front.  The  people 
assemble  all  around  and  underneath  this  platform,  stretching 
out  some  hundreds  of  yards  on  either  side  of  it,  and  from 
this  extended  base  line  crowding  up  in  front  to  the  upper 
end  of  the  park,  like  a  compacted  cone  or  pyramid  of  living 
heads.  From  the  platform  the  spectacle  exhibited  is  a  very 
exciting  and  wonder -striking  one. 

"  On  Wednesday  there  were  two  sermons  here  in  the  after- 
noon. But  yesterday  was  the  great  day.  Never  was  there  a 
clearer  sky  in  these  British  isles,  nor  a  warmer  sun  at  this 
season  of  the  year,  than  yesterday  at  Carnarvon.  From  ten  to 
one  o'clock — prayer,  psalms,  and  two  sermons.  Then  an 
hour's  interval  for  the  people  to  retire  for  refreshment.  A 
little  before  two,  the  broad  street  leading  up  to  the  park  was 
a  livino"  moving  stream  of  human  beings ;  every  second 
person  carrying  a  chair  aloft — holding  it  by  the  back,  the  four 
legs  pointing  to  the  zenith,  to  prevent  accidents.  At  two 
o'clock  the  great  living  cone  or  pyramid  was  formed.  It  is 
astonishing  how  densely  they  were  packed,  and  more  men 
than  women,  makiug  allowance  for  the  hat-wearing  women. 


ALt.  45.  OPEN-AIB   PEEACHING.  1 93 

Consiclcring  the  busy  season  of  tlie  year — the  thick  of  harvest 
— it  was  surprising  to  see  such  multitudes  congregated  from 
the  districts  all  around.  And  such  quietude  and  fixedness  of 
attention  and  general  decorum  ! 

"  It  was  not  willingly  that  I  ventured  to  address  such  a 
throng.  First,  I  felt  as  if  my  voice  could  not  reach  the  twen- 
tieth part  of  them.  Second,  not  above  a  twentieth  part 
could  understand  English.  But  the  synod  unanimously  re- 
quested me  to  preach,  saying  there  were  many  sprinkled  over 
the  mass  who  could  understand,  and  that  the  testimony  for 
the  great  truths  of  the  gospel  from  a  stranger  would  tell  on. 
all  who  understood,  and  through  them,  on  othei's  by  interpre- 
tation. So  I  reluctantly  yielded.  But  I  was  really  glad  I  did 
so.  From  the  stillness  of  the  multitude,  and  the  absence  of 
even  a  breeze,  it  seems  my  voice  reached  the  outer  skirts  of 
the  amazing  throng — one  of  the  ministers  having  walked 
gently  round  on  purpose  to  ascertain  the  point.  And  what  I 
was  enabled  to  say  appeared  to  cheer  greatly  those  who  under- 
stood, for  I  heard  the  responding  groan  loudly  sounded  from 
individuals  in  all  directions. 

"  What  astonished  me  was  the  fixed  look  and  marked 
attention  of  the  thousands  who  understood  not  a  single  word 
of  what  I  uttered.  Beforehand  such  a  phenomenon  might 
seem  incredible.  Almost  all  were  seated,  generally  two  on  a 
chair.  The  psalm-singing,  with  its  singular  plaintiveness  and 
richness  of  tone  and  depth  of  heart- melody,  was  the  sub- 
limest  thing  of  the  kind  I  ever  listened  to.  About  half-past 
four  the  Welsh  sermon  ended,  then  a  few  verses  of  a  psalm, 
short  prayer  and  blessing.  In  a  moment  the  pi'odigious  mass 
was  on  the  move.  Thousands  of  chairs  were  upheaved,  with 
legs  high  in  air — a  perfect  forest  in  quick  motion.  In  the 
evening  services  were  in  all  the  chapels. 

"  Such  meetings  sprang  up  naturally,  when  there  was  a  great 
spirit  of  revival  in  the  land,  and  a  real  thirst  for  God's  word  at 
the  hands  of  heaven's  gifted  evangelists.  People  then,  craving 
for  a  preached  gospel,  crowded,  by  a  sort  of  resistless  instinct, 
to  hear  it  proclaimed  with  power.  But  in  ordinary  times, 
when  numbers,  without  any  such  heart-thirstings,  attend  out 
of  deference  to  hereditary  custom,  it  is  questionable  whether 
the  evil  of  such  promiscuous  gatherings,  more  especially  of 
the  young,  may  not  exceed  the  good  reaped  by  any. 

VOL.  II.  0 


194  ^^P^    OP   DR.    DUFF.  185 1. 

"To-night  I  address  a  meeting  in  this  place,  where  there 
are  many  strangers  at  present  who  understand  English.  This 
forenoon  I  have  been  inspecting  the  Menai  suspension  and 
tubular  bridges  in  this  neighbourhood — the  grandest  monu- 
ments of  mechanical  science  in  the  world." 

Woolwich,  22nd  Sept. — "Yesterday  I  officiated  for  Mr. 
Thomson,  who  is  very  unwell.  The  congregation  consists  in 
a  large  measure  of  officers  and  soldiers,  a  very  interesting  and 
affecting  spectacle.  In  the  evening,  I  referred  to  the  obli- 
gation of  those  who  have  been  blessed  with  the  gospel  to 
send  it  to  those  still  destitute  of  it.  There  was  no  collection 
made,  but  I  believe  Colonel  Anderson  and  others  mean  to 
make  a  private  subscription  and  send  the  amount  to  me,  as  a 
token  of  goodwill  towards  our  Mission.  At  the  close  of  the 
forenoon  service  a  person  sent  word  to  the  vestry  that  she 
wished  to  speak  to  me.  On  my  going  out,  she  began  by  saying 
that  she  was  a  servant ;  that,  being  a  nurse  in  an  officer's 
family,  she  could  not  get  out  at  night ;  that  the  Lord  had  done 
much  for  her  soul,  and  she  desired  to  be  grateful  by  remem- 
bering His  cause ;  that  she  happened  to  be  in  Edinburgh  and 
heard  me  at  last  Assembly,  and  she  concluded  by  begging  me 
to  accept  of  her  mite  for  sending  the  gospel  to  the  perishing 
heathen.  So  saying,  she  put  a  sovereign  into  my  hand.  I 
looked  with  some  degree  of  wonder.  She  noticed  my  surprise, 
and  simply  in  substance  remarked,  '  Oh,  sir,  what  is  that  com- 
pared with  what  He  has  done  for  my  soul ! '  And  then  she 
wound  up  by  requesting  that  I  would  not  make  her  name 
known !  Verily,  it  is  refreshing  to  meet  with  such  specimens 
of  pure  gold  of  the  sanctuary  in  the  midst  of  mountain  heaps 
of  such  noisome  rubbish  of  carnality  and  selfishness.  On 
we  must  go,  for  these  are  some  of  the  smiles  of  a  Father's  love, 
amid  many  many  discouragements/'* 

Whitehaven,  2^th  Nov. — "  Reached  Carlisle  at  quarter  to 
ten  o'clock,  a  hundred  miles  in  three  hours  including  all 
stoppages !  What  a  revolution  in  travelling  since  that  awful 
weary  night  when  you  and  I  left  Edinburgh,  1st  Nov.,  1839,  at 

*  This  was  one  of  many  similar  cases.  More  than  one  artisan 
and  domestic  servant  have  sent  us,  for  perusal,  letters  which  they 
treasure  from  Dr.  Duff,  who  was  more  careful  to  acknowledge,  in 
loving  words,  the  self-sacrifice  of  the  humble,  than  all  that  the  rich 
gave  out  of  their  abundance. 


^.t.  45.  TENDER    MEMORIES.  1 95 

nine  p.m.,  reaching  Carlisle  to  breakfast  next  morning  between 
eight  and  nine,  with  bones  and  backs  half-broken  with  jam- 
ming in  a  box  of  a  coach,  and  eyes  half-blind  with  attempts 
(alas,  how  vain!)  at  sleep;  and  hearts  filled  with  sadness  at 
the  thought  of  those  left  behind  !  And  yet,  after  tivelve  years, 
we  have  three  of  them  still  with  us — as  if  the  Lord  by  His 
goodness  were  rebuking  our  faint-heartedness.  One  is  gone 
— gone  from  us ;  but  oh,  I  do  live  in  the  hope  that  she  has 
only  gone  before  us  to  hail  our  arrival  (if  we  are  upheld  faith- 
ful to  the  end)  in  a  better  world.  I  seldom  allude  to  the  dear 
child  that  bore  your  name,  but  the  sweet  image  of  her  often 
crosses  my  mind.  She  was  a  perfectly  loveable  one ;  and  I 
know  not  whether  I  ever  felt  any  stroke  so  acutely  as  her 
unexpected  death.  And  even  still,  when  alone  by  myself,  the 
thought  of  her  cheerful  animated  countenance,  with  its  sweet 
expression  and  lisping  tongue,  often  brings  the  tear  to  my 
eye,  as  now.  .  .  In  the  same  coach  were  several  gentle- 
men belonging  to  this  place.  Among  other  topics  of  conversa- 
tion was  the  expected  preaching  of  Dr.  Duff,  in  the  Presbyterian 
church  to-morrow — asking  each  other  whether  they  were  to 
attend,  etc.  Some  said  yes  ;  and  a  foolish  fop  with  flippant 
nonchalance  remarked  that  he  would  rather  go  to  the  theatre 

than  to  any  preaching,  or  even  to  hear  Mrs. (I  could  nob 

catch  the  name)  deliver  her  lecture  on  Bloomerism  !  No  doubt 
this  was  quite  sincere.  It  is  the  spii'it  of  the  world  ;  and  that 
is  the  antagonist  of  the  gospel. 

''Mr.  Glasgow,  the  Irish  missionary  from  Goojarat,  whom  I 
saw  there,  is  sure  to  meet  with  me.  Cumberland,  I  understand, 
is  very  cold  and  dead  in  religious  matters  ;  and  as  to  liberality 
in  giving,  it  seems  to  be  utterly  unknown  here.  In  the  largest 
Episcopal  church  here,  with  1,500  in  it,  where  the  annual 
deputation  comes  from  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  they 
announce  after  two  or  three  sermons  are  preached,  that  the 
handsome,  or  sometimes  they  word  it  actually  the  '  munifi- 
cent^ collection,  of  six  or  seven  pounds  has  been  made.  When 
Mr.  Burns  lately  showed  some  of  the  rich  folks  the  announce- 
ment of  £750  of  a  collection  in  Dr.  Miller's,  Glasgow,  they 
would  not  believe  it,  alleging  that  there  was  a  figure  too  much 
— that  it  must  be  either  £75  or  £50,  and  that  even  that 
seemed  to  them  incredible  !  When  Mr.  Burns  assured  them 
it  was  no   mistake,    they    got  off    by    saying,  'Then   surely 


196  LIFE   OF   DR.    DUFl'.  1852. 

ttese  people  don't  know  how  to  value  their  money!*  What 
stolid  blindness  !  as  if  what  was  given  to  God's  cause^  was  so 
much  thrown  away  and  lost,  instead  of  being  the  only  money 
really  saved  \" 

Manchester,  24:th  Dec. — "  Our  great  meeting  came  off  last 
evening,  and,  by  God's  blessing,  nobly.  It  was  much  owing  to 
Barbour's  skilful  management.  No  such  platform  has  been 
seen  here,  on  any  such  occasion.  Pastors  of  all  churches 
present,  and  several  clergy  of  the  English  Church ;  Hugh 
Stowell,  etc.,  speaking,  making  motions.  Some  of  the  lead- 
ing laity.  The  meeting  quite  an  enthusiastic  one.  Before 
breaking  up  nearly  a  thousand  pounds  were  announced 
as  subscriptions,  in  hundreds  and  fifties ;  Barbour  himself 
giving  £500.  After  a  rather  restless  night  I  feel  this  morning 
tolerably  well ;  but,  on  the  whole,  it  must  be  confessed  to  be  too 
much  for  me.  Oh  that  the  Lord  may  come  down  among  us  in 
showers  of  blessing !    I  have  to  address  a  meeting  to-morrow." 

Glasgow,  I9th  Feb.,  1852.— "Dr.  Forbes  dined  with  the 
Lorimers,  after  which  we  proceeded  to  Hope  Street  Church, 
the  largest  Free  Church  in  Glasgow.  It  was  crowded,  pas- 
sages and  all,  to  the  very  doors.  It  was  a  noble  audience. 
Ah,  how  responsible  a  position  to  have  to  address  such  an 
assemblage  of  immortal  souls  !  I  mourn  that  I  do  not  feel  it 
half  enough,  nor  a  tithe  enough.  There  seemed  to  be  an 
earnest  response.  Some  of  the  ministers  spoke  shortly  after- 
wards, all  very  warm ;  honest  Dr.  Lorimer  alluding  fully  to 
his  quarter-century's  acquaintance  with  me.  This  morning, 
joined  Miss  Deunistoun,  sister  of  Mrs.  (Dr.)  Wilson,  Bombay ; 
and  Mrs.  Wodrow  (widow  of  Wodrow  the  great  advocate  of 
the  Jews,  and  descendant,  I  believe,  of  the  historian)  at 
breakfast.    Thereafter  a  succession  of  callers." 

Paisley,  16th  March. — "I  came  here  yesterday  forenoon, 
met  with  the  presbytery,  and  addressed  a  public  meeting 
in  the  evening.  All  very  cordial  in  this  quarter.  But  I  am 
nearly  done  up.  Last  week  I  delivered  five  addresses  at 
Greenock  and  two  at  Dumbarton,  beside  the  Sabbath  services 
before  and  after.  Here  I  gave  two  addresses  yesterday,  I  have 
another  to  night,  and  one  to-morrow." 

Wick  Bay,  19^/t  June. —  (After  a  stormy  passage.)  "  Oh  for 
more  real  inward  life  in  the  midst  of  this  endless  tumult  and 
turmoil !  " 


^t.  46.  IN   THE    FAE   NORTH.  1 97 

Thurso  Castle,  I2th  July. — "This  morning  your  anxiously 
looked-for  communications  reacliod  me  at  Wick,  dated  8th 
and  9  th.  I  hope  that  on  the  9th,  at  least,  you  would  have 
received  two  letters  from  me — one  dated  6th,  on  board  the 
steamer  in  Kirkwall  Bay,  and  the  other  of  the  same  date  after 
arriving  at  Wick.  Be  so  good  as  to  tell  me  specially  in  your 
next  whether  these  came  to  hand.  Truly  the  9th  July,  1829, 
(their  marriage  day)  was  a  memorable  day  in  our  eventful 
history.  The  Lord  be  praised  for  its  abounding  mercies.  Our 
cup  has  been  made  to  run  over — goodness  and  mercy  follow- 
ing all  our  days  and  through  all  our  steps.  Oh  that  there 
were  a  corresponding  ripening  of  the  soul  in  divine  things — 
brighter  visions  of  glory !  On  Wednesday,  I  proceeded  with 
Mr.  Thomson  to  meet  the  presbytery  at  Thurso,  distant 
twenty-one  miles — Mr.  Taylor,  of  Pulteueytown,  minister,  ac- 
companying us.  Sir  George  Sinclair  (from  whom  I  had  several 
pressing  invitations  to  stay  with  him  a  week  or  two  at  least) 
was  at  the  meeting,  which  ended  in  a  way  the  most  satis- 
factory. We  afterwards  dined  together.  In  the  evening  I 
addressed  a  public  meeting  of,  they  said,  at  least  1,600 — the 
large  area  of  the  church  being  crammed  in  every  corner.  It 
was  a  terrible  stew.  I  was  soon  in  a  regular  bath ;  my  very 
coat  being  wet  through ;  the  consequent  exhaustion  what 
might  be  expected.     But  the  result  more  than  made  up  for  all. 

"That  same  night  we  returned  to  Wick,  which  we  reached 
at  daybreak  next  morning.  On  Thursday  night  I  had  another 
public  meeting  at  Wick;  as  the  election-phrenzied  arrange- 
ments on  Fi'iday  prevented  its  being  held  on  that  day  as 
originally  intended.  Then  on  Sabbath  I  had  two  services — 
one  in  Pulteueytown,  the  other  in  Wick.  The  latter  tried  me 
greatly,  as  Thomson's  church,  when  crammed  as  it  was, 
contains  about  2,000.  During  the  service  I  was  greatly 
strengthened  in  body  and  otherwise ;  but  when  done,  I  felt 
so  gone,  that  I  could  only  get  home  and  throw  myself  into  bed, 
being  unable  to  sit  up  even  in  an  easy-chair.  But  this  morn- 
ing, through  the  really  fatherly  and  motherly  attentions  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomson  (whose  kindness  could  not  possibly  be 
surpassed)  I  felt  greatly  revived.  And  from  all  I  hear  I  have 
reajjcn  to  thank  God  for  the  service  of  yesterday,  which  seems 
to  have  been  owned  of  Him  in  a  peculiar  way.  To  Mr.  Thom- 
son many  have  spoken  with  tears  of  gratitude  for  impressions 


I9S  LIFE    OP   DR.    DUFF.  1S52, 

produced.  A  civic  dignitary,  not  usually  over-attentive  in 
religious  matters,,  told  him,  that  'he  could  listen  for  ever  to 
that  man/  and  begged  that  'when  the  collection  for  the 
Mission  commenced,  they  would  come  to  him.'  Now,  is 
not  this  a  smile  from  above?  It  is  the  Lord's  gracious 
way;  when  the  frown  comes  to  humble  one,  the  smile 
comes  to  cheer  up  again.  Praised  be  His  holy  name.  Sir 
George  very  kindly  sent  his  conveyance  for  me  to  Wiclr, 
and  I  am  now  under  his  roof — treated  by  this  man  of  God 
not  merely  as  a  brother,  but  as  if  I  were  his  superior !  Oh, 
what  a  softening,  subduing  power  is  grace !  How  it  brings 
down  all  lofty  imaginations !  and  brings  all  to  the  obedience 
of  Christ ! " 

Golspie,  I'lth  July. — ''What  I  long  for  is  a  little  repose,  to 
get  mind  and  body  brought  back  to  some  degree  of  equili- 
brium. What  with  incessant  travelling  and  speaking,  for  the 
last  two  nights  I  have  had,  on  one  only  two  hours  sleep,  and 
the  other  three,  that  I  might  now  almost  sleep  standing.  I 
have,  however,  experienced  mnch  of  the  loving-kindness  of 
the  Lord;  and  that  makes  up  for  all  fatigues,  so  far  as  the 
spirit  is  concerned.'' 

Alness,  24^/i  July. — "  Your  two  most  welcome  letters  were 
waiting  me.  For  them,  and  especially  the  long  and  affec- 
tionate letter  of  the  19th,  I  return  my  warmest  thanks.  Truly 
the  19fch  July,  1834  (day  of  first  departure  from  Calcutta, 
vol.  i.  page  269),  was  an  ever-memorable  day  in  our  eventful 
history.  And  I  always  feel  that  it  would  be  the  basest 
ingratitude  to  our  heavenly  Father,  who  so  marvellously 
carried  us  through  the  trials  of  that  day,  to  forget  it. 
Yea,  if  I  forget  the  19th  July,  1834,  'let  my  right  hand 
forget  her  cunning ;  if  I  do  not  remember  it,  let  my  tongue 
cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth.'  This  I  do  not  feel  to  be 
too  strong  language  to  apply  to  a  day  of  such  signal  trials 
mingled  with  such  signal  mercies.  May  He  who  hitherto 
hath  spared  us  and  our  then  helpless  children  still  in  the 
land  of  the  living,  mercifully  continue  to  spare  us  all  still — ■ 
that  as  living  monuments  of  His  mercy  and  grace  we  may  con- 
tinue to  celebrate  His  praise." 

26^/i  July. —  (Dr.  Duff  had  feared  that  he  could  not  nsfeet 
his  daughter  and  her  husband  before  they  returned  to  India.) 
"  I  now  do  thank  God,  my  heavenly  Father,  for  removing  my 


Mi.  46,  HOLY  COMMUNION    AT   ALNESS.  I99 

fears  on  this  head — fears,  the  ofTspring  of  disappointment  at 
the  thought  of  not  meeting  the  objects  of  affection.  R/s 
note  again  revived  my  sorely  wounded  and  drooping  spirit- 
And  yesterday  was  a  precious  day  to  me.  At  the  Assembly, 
Mr.  rijter,  (from  his  daughter  being  married  to  one  of  our 
missionaries,  and  from  General  Munro,  who  did  such  noble 
work  in  Travancore,  beiug  his  principal  support)  secured 
from  me  a  conditional  promise  that  I  would  preside  on  the 
occasion  of  his  sacrament.  The  English  services  were  in 
the  chui'ch ;  the  Gaelic  services  outside  in  a  neighbouring 
wood,  fitted  up  with  benches,  tent,  etc.  I  had,  therefore,  the 
English  action  sermon,  fencing  the  tables,  and  the  serving  of 
the  first  table — occupying  altogether  upwards  of  three  hours. 
The  day  was  wet ;  the  church,  a  large  one,  crammed,  passages 
and  all.  There  was  not  a  breath  of  air.  So  it  was  a  vapour- 
bath,  somewhat  like  Calcutta  at  the  end  of  the  wet  season 
I  was  drenched  clean  through — my  very  coat  soaking  through. 
But  notwithstanding,  it  was  to  my  own  soul  a  mighty  re- 
freshment; I  had  glorious  views  of  the  Saviour's  finished 
work,  and  His  gracious  nearness  in  the  communion.  By  His 
blessing  othei'S  appear  to  have  been  similai-ly  refreshed.  Oh 
that  such  vivid  impressions  were  abiding  !  But  it  seems  too 
much  for  earth,  and  for  human  nature,  in  its  present  state,  to 
expect  this.  It  is  only  in  heaven  that  the  glorified  soul  and 
body  can  sustain  uninterrupted,  bright  and  immediate  vision 
of  the  Triune  Jehovah. 

Neae  the  Foot  op  Ben  Nevis,  \2th  Aug. — "I  am  seated 
at  a  window  looking  across  on  Ben  Nevis,  which  has  not 
yet  uncovered  its  brow  from  its  nightcap  of  clouds.  But  the 
whole  scene  is  elevating  and  imposing.  On  Tuesday  morning 
I  came  from  Culloden  House  to  attend  the  meeting  of 
presbytery  at  Inverness;  besides  members  a  large  body  of 
elders  and  deacons  attended  from  different  congregations, 
town  and  country.  In  the  end  all  veiy  cordially  agreed  to 
work  out  the  association  plan.  In  the  evening  a  large  public 
meeting  ...  I  went  up,  as  all  others  did,  to  the  fall  of 
Foyers  as  the  morning  was  fi-ue — going,  seeing,  and  returning 
to  the  steamer  all  within  the  hour.  I  will  not  here,  even  had 
I  time,  indulge  in  the  ordinary  poetic  sentimentalisms  about 
cataracts.  The  whole  scenery  is  certainly  very  rugged  and 
grand.     I  had  no  previous  adequate  idea  of  the  beauty  here. 


200  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1852. 

and  ruggedness  there,  and  towering  grandeur  yonder,  of  the 
scenery  along  the  Caledonian  Canal.  But  the  gem  in  the 
whole  was  Glengarry  House  and  woody  heights,  while  the 
sublime  (next  to  Ben  Nevis)  was  in  the  Glengarry  hills.  I  do 
not  now  wonder  that  your  youthful  fancy  was  fired  in  these 
regions.  I  thought,  as  I  passed,  that  I  saw  you,  in  mental 
vision,  skipping  along  these  beautiful  lawns  and  banks  and 
sloping  acclivities — in  all  the  gay  and  buoyant  vigour  of 
eighteen.  And  I  trow  that  among  all  the  gazers  on  that 
scene  of  inspiring  and  exhilarating  joy,  there  would  be  no  one 
more  joyously  elastic  than  my  own  beloved  partner.  But  then, 
probably,  this  worlds  with  its  phantasmagoria  of  fleeting 
dreams,  may  have  occupied  the  chief  place  in  her  affections ; 
while  now,  praised  be  God,  the  enduring  realities  of  the 
everlasting  future  in  the  realms  of  day,  have  acquired  their 
proper  ascendancy;  and  so  the  sober  pursuits  of  49,  Minto 
Street,  Newington,  may  be  not  only  more  profitable,  but  in 
reality  more  prolific  of  pure  joy  to  the  spirit,  than  the  gay  some 
lightsome  buxom  joyousnesses  of  Glengariy  in  the  days  of 
blooming  and  elastic  girlhood." 

Portree,  Skye. — "  The  elite  of  the  whole  Free  Church 
population  of  the  island  were  there,  from  end  to  end — many 
from  fifteen,  twenty,  twenty-five,  and  even  thirty  miles  dis- 
tant j  several  too  of  the  leading,  would-be  great  men  still 
connected  with  the  Establishment;  and  the  moderate  minister's 
own  wife.  It  was  a  great  day  at  Portree  and  Skye.  So  it 
was  felt,  I  do  believe.  The  services  beginning  at  about 
eleven  did  not  end  till  about  six.  And  all  that  time  the  great 
bulk  of  the  audience  sat  still  without  once  moving  from  their 
seats.  Feeling  myself  in  much  weakness  and  not  a  little 
mental  depression,  I  could  scarcely  tell  from  what,  I  found 
more  than  ordinary  freedom  in  addressing  sinners,  and  could 
see  from  the  countenances,  and  the  tearful  eyes,  that  impi*es- 
sions  were  produced.  God  grant  that  they  may  prove  not 
ephemeral  impressions  on  the  mere  sensibilities  of  nature, 
but  living  impressions,  inwrought  by  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  After  sermon  old  Mrs.  •  McDonald  came  forward  to 
embrace  me.  She  had  remained  purposely  for  a  fortnight  to 
witness  the  opening  of  the  church.  Again  came  back  to 
Portree  about  noon,  met  the  presbytery  of  Skye;  then 
addressed  a  public  meeting  in  the  church,  which  again  was 


JEi.  46.  EMIGRANTS    LEAVING    SKYE.  20I 

thronged.  At  some  of  the  statements  and  appeals  many  wera 
weeping — my  prayer  was  that  their  hearts  might  bleed.  To 
these  people  such  statements  and  appeals  come  with  all  the 
force  of  novelty ;  hence,  doubtless,  in  part,  the  greatest  im- 
pressions produced  among  them.  All  seemed  to  rejoice  in  the 
Lord ;  and  the  Lord  grant  in  mercy  an  abundant  harvest ! 
After  the  meeting,  who  should  come  forward  to  hail  me,  but 
Miss  Grant,  sister  of  Dr.  J.  Grant,  of  Calcutta.  She  inquired 
most  earnestly  for  you.  As  the  steamer  was  to  take  on  board 
some  150  or  160  emigrants  for  Australia,  and  a  noisy  scene 
would  be  kept  up  all  the  night,  we  went  on  board  our  yacht  in 
the  Portree  harbour,  to  be  quiet  and  get  a  little  sleep.  Wake- 
ful as  usual,  I  was  up  at  three,  and  roused  the  others,  as  the 
steamer  was  to  leave  exactly  at  four, 

"At  Raasay,  Major  Darrock,  his  lady  and  daughter  and  sons 
came  on  board.  I  had  seen  them  at  Greenock.  They  are 
excellent  Christian  people.  They  had  been  on  a  visit  to 
Mr.  Rainy,  now  proprietor  of  Raasay,  and  uncle  of  Mr.  Daniels. 
Mrs.  Darrock  is  a  daughter  of  the  late  Mr.  Parker,  of  Glasgow, 
one  of  Dr.  Chalmers's  greatest  friends  and  supporters,  and 
doubtless  named  in  his  Memoirs.  I  remember  him  well,  when 
he  came  with  Dr.  Chalmers,  as  the  new  Professor  of  Moral 
Philosophy  at  St,  Andrews,  and  was  present  at  his  installation. 
I  spent  most  of  my  time  on  board,  in  the  fore  part  of  the 
vessel,  talking  to  and  counselling  the  poor  emigrants.  It 
was  a  sad  and  sorrowful  spectacle.  My  heart  really  bled  for 
them.  Some  of  them  looked  so  dejected  and  woe-begone. 
Some  kept  gazing  at  their  beloved  Skye,  quite  overcome  at 
the  thought  of  their  never  seeing  it  any  more.  Some  appeared 
to  feel  most  of  all  at  the  prospect  of  being  without  the  means 
of  grace  in  the  strange  land  whither  they  were  going.  To 
them  all  it  looked  like  a  plunge  into  the  dark — a  leap  in  a 
vacuum.  Uneducated,  they  knew  not  what  Australia  was, 
nor  where  it  was,  nor  what  to  believe  concerning  it.  One 
poor  woman,  who  was  sobbing  and  weeping,  asked  me  '  if  it 
was  not  a  wild  country  and  full  of  wild  people,^  and  got  no 
little  comfort  from  my  assurances  to  the  contrary.  She  seemed 
to  be  wholly  I'elieved  on  that  head,  when  I  informed  her  that 
I  had  myself  been  upwards  of  twenty  years  in  a  wilder 
country  and  among  a  wilder  people,  as  I  had  been  among  down- 
right heathen,  whereas  hhe  would  be  among  her  own  country- 


202  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1852. 

women,  who  were  at  least  nominally  Christian.  At  Broad- 
ford  a  fresh  batch  of  emigrants  were  taken  in.  One  of  the 
boatmen  was  an  awful  specimen  of  profanity — cursing  and 
swearing  most  vociferously.  I  have  not  for  many  a  day — and 
never  in  the  Highlands — heard  anything  like  it.  I  went 
forward  and  looked  gravely  at  him,  speaking  a  gentle  word  of 
admonition.  For  a  moment  he  was  startled  and  arrested. 
But  speedily  he  recovered  himself,  and  said,  '  You  pray  too 
much — you  pray  too  much/  and  commenced  his  cursing  and 
swearing  anew.  I  could  only  leave  him,  commending  him  to 
the  mercy  of  that  gracious  God  whose  long-suffering  patience 
he  was  so  fearfully  abusing. 

"^  Reaching  Loch  Alsh,  and  bidding  good-bye  to  all  kind 
friends,  I  got  into  the  boat  in  which  Miss  Lewis,  of  Edinburgh, 
and  others  had  come  on  shore.  When  at  Lochcarron  I  had 
received  an  invitation  from  Mrs.  Lillingstone,  widow  of  the 
late  Mr.  Lillingstone,  proprietor  of  all  this  region  and  a  man 
of  extraordinary  benevolence,  who  gave  away  at  least  three- 
fourths  of  his  large  income  in  acts  of  philanthropy.  He  also 
has  large  property  in  England.  From  what  causes  I  cannot 
well  explain,  but  this  Highland  property  was  some  time  ago 
sold  to  Mr.  A.  Matheson,  but  Mrs.  Lillingstone  remains  in  the 
mansion  house.  About  eight  I  was  there,  and  received  with 
great  cordiality.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Matheson,  and  Miss  Palmer, 
and  other  guests  are  here.  I  am  to  have  a  meeting  here  this 
evening,  and  to-morrow  another  somewhere  in  this  quarter. 

"Portree  (in  Gaelic, 'King's  Harbour,'  as  there  James  V. 
stopped  in  his  northern  expedition  against  rebellious  chieftains), 
is  a  striking  land-locked  haven,  with  its  lofty  precipitous 
headlands  all  around,  and  Raasay,  with  its  peculiar  dome- 
surmounted  hill  in  front.  Raasay  House,  with  its  lawns  and 
woods,  takes  one  utterly  by  surprise,  after  traversing  the 
dreary  solitude  to  the  west.  Balmacura  combines  the  softly 
beautiful  and  the  sublimely  grand  in  scenery." 

HuNTLY  Lodge,  13th  October. — "A  most  delightful  meeting 
yesterday  with  the  presbytery  of  Strathbogie ;  and  in  the 
evening  a  grand  public  meeting.  One  of  the  presbytery  elders, 
Mr.  Stronach,  a  gentleman  of  property,  who,  as  magistrate, 
was  called  in  to  quell  the  disturbance  at  the  ever-memorable 
Marnock  settlement,  publicly  declared  that  it  was  what  dropped 
from  me,  on  my  visit  to  this  place,  seventeen  years  ago,  which 


ALt  46.  LIVING    MARTYRDOM.  203 

first  gavo  him  the  impnlso  townrd.s  missions,  an  imjDulso 
which  has  sustiiined  him  ever  since.  Singular  what  drops 
of  consohition  now  and  then  are  afforded  from  on  high.  In 
coming  from  Perth,  on  the  top  of  the  coach,  was  the  minister 
of  Cromarty.  He  told  me  that  a  member  (a  female)  of  his 
congregation  had  been  awakened  to  serifms  concern  for  her 
own  soul  by  my  address  at  Cromarty  and  that  she  was  a 
changed  character  ever  since.     The  Lord  be  praised  !  " 

Kincardine  O'Neil,  November  24th. — "  Before  leaving 
Rhynie  this  morning  I  wrote  a  short  note  to  W.  It  was 
piercingly  cold.  A  keen  hard  frost,  with  a  cloudless  sky,  and 
icy  wind.  Since  I  left  the  pulpit  on  Sunday  I  have  scarcely 
yet  got  into  anything  like  warmth,  either  by  night  or  by  day. 
I  have  felt  as  if  the  cold  wei-e  ooziug  through  my  whole  body, 
from  head  to  foot.  Down  in  this  region  of  Deeside  it  seems 
to  be  somewhat  milder.  But  what  with  unseasoned  rooms, 
and  unseasoned  beds,  and  frosty  air,  and  chills  after  full  meet- 
ings, I  feel  as  if  it  were  a  sort  of  living  martyrdom  to  be 
encountering  all  this,  with  concomitant  and  subsequent  physical 
miseries — freezing,  too,  the  flow  of  one's  thoughts,  and  petrify- 
ing the  genial  feelings.  But  most  gladly  would  I  bear  all,  and 
a  great  deal  more,  if  possible,  for  the  sake  of  Him  who  so 
loved  us  as  to  lay  down  His  very  life  for  us,  were  I  to  behold, 
substantial  fruit  to  His  praise  and  glory.  I  must,  however, 
leave  all  to  Him.  Outwardly  there  is  much  of  seeming  coun- 
tenance given.  What  I  lack  is,  real  fruit — deeds  of  faith, 
alike  in  doing  and  giving,  in  connection  with  the  Redeemer's 
cause.  My  own  shortcomings  are  ever  before  me,  and  the 
picture  of  them  present  to  the  mind  increasingly  painful. 
Nought  sustains  me  but  the  Divine  assurance  that  '  the  blood 
of  Christ  cleanseth  from  all  sin.'  Blessed  Saviour !  who 
would  not  then  cheerfully  toil  and  suffer  for  Thee  !  Oh  Thou, 
Whose  locks  were  so  often  wet  with  the  dews  of  night  when 
praying  on  the  mountain  solitudes  of  Judcea  for  a  sin-laden 
world ;  and  Who,  for  it,  didst  endure  the  agony  and  the 
bloody  sweat !  But,  that  world  shall  yet  be  Thine ;  and  in  it 
shalt  Thou  yet  be  gloriously  exalted  !  Oh  to  be  the  humblest 
servant  in  Thy  royal  train  and  retinue  !  " 

Banchory-Ternan,  November  2bth. — "  In  crossing  from 
Alford  I  had  a  magnificent  view  of  the  massive  and  lofty 
mountain   of    Lochuagar — I'eminded  thereby  of   the  unhappy 


204  ^I^^    0^    ^^'    DUFF.  1852. 

Byron.  Had  a  very  delightful  meeting  with  the  presbytery 
of  Kincardine  O'Neil;  and  to-night,  with  the  congregation 
here.  I  have  still  an  oppressive  cold  on  my  chest — nostrils 
running  without  ceasing,  with  cough.  In  my  bedroom  shut 
up  all  day,  till  I  went  out  to  the  meeting  at  six.  Unable  to 
speak  very  loud;  but  the  people  were  so  still  and  attentive, 
that  a  whisper  was  almost  heard  by  them.  I  am  more  than 
ever  convinced  that  if  I  could  only  visit  all  the  congregations 
in  person,  associations  would  at  once  be  organized  in  every  one 
of  them.  This  was  once  the  parish  of  the  celebrated  Principal 
Campbell,  who  wrote  the  famous  essay  on  Miracles  in  answer 
to  Hume.  The  ruins  of  his  manse  are  still  here.  The  whole 
of  Deeside  was  wont  to  be  a  regular  preserve  of  the  Moderates. 
It  is  cancered  all  over  with  Moderatism  still.  Oh,  for  a  life- 
breath  from  heaven  to  stir  up  the  dead  ! 

"  To-morrow  I  expect  to  go  by  coach  to  Aberdeen,  distant 
eighteen  miles;  and  thence  to  Mr.  Thomson's,  of  Banchory 
House,  brother-in-law  of  the  Misses  Fraser,  who  did  so  much 
for  our  new  library." 

Banchory  House,  December  6th. — "  The  loving-kindness  of 
the  Lord  in  directing  me  hither  has  been  unspeakable ;  and  I 
do  desire  to  cherish  a  deeper  sense  of  gratitude  towards  Him, 
who  is  the  Author  of  all  these  mercies.  I  have  been  terribly 
beset  by  all  sorts  of  applications  fi'om  all  sorts  of  persons  and 
societies  for  all  sorts  of  objects.  From  the  shortness  of  my 
sojourn,  it  has  been  utterly  impossible  for  me  to  attend  to  the 
great  bulk  of  them.  But  as  a  specimen  of  the  way  in  which  I 
am  sometimes  captured,  in  spite  of  every  eiffort  to  escape,  I 
shall  briefly  narrate  the  facts  of  a  case. 

"  Some  weeks  ago  I  received  a  letter  asking  me  to  preach  a 
sermon  on  behalf  of  a  school  established  in  a  very  destitute 
locality  for  the  children  of  a  colony  of  poor  fishermen.  I  wi'ote 
to  say  that,  with  so  many  other  engagements  before  me,  which 
must  be  compressed  within  so  short  a  time,  I  could  not  honestly, 
commit  or  pledge  myself  in  any  way  to  preach  such  a  sermon ; 
but  that  if,  after  coming  to  Aberdeen,  I  found  my  strength 
equal  to  it,  I  had  all  the  heart  to  respond  to  such  a  call.  Well, 
when  I  saw  last  week  that  I  was  to  be  busied  every  day,  I 
said  that  I  could  not  engage  to  preach  the  sermon  until  I  saw, 
by  the  end  of  the  week,  how  I  bore  up  under  such  accumulated 
labour.     As  the  sermon  was  to  be  (if  at  all)  on  Sabbath  even- 


ALt.  46.  AN    ECCLESTASTICAL    FRAUD.  205 

ing,  it  would  be  time  enough  to  announce  it  at  the  preceding 
services  of  the  day.  Tlie  public  meeting  of  Thursday,  attended, 
they  say,  by  at  least  2,000  jammed  into  an  immense  edifice, 
well-nigh  felled  me.  Still  I  had  to  go  out  to  Skene,  twelve 
miles  distant,  to  hold  a  public  meeting  there  on  Friday  evening. 
Returning  to  town  on  Saturday,  I  addressed  a  large  body  of 
the  students  of  all  the  colleges,  at  2  p.m.  After  all  this  I  felt 
so  gone,  that  I  wrote  to  Mr.  Spence  to  say,  that  it  seemed  to 
me  physically  impossible  to  preach  on  Sabbath  evening  in  hia 
church,  which  holds  1,500  people;  seeing  that  I  had  under- 
taken a  double  service  (that  is,  a  sermon  and  missionary 
address)  in  the  Free  Church  here  (Banchory)  in  the  eai-ly  part 
of  the  day. 

"Judge  then  of  my  surprise,  when  about  nine  o'clock  at 
night  I  received  an  urgent  note  to  the  effect,  that  a  sermon 
from  me  had  actually  been  advertised  in  two  of  the  Aberdeen 
papers,  that  there  was  no  possibility  now  of  countermanding 
said  advertisements,  that  numbers  from  otlior  congregations, 
in  consequence  of  said  advertisements,  would  assemble,  etc. 
Well,  I  instantly  replied,  that  whoever  inserted  such  adver- 
tisements without  my  knowledge  or  permission,  yea,  quite 
contrary  to  the  understanding  between  Mr.  Spence  and  myself, 
had  perpetrated  a  fraud  and  moral  wrong ;  and  that  I  could 
not  in  any  way  be  responsible  for  a  failure  or  disappointment, 
seeing  that  I  was  no  party,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  the 
measure  which  occasioned  it — adding  that,  unless  I  got 
greatly  better  than  I  was  that  evening,  it  would  be  impossible 
for  me  to  preach  the  sermon  after  two  services  at  Banchory. 
On  Saturday  night  I  had  a  better  rest  than  ordinary,  and  so 
felt  greatly  x'elieved  on  Sabbath  morning.  I  then  reflected  on 
the  awkward  position  of  parties;  of  the  assembling  of  numbers, 
and  no  sermon ;  of  the  talk  and  gossip  to  which  this  would 
lead ;  of  the  necessity  of  my  publicly  explaining  the  fraud 
which  had  been  perpetrated  upon  me,  in  the  way  of  self- 
vindication,  and  in  proof  that  the  fault  was  not  mine;  of  the 
handle  which  might  thus  be  furnished  to  the  enemies  of  our 
Church  and  the  scandal  which  might  thereby  accrue  even 
to  the  cause  of  Christ;  and  in  the  end  concluded,  that  I 
had  better  throw  myself  on  the  grace  and  protection  of  a 
loving  Father,  who  knoweth  our  frame  and  remembereth  that 
we  are  but  dust.    Then,  early  yesterday  (Sabbath)  I  despatched 


206  LIFE    OP   DR.    DUFF.  1 85 3. 

a  special  message  to  Mr.  Spence,  to  say,  tliat  though  under  no 
moral  obligation  in  the  matter,  but  rather  the  conti*ary,  after 
such  fraudulent  usage,  I  would  for  the  sake  of  preventing 
scandal,  and  therefore  for  the  sake  of  Christ^s  cause,  endeavour 
to  do  what  I  could  in  the  evening. 

"  So,  our  services  here  occupying  from  twelve  to  three,  I 
hurried  to  my  present  home,  changed,  had  some  refreshment, 
and  off  at  five  to  Mr.  Spence's.  On  getting  there,  the 
front  door  could  not  be  approached  -,  the  church  was  full  and 
crowds  still  lingering  outside.  Round  we  went  to  a  back  lane, 
whence  was  a  private  way  to  the  vestry.  But  it  too  had  been 
taken  possession  of.  And  after  struggling  on  half  way,  I  fairly 
stuck  and  could  not  move ;  nor  could  any  one,  however  willing, 
all  were  so  closely  jammed  together.  It  then  occurred,  to  cry 
out  to  the  officer  within  the  vestry  to  open  the  door  and  let  a 
number  in,  so  as  to  allow  of  my  getting  forward.  This  suc- 
ceeded. In  a  moment  the  vestry  was  filled ;  but  I  got  in  on 
the  top  of  the  tidal  wave.  Happily  the  pulpit  was  near  the 
vesti-y,  so  I  got  into  it  at  last,  though  not  without  difficulty,  as 
the  stairs  were  crammed.  Through  the  service  I  got  in  a  way 
which  I  could  never  have  anticipated.  Verily  the  Lord  is  a 
covenant-keeping  God.  Never  was  I  more  conscious  of  a  real 
direct  answer  to  prayer.  Penetrated  with  a  sense  of  weakness 
in  every  sense,  I  did  throw  myself  absolutely  upon  the  Lord  for 
help  and  strength.  And  surely  He  did  uphold  me.  From  the 
earnestness  of  attention  manifested  it  appeared  that  the  truth 
was  telling.     The  Lord  seal  it  home  ! 

*'  This  morning  my  kind  host  and  hostess  had  the  whole  of 
our  Divinity  students  out  to  breakfast ;  I  talked  with  them 
till  twelve.'' 

Ayr,  htJh  February,  1853. — "  I  was  more  than  delighted  with 
my  visit  to  Kilmarnock.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Main  are  really 
excellent  people.  And  there  was  quite  an  outburst  of  enthu- 
siasm through  all  the  congregations  in  favour  of  my  associa- 
tion plan.  I  have  not  yet  met  anywhere  anything  so  thorough 
and  full-hearted.  It  was  all  the  more  remarkable,  inasmuch 
as  several  of  the  ministers  in  the  presbytery  spoke  stoutly 
against  it — not  the  minister  of  Kilmarnock.  They,  however, 
overshot  the  mark  ;  and  by  the  adverse  arguments  they  em- 
ployed— so  low,  so  carnal,  so  selfish,  so  grovelling,  so  earthy — ' 
they   only    stirred    up    the   better- minded   among    the    other 


^t.  47.  AT   KILMARNOCK   AND   STEANEAEE.  207 

miuisterSj  and  ciders,  and  deacons,  and  people,  to  come  forth, 
in  my  favour,  far  more  zealously  and  enthusiastically  than 
they  otherwise  Avould  have  done.  Pmised  be  the  overruling 
providence  of  a  gracious  God/* 

Wigtown,  10th  Fehruary. — *'Our  meetings  at  Stranraer 
were  very  pleasant.  When  I  was  there  fifteen  years  ago  there 
was  only  one  evangelical  minister  in  the  presbytery,  who  is  now 
in  the  Free  Church — Mr.  Urquhart,  of  Port  Patrick — with 
one  evangelical  assistant,  Mr.  Bell,  of  Leswalt,  Lady  Agnew's 
son-in-law.  At  that  time  a  presbyterial  association  was 
foi'med,  of  which  Mr.  Urquhart  was  secretary.  And  he  told 
us  the  other  day,  that  except  himself  and  another,  not  one 
acted  it  out.  Papers  and  circulars  were  sent  to  the  ministers, 
but  they  cast  them  aside  or  destroyed  them.  When  the  time 
agreed  upon  had  come  round  for  receiving  the  secretary's 
report,  the  presbytery  asked  him  politely  to  postpone  it  till 
towards  the  close  of  the  meeting,  when  the  press  of  business 
would  be  over.  When  the  close  approached  he  stood  up 
to  give  his  report,  and  instantly  one  and  all  of  the  ministers 
rose,  and  politely  bowing  to  him,  took  their  hats,  and  left  him 
alone  !     There  was  a  fine  exhibition  of  genuine  Moderatism  ! 

"  At  that  time  the  Establishment  had  no  church  in  Stranraer, 
and  our  public  meeting  was  held  in  the  Cameronian  Church, 
Dr.  Symington's.  I  was  told  the  other  day,  what  I  had  then 
forgotten,  that  in  my  address  I  spoke  very  strongly  about 
the  want  of  a  church  and  the  bickerings  and  divisions 
which  led  to  it — asking,  '  What !  had  the  curse  of  God 
lighted  on  the  place,  that  He  should  not  have  a  house  for  the 
honour  of  His  name  there  ?  '  This  appeal  was  taken  in  good 
part,  and  stiri*ed  up  some  present,  so  that  the  result  was,  the 
getting  up  of  a  q^ioad  sacra  church.  Others  at  the  meeting 
of  presbytery  remarked  that  impressions  were  then  produced 
in  many  minds,  which  survived  in  their  eflFects  to  this  hour — 
that  souls  had  been  quickened.  One  venerable  elder,  who 
was  an  elder  formerly  in  the  Cameronian  Church  but  is 
now  one  in  the  Free,  said  that  he  was  present  at  the  meeting 
eighteen  years  ago — that  things  were  then  said  which  made 
him  and  others  weep — but  that  he  did  not  observe  a  single 
tear  in  the  eyes  of  the  moderate  ministers.  And  when  I  had 
done,  his  exclamation  to  thos^e  around  him  was,  '  Where  got 
the  Establishment  that  man  ?  '     In  the  midst  of  many  cold- 


208  LIJPE    OF   BR.    DUPF.  1853. 

nesses  and  rebuffs  on  the  part  of  many,  it  is  clieering  to  one^s 
own  soul  to  find  that  the  Lord  has  been  graciously  pleased_,  in 
so  many  places,  to  honour  one's  message  in  dropping  some 
seeds  of  life  for  the  souls  of  others. 

Glencairn,  21st  November. — *^  We  had  scarcely  started  from 
the  Thornhill  station  in  an  open  gig,  when  it  began  to  rain. 
Soon  the  wind  rose  and  it  continued  to  blow  fiercer  and 
fiercer,  with  occasional  gusts  of  extreme  violence,  while  the 
rain  fell  heavier  and  heavier — all  direct  in  our  faces,  all  the 
way,  for  nine  long  miles,  over  an  undulating  hilly  country ! 
My  poor  throat,  which  you  remember  showed  signs  of  weakness 
on  Friday  night,  by  the  windy  drench  of  Saturday  has  been 
made  worse  than  it  has  been  since  last  spring.  But  it  is  all 
well  ordered.  Yesterday  I  preached  twice,  though  with  ex- 
treme difficulty  to  myself.  Happily  the  church,  being  one  of 
the  low-roofed  kind,  though  crowded  with  seven  or  eight 
hundred  people,  did  not  require  such  loud  speaking  as  many 
do.  This  morning,  a  clear  hard  frost ;  but  by  eleven  the 
mist  suddenly  descended,  and  has  put  an  end  to  our  in- 
tended drive  to  Glendarrock,  and  other  famous  martyr  scenes. 
Indeed,  all  the  way  on  Saturday,  when  sorely  pelted  with 
wind  and  rain,  my  thoughts  were  intensely  directed  to 
Renwick  and  his  shelterless  wanderings.  How  often  was  he 
exposed  to  windy  storm  and  tempest — di'enched  with  wet, 
shivering  with  cold,  famished  with  hunger,  with  no  covert  at 
the  end  of  exhausting  journeys  but  the  dripping  cave  in  the 
rock,  and  no  pillow  or  bedding  but  the  stony  or  damp  muddy 
floor !  Compared  with  his  sufferings  for  the  sake  of  the 
truth,  what  have  been  all  the  trials  and  exposures  to  which 
any  of  us,  in  these  days,  have  been  subjected !  My  soul, 
therefore,  instead  of  being  cast  down,  was  rather  uplifted 
in  gratitude  to  God  for  His  unspeakable  loving-kindnesses 
towards  me  and  mine.  Oh,  how  apt  we  are  to  murmur,  when 
at  any  time  deprived  of  any  little  comforts  to  which  we  may 
have  been  accustomed !  Why  not  always  reckon  that  our 
mercies,  whatever  these  may  be,  are  infinitely  beyond  what 
we  deserve  ?  " 

Kilmarnock,  2bth  Nov. — "I  long  to  hear  how  you  are  all 
getting  on  in  your  new  quarters.  Certainly  any  sort  of  settled 
home,  almost,  is  better  than  the  life  I  have  had  of  it  in  such 
tempestuous  weather  during  this  week,  with  so  many  meetings 


JEt  47.  MEMORIES    OF   THE   COVENANTERS.  209 

to  attend  alike  in  private  and  in  public.  But  having  a  work  to 
accomplish,  I  am  bent  on  overtaking  it,  looking  to  Him  who 
rides  on  the  wings  of  the  wind,  for  protection  and  support. 
Yesterday  continued  tempestuous ;  the  public  meeting  was  at 
half-past  six ;  and  what  between  the  commixtion  of  terrene 
elements  underneath,  and  of  liquid  elements  overhead,  and  a 
superincumbent  darkness  like  that  of  Egypt,  it  was  no  easy 
matter  to  work  our  way  into  the  church.  On  arriving  there 
I  was  astonished  to  see  so  large  an  audience  on  such  a  night 
of  darkness  and  of  storms.  I  hailed  it  as  a  token  for  good; 
and  though  in  much  weakness  bodily,  felt  greatly  cheered 
in  spirit.  There  is  a  latent  leaven,  a  deposit  from  covenanting 
times,  in  that  region  still,  which  is  beginning  to  show  some 
signs  of  incipient  fermentation.  It  was  to  the  cross  of  San- 
quhar that  Cameron  affixed  his  famous  Declaration,  and  sub- 
sequently Reuwick  affixed  his — the  Declai-ations  adhesion  to, 
or  repudiation  of  which,  was  the  judicial  test  for  convicting 
or  acquitting  the  Covenanters  of  the  alleged  crime  of  dis- 
loyalty or  high  treason.  The  cross  itself  was  taken  down 
a  good  many  years  ago,  in  improving  the  burgh.  The  top 
stone  of  it  was  taken  possession  of  by  one  of  the  workmen, 
in  whose  house  it  was  used  as  a  stool  for  the  children  at  the 
ingle-sido.  This  being  known,  some  of  the  Free  Churchmen 
obtained  it  for  a  consideration ;  and  now  it  is  set  over  the 
porch  of  the  Free  Church,  as  if  to  symbolize  to  the  eyes  of 
sense  the  fact  that  the  Free  Church  is  the  body  which  has 
taken  up  and  perpetuated  the  principles  for  which  the  heroes 
of  the  Covenant  suSered  and  died  !  Of  the  doings  and  suflfer- 
ings  of  these  men,  of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy,  the 
whole  neighbourhood  abounds  with  traditions  handed  down 
from  sire  to  son.  Sanquhar  lies  about  the  centre  of  the  coun- 
ties of  Lanark  and  Dumfries,  Galloway  and  Ayr,  in  the  moun- 
tain wildernesses  and  remote  solitudes  of  which  the  storm  of 
persecution  chiefly  raged,  as  it  was  among  the  almost  endless 
and  labyrinthine  moors  and  mosses,  glens  and  ravines,  thickets 
and  forests,  caves  and  dens  of  these  upland  wilds,  that  the 
fugitives  from  a  savage  persecution  sought  refuge.  This  led 
to  the  celebrated  saying  of  Renwick,  that  '  the  moors  and 
mosses  of  the  west  of  Scotland  were  flowered  with  martyrs, 
and  that  if  God  would  bo  confined  to  a  place,  it  would  be  these 
wildernesses.'  The  vivid  recalling  of  all  these  scenes  greatly 
VOL.  II.  r 


2  10  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1853. 

affected  my  own  spirit^  and  seemed  to  vibrate  through  every 
fibre  of  my  being,  imparting  a  peculiar  hue  to  my  thoughts, 
and  intonation  to  my  words  in  utterance. 

Stewarton,  28th  November. — "Fi'iday  evening  wa3  most  tem- 
pestuous at  Loudoun,  and  the  night  seemed  the  very  black- 
ness of  darkness.  The  modern  village  is  called  Newtnilns, 
the  old  one  having  been  removed  to  clear  and  enlarge  the 
parks  of  Loudoun  Castle.  It  contains  about  2,500 — mostly 
weavers,  and  nearly  half  of  them  avowed  infidels  and 
notorious  drunkards !  It  is  really  awful  to  hear  of  such  a 
state  of  things  anywhere  in  Scotland.  Once  on  a  time  the 
people  of  Loudoun  were  religious — fought  bravely  for  the 
Covenant ;  while  the  earl  was  foremost  in  the  good  cause, 
his  name  being  attached  to  the  Covenant.  But  a  succession 
of  moderate  ministers  sucked  the  very  life-blood  out  of  the 
people ;  and  in  two  or  three  generations,  the  descendants  of 
godly  ancestors  lapsed  into  the  brutalities  of  heathenism. 
Mr.  Noble,  our  minister,  who  is  married  to  a  Ross-shire  lady,  is 
a  truly  good  man,  and  is,  thank  God,  succeeding  in  making  an 
impression  on  the  mass.  On  Friday  evening,  I  was  amazed  to 
see  so  many  turn  out — mostly  men  too  ! — with  the  pale,  lank 
countenances  of  the  loom  and  its  confined  atmosphere.  More 
intense  attention  there  could  not  be. 

"Dr. Laurie's  (of  Madras)  father  and  grandfather  were  minis- 
ters of  Loudoun — both  Moderates.  By  the  way,  did  I  ever  tell 
you  the  tragic  story  he  related  to  me  about  the  last  Earl  of 
Loudoun,  father  of  the  last  Countess  of  Loudoun  who  became 
Marchioness  of  Hastings,  and  virtual  queen  of  India  for  some 
yea,r8.  When  Laurie's  grandfather  was  minister,  the  earl  at- 
tended in  church  on  the  sabbath-day  as  usual.  At  the  close  of 
the  service,  he  asked  (what  he  never  did  before)  the  minister  to 
accompany  him  to  dine  at  the  castle.  This  the  minister  stoutly 
refused  to  do,  as  he  had  made  a  rule  of  never  dining  out  on  the 
sabbath.  The  earl  importuned,  the  minister  still  declined.  At 
last  the  earl  said,  '  At  any  rate  you'll  not  refuse  a  drive  to  the 
manse  ? '  The  road  to  the  castle  happening  to  pass  close  to  the 
manse,  this  the  minister  could  not  well  decline.  So  they  drove 
on.  As  they  approached  the  manse  the  minister  reminded  the 
earl,  that  he  might  ask  the  coachman  to  stop.  But  instead  ot' 
this,  he  urged  the  coachman  to  quicken  the  horses'  pace  towards 
the  castle.    The  minister  being  thus  carried  thither,  in  spite  of 


^t.  47.  A   TRAGEDY.  211 

himself,  thought  it  as  well  to  st;iy  to  dinner,  as  the  earl  was 
alone.  By  one  means  and  another  the  earl  contrived  to  keep 
him  all  night  at  the  castle.  At  dawn  the  minister  was  up  and 
out,  and  on  his  way  down  the  lawn,  when  he  heard  the  report 
of  a  gun  from  the  castle.  He  turned  back,  saw  the  servants 
in  commotion;  hastened  where  he  saw  them  rushing,  and  soon 
was  in  the  earl's  bedroom,  on  the  floor  of  which  he  lay  welter- 
ing in  his  blood — and  soon  died — a  suicide !  Then,  from  a 
document  on  his  table,  it  was  found  that  he  committed  his 
only  child,  then  an  infant  of  about  five  years  of  age,  to  the  solo 
care  and  guardianship  of  Laurie,  the  minister  !  This  was  the 
after  Marchioness  of  Hastings  !  And  the  unhappy  father  had 
evidently  wished  that  the  minister  should  be  in  the  castle  at 
the  time  of  the  tragic  event,  that  he  might  be  more  affected 
and  drawn  towards  the  fatherless  child  !  Of  course  Laurie  did 
his  best  to  discharge  a  trust  so  extraordinarily  committed  to 
him.  What  is  title,  what  is  fortune,  what  is  noble  descent, 
if  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  of  gi'ace  and  of  a  sound  mind  be 
wanting  !  Let  us  thank  God,  and  learn,  in  whatever  state  we 
are,  therewith  to  be  content. 

Kilmarnock,  bth  December. — "  We  had  a  large  meeting  in 
the  spacious  kitchen  of  Pei'ceton  House  on  Saturday  evening, 
when  the  missionaiy  boxes  of  Sabbath  school  children  were 
opened  and  I  addressed  old  and  young  on  the  subject  of  Mis- 
sions. Being  crowded,  it  was  very  stirring  and  iuterestiug.  Real 
good  was  done,  and  that  always  is  a  recompense  to  me  for  any 
extra  labour  or  fatigue.  The  exercises  were  very  refreshing; 
Main's  sermon  admirable.  I  partook  of  the  communion  with 
great  joy,  and  in  the  evening  preached  to  a  huge  and  dense 
multitude.  The  church  being  much  heated  1  came  home 
dripping.  Throughout  the  night,  being  very  restless  and  half 
awake,  the  enemy  took  advantage  of  my  physical  weakness  to 
tempt  me  with  wretched  thoughts  and  horrid  dreams  !  How 
I  longed  for  the  morning  !  My  prayer  was  to  Him  who  said, 
'  Get  thee  behind  Me,  Satan,'  and  I  rose  unref reshed  in  body, 
and  cast  down  and  disquieted  in  mind.  This  forenoon  Mr. 
McFarlane  of  Monckton,  son  of  the  late  Dr.  McFarlane  of 
Greenock,  preached  on  John's  Gospel  vi.  16-21,  and  made 
many  remui-ks  singularly  applicable  to  my  state  of  mind.  I 
felt  it  to  be  an  answer  to  prayer;  and  sinking  as  I  felt  my- 
self in  the  deep  waters,  I  seemed   to  hear   the   voice   of  the 


212  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1853. 

Redeemer,  '  Fear  not,  it  is  1/  and  the  '  Oh  ye  of  little  faith ' 
from  those  gracious  lips  at  once  repi'oved  and  uplifted  me. 
Praise  be  to  His  holy  name !  At  half-past  two  I  met  the 
body  of  collectors  connected  with  the  three  congregations, 
and  addressed  them  with  much  comfort  for  an  hour.  A  goodly 
number  of  friends  are  to  be  here  to  dinner  at  four ;  and  this 
evening  I  return  to  Perceton,  and  to-morrow  meet  the  Ayr 
presbytery.  I  am  dunned  and  pestered  beyond  measure  with 
applications  to  speechify,  preach,  etc.,  for  all  sorts  of  things 
under  the  sun.  Besides  those  forwarded  by  you  I  received 
many  more  directly.  Really,  it  consumes  the  languishing 
remnant  of  my  life  blood  to  be  answering  these,  as  I  must  do, 
for  the  most  part  in  the  negative. 

Ayr,  9th  December. — "  We  have  had  great  doings  here.  The 
people  are  all  in  a  blaze,  alike  about  home  and  foreign  objects. 
They  were  in  a  very  sleepy  state.  But  the  Lord  has  given  me 
astonishing  freedom  of  speech  amongst  them.  And  it  has 
evidently  been  blessed.  To  me,  personally,  it  is  very  exhaust- 
ing. But  I  grudge  nothing  when  I  see  good  fruit.  Last  night 
the  public  meeting,  which  began  at  seven,  did  not  break  up  till 
eleven  o'clock !  I  have  yet  a  good  deal  of  work  before  me. 
To-day  I  return  to  Perceton,  on  my  way  to  the  higher  parts 
of  Ayrshire — Catrine,  Old  Cumnock,  etc. 

"After  I  wrote  to  you  from  Kilmarnock  I  balf  repented  of 
having  done  so.  But  the  truth  is,  that  it  is  some  relief  to  the 
mind  to  get  itself  disburdened.  And  to  whom  can  I  disburden 
it,  if  not  to  you — -the  partner  of  my  joys  and  sorrows  for  nearly 
a  quarter  of  a  century?  No  one  can  ever  fully  know  how 
much  I  often  suffer,  both  in  mind  and  body,  in  the  midst  of 
these  frequent,  prolonged,  and  violent  exertions.  And  to  none 
but  youi'self  can  I  ever  moot  the  subject  except  in  the  vaguest 
and  most  general  terms.  In  the  excitement  of  speaking,  the 
spirit  forgets  the  fragility  of  the  body;  and  therefore,  people 
think  me  strong.  Ah,  if  they  could  see  me  in  my  solitary 
chamber,  all  alone,  after  such  meetings  as  last  night,  their 
congratulations  on  my  supposed  strength  would  be  ex- 
changed for  downright  commiseration.  The  whole  fx'ame 
feverish — the  whole  nervous  system,  from  the  brain  down- 
wards, in  a  state  of  total  unrest.  The  very  tendency  to  sleep 
gone.  Going  to  bed,  as  this  morning,  at  half-past  one,  not 
from  sleepiness  but  from  inability  to  sit  up  longer  through 


ALt  47-        CLOyE    OF   THE    CAMPAIGN    IN    SCOTLAND.  213 

exhaustion.  Turning  and  tossing  from  side  to  side,  and  long- 
ing for  sleep.  Then  drowsiness,  and  half-sleep,  and  horrid 
dreams,  and  longing  for  the  morning's  dawn.  Getting  up 
disquieted  and  uurefreshed,  to  meet  a  company  at  breakfast — 
with  aching  head  besides,  and  sorish  throat.  Necessity  for 
appearing  as  pleasant  as  may  be,  so  as  not  to  damp  or  dis- 
courage others ;  and  every  effort  in  this  way  only  increasing 
the  pain.  But  enough ;  I  must  say  no  more  on  such  a  subject. 
Yet,  the  Loi*d  be  praised !  in  the  midst  of  all  this  I  have 
gleams  and  intervals  of  real  spiritual  enjoyment.  Indeed, 
when  most  weak  and  pained,  often  is  that  enjoyment  propor- 
tionally increased.  And  then,  the  favour  which  the  Lord 
shows  me  in  the  sight  of  His  people,  and  the  good  so  often 
unexpectedly  achieved — all  this  makes  me  feel  that  what  I 
sufter  is  the  discipline  of  a  Father's  rod  to  keep  me  humble  in 
walking  before  Him. 

"  I  am  alarmed  at  what  you  say  about  the  statements  in  the 
American  paper.  Such  things  often  exceedingly  vex  and 
annoy  me.  It  is  all  well  enough  to  thank  God  for  any  instru- 
ments He  may  raise  up.  It  is  quite  another  matter  to  speak 
or  write  of  them  in  exaggerj-ited  terms  amounting  to  flattery, 
and  so  far,  to  a  disparagement  of  the  great  Giver.  At  public 
meetings  I  have  usually  got  quit  of  such  things  by  com- 
mencing at  once  my  address  when  the  prayer  ends.  But 
sometimes  (not  often)  the  minister  praying  has  taken  it  into 
his  head  formally  to  inti'oduce  me  to  the  audience ;  and  then 
to  speak  of  me  in  a  way  that  has  disturbed  and  discomposed 
my  spirit.  In  such  cases  I  am  always  conscious  of  not  getting 
on  hdf  as  well  as  when  I  am  allowed  to  begin  without  a  word 
being  said  about  me." 

All  over  Scotland  and  in  many  a  manse  there  are 
still  grateful  memories  of  these  tours.  Among  others 
the  Rev.  T.  Main,  then  of  Kilmarnock  and  now  of 
Free  St.  Mary's,  Edinburgh,  and  convener  of  the  Foreign 
Missions  Committee,  thus  recalls  the  time  : 

*'  The  weeks  during  which  it  was  our  privilege  to 
have  Dr.  Diifl:  under  our  roof  formed  a  happy  time. 
He  grew  in  our  affection  and  admiration.  To  sympa- 
thise with  him  in  his  work  went  straight  to  his  heart. 


214  LIFJ3    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1853. 

He  lived  a  most  laborious  life.  His  days  were  spent 
in  his  room  in  writing  papers  and  conducting  corres- 
pondeuce.  At  this  time  he  was  busily  engaged  in 
matters  connected  with  the  Indian  Despatch  of  1854, 
which  entailed  on  him  a  great  amount  of  toil.  He 
kindly  gave  his  evenings  to  us,  pouring  forth  an  amaz- 
ing wealth  of  information.  In  doing  so  he  was  un- 
consciously revealing  a  most  capacious  memory,  an 
observant  eye  and  a  loviug  heart.  One  of  the  chief 
difficulties  that  stood  in  the  way  of  the  formation  of 
Associations,  was  the  burden  of  pecuniary  reponsibility 
that  rested  on  most  if  not  all  of  the  congregations. 
Dr.  Duff  felt  its  force,  and  set  himself  with  self-denying 
devotedness  to  render  assistance  in  helping  to  clear  it 
out  of  the  way.  I  have  never  seen  any  one  so  singu- 
larly sensitive  as  he.  The  effect  was  immediate.  A 
want  of  sympathy  repelled  him,  the  reverse  attached 
and  drew  him  out.  This  was  not  the  result  of  self- 
consciousness  from  the  consideration  of  the  position 
he  occupied  and  what  was  due  to  himself ;  it  was  an 
instinct  of  his  moral  nature.  It  was  not  he,  but  Christ 
that  throbbed  within  him,  his  whole  frame  vibrating 
with  the  very  sympathies  of  Christ.  It  must  have 
been  to  him  no  ordinary  trial,  with  his  exalted  sense  of 
the  magnitude  of  the  enterprise,  its  close  connection 
with  the  glory  of  Immanuel  and  the  salvation  of  the 
myriads  of  lost  sinners,  to  be  brought  into  contact 
with  the  chilling  atmosphere  that  prevailed  around, 
and  the  grievously  defective  estimate  of  its  surpassing 
importance. 

"His  meeting  with  the  Ayr  presbytery  did  not  realize 
his  expectations,  for  wliile  the  brethren  received  him 
with  the  utmost  possible  respect,  they  did  not  see 
their  way  to  adopt  his  plan  of  a  quarterly  contribution. 
He  returned  so  sunk  in  spirit,  that  although  we  had 
a  large  party  to  meet  him  at  dinner  he  scarcely  opened 


^t.  47.  EFFECT   OF   THE    CAMPAIGN.  2  I  5 

his  lips.  On  the  way  to  the  evening  meeting  Mrs. 
Main  assured  him  that  all  would  come  right,  that  he 
would  have  a  large  and  enthusiastic  gathering.  The 
church  was  crowded ;  the  spectacle  inspired  him,  and 
he  poured  forth  one  of  his  most  fervid  and  impassioned 
appeals.  One  of  my  deacons  who  sat  beside  me  said, 
*  Did  you  ever  hear  anything  like  that  ?  it  is  like  Paul 
pleading  for  the  heathen  world.'  As  I  had  not  con- 
sulted with  my  office-bearers,  I  had  no  intention  of 
forming  a  Foreign  Mission  Association  that  evening, 
but  as  Dr.  Duff  went  on  I  felt  that  it  would  be  to 
lose  a  most  precious  opportunity  if  I  failed  to  do  so. 
As  Dr.  Duff  pronounced  the  benediction  I  ascended 
the  pulpit,  and  summoned  those  of  them  who  were 
members  to  remain  behind  for  the  purpose  of  forming 
an  association.  We  met  in  large  numbers.  The  ut- 
most enthusiasm  prevailed,  with  the  result  of  trebling 
the  contributions  from  the  congregation.  As  we 
walked  home  Dr.  Duff  was  like  another  man,  his  heart 
was  filled  with  joy  and  his  tongue  with  melody. 

"  The  exhaustion  of  such  a  long  day's  work  was  very 
great,  but  instead  of  retiring  to  rest  he  was  accustomed 
to  sit  in  his  room  till  sleep  overtook  him,  otherwise 
he  would  have  spent  a  feverish  and  sleepless  night. 
Althouofh  it  was  not  till  three  in  the  morninsr  that  he 
lay  down,  he  appeared  at  breakfast  as  fresh  and  cheer- 
ful as  possible. 

"  A  little  incident  occurred  that  evening  which  very 
deeply  affected  him.  One  of  my  people  in  humble  life 
made  her  way  to  the  vestry  and  asked  me  to  secure 
for  her  the  privilege  of  shaking  hands  with  Dr.  Duff. 
I  gladly  did  so.  Her  heart  was  full,  and  she  gave  brief 
but  expressive  utterance  to  her  feelings.  On  parting 
she  left  a  sovereign  in  his  hand  for  the  cause.  When 
I  told  him  how  scanty  and  precarious  her  subsistence 
was,  it  awakened  within  him  a  thrill  of  deep  emotion. 


2l6  LIFE    OP    DR.    DUFF.  1853, 

He  often  referred  to  it  as  an  illustration  of  the  great- 
ness of  the  sacrifices  made  by  the  poorest  of  the  people 
for  the  cause  of  Christ." 

So  ends  1853,  and  the  campaign.  But,  as  if  these 
toils  were  not  enough  for  soul  and  body,  continued  for 
the  four  years  which  followed  on  the  South  and  North 
India  tours  of  1849,  the  unwearied  apostle  of  India 
was  busy  at  the  same  time  in  seeking  and  sending  out 
new  missionaries,  like  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fordyce,  and 
Messrs.  T.  Gardiner  and  Pourie,  to  Calcutta ;  in  lec- 
turing to  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  in 
Exeter  Hall,  side  by  side  with  R.  Bickersteth,  Stowell, 
Baptist  Noel,  James  Hamilton,  Brock,  Arthur  and 
Candlish;  in  undergoing  frequent  and  long  examina- 
tions before  the  India  Committee  of  the  House  of 
Lords ;  in  helping  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society  to  conduct  its  Jubilee  in  1853,  and  raise  a 
Jubilee  fund ;  and,  finally,  in  discharging  the  onerous 
duties  of  Moderator  of  the  Free  Church  General  As- 
sembly. His  Exeter  Hall  lecture  on  "  India  and  its 
Evansfelization "  is  an  illustration  of  the  skill  with 
which  he  adapted  himself  to  such  an  audience  as  the 
young  men  of  London.  After  eighty  pages  of  a  suc- 
cession of  pictures  of  travel,  expositions  of  the  hoary 
creeds  and  rituals  of  the  East,  descriptions  of  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  British  Government  and  state- 
ments of  the  power  and  progress  of  Christianity,  he 
burst  forth  into  this  peroration : 

"  Strive  to  realize  the  height  and  grandeur  of  your 
obligation  to  the  millions  of  India's  poor,  cowering, 
abject  children ;  millions  laid  helplessly  prostrate  at 
our  feet  by  a  series  of  conquests  the  most  strange  and 
unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  all  time ;  millions  once 
torn  asunder  by  relentless  feuds  and  implacable  hatreds, 
now  bound  together,  and  bound  to  us,  by  allegiance 
to  a  common  Government,  submission  to  common  laws, 


^t.  47-  -^^P^AL  TO  THE  YOUNG  MEN  OF  ENGLAND.     21/ 

and  the  participation  of  common  interests  !  Here  is  a 
career  of  benevolence  opened  up  unto  you,  worthy  of 
your  noblest  ambition  and  most  energetic  enterprise. 
Shrink  not  from  it  on  the  ground  of  its  magnitude  or 
difficulties.  In  contests  of  an  earthly  kind  confidence 
in  a  great  leader,  with  the  heart-stirring  traditions  of 
ancestral  daring  and  prowess,  have  heretofore  kindled 
shrinking  cowardice  into  the  fire  of  an  indomitable 
valour.  When,  about  half  a  century  ago,  our  gallant 
but  vain-glorious  neighbours  boastfully  pointed  to 
*  the  rout  of  all  the  armies  and  the  capture  of  almost 
all  the  capitals  in  Europe,'  as  a  proof  of  the  invinci- 
bility of  their  own  arms,  and  the  utter  hopelessness  of 
any  further  resistance  or  defence,  the  historian  of 
Europe  tells  us  that  their  old  rivals,  the  English — at 
first  well-nigh  paralysed  by  the  halo  of  uninterrupted 
success  that  surrounded  their  foes — began  to  revive 
when  they  beheld  '  the  lustre  of  former  renown  shining 
forth,  however  dimly,  amid  the  blaze  of  present  vic- 
tory.' When  the  names  of  Cressy  and  Agiiicourt  and 
Blenheim  came  up  before  them  in  freshest  remem- 
brance, they  could  calmly  point  to  '  the  imperishable 
inheritance  of  national  glory ; '  their  soldiers,  their 
citizens,  were  alike  penetrated  with  these  recollections ; 
the  exploits  of  the  Edwards  and  the  Henrys  and  the 
Marlboroughs  of  former  times,  '  burned  in  the  hearts 
of  the  officers  and  animated  the  spirit  of  the  people.' 
Hence,  the  nation  at  length  rose  as  one  man  to  repel 
the  danger  of  Napoleon's  threatened  invasion ;  and 
hence,  speedily,  the  addition  of  Salamanca  and  Vit- 
toria,  Hugomont  and  Waterloo,  to  the  long  register 
of  England's  military  renown;  and  of  the  name  of 
Wellington  as  the  greatest  in  the  bright  roll  of  her 
warriors. 

"  But   England  has    had  other   battles,   and  other 
warriors,   and   other  exemplars,   nobler    still, — nobler 


2l8  LIFE    or   DE.    DCTFE.  1853. 

still  in  the  eye  of  Heaven  and  tlie  annals  of  eternity, 
however  bumble  and  unworthy  in  the  eye  of  carnal 
sense  and  the  records  of  short-lived  time.  And  it  is 
to  these  that  you  are  now  to  look,  when  invited  to 
enter  on  a  nobler  warfare — a  warfare  not  physical  or 
material,  but  moral  and  spiritual ;  a  warfare  not  with 
humanity  itself,  but  with  the  evils  that  plague  and 
exulcerate  it ;  a  warfare  not  with  men's  persons,  but 
with  their  ignorance,  their  follies,  their  errors,  their 
superstitions,  their  idolatries,  and  their  deadly  sins ;  a 
warfare  with  the  springs  and  causes  of  all  other  war- 
fare ;  a  warfare  whose  ends  and  issues  will  be,  the  ex- 
termination of  these  springs  and  causes  with  their  fatal 
consequences;  a  warfare  not  for  the  destruction  of  any, 
but  for  the  regeneration  of  the  whole  race  of  man  ; 
a  warfare  one  of  whose  richest  trophies  will  consist 
in  men's  beating  their  swords  into  ploughshares  and 
their  spears  into  pruning-hooks,  in  nation's  not  lifting 
up  sword  against  nation,  neither  learning  the  art  of  war 
any  more !  And  if,  in  entering  on  a  warfare  so  high,  so 
holy,  so  heavenly,  and  yet  so  arduous,  a  warfare  with 
legions  of  foes,  that  have  stood  their  ground  for  thou- 
sands of  years,  won  a  thousand  victories,  entrenched 
themselves  behind  a  thousand  battlements,  and  reared 
their  standard  on  a  thousand  fortresses  that  frown 
defiance  over  the  nations  ;  if,  in  entering  on  a  warfare 
so  terrible,  ye  are  apt  to  be  dispirited  and  cast  down, 
lift  up  your  eyes,  and  fix  your  gaze  on  the  lustre  of 
former  renown.  In  this  highest  and  noblest  depart- 
ment of  human  warfare,  ye  may,  with  rapt  emotions, 
point  to  another  '  imperishable  inheritance  of  national 
glory.'  Ye  may  point  to  the  illustrious  company  of 
England's  sages  and  worthies,  the  noble  army  of  her 
martyrs,  and  the  ten  thousand  scenes  that  have  been 
consecrated  by  their  testimony  and  their  blood.  Ye 
may  point  to  AV^ychffe,  the  morning  star  of  the  Refor- 


JF.t  47.  A   OLOUD    OF   WITNESSES.  219 

matioii,  whose  aslies,  as  noted  by  tlie  historian,  in  tlie 
execution  of  an  empty  insult,  were  exhumed  and 
thrown  into  a  neighbouring  brook — *  the  brook  con- 
veying them  into  Avon,  Avon  into  Severn,  Severn  into 
the  narrow  seas,  and  these  into  the  main  ocean ;  thus 
converting  the  ashes  into  an  emblem  of  the  Reformer's 
doctrine,  which  is  now  dispersed  all  over  the  world.' 
Ye  may  point  to  Cranmer,  and  Ridley,  and  Latimer, 
at  whose  stakes  were  lighted  a  fire,  which,  according 
to  their  own  prophetic  utterance,  by  Grod's  grace, '  will 
never  be  put  out  in  England.'  Ye  may  point  to  the 
Miltons  and  the  Bunyans,  the  sages  and  the  seers  of 
the  Commonwealth  and  Restoration.  Ye  may  point 
to  the  Howards  and  Wilberforces,  who  irradiated  the 
dungeon's  gloom,  and  struck  his  galling  fetters  from 
the  crouching  slave.  Ye  may  point  to  the  Martyns 
and  the  Careys,  the  Williams  and  the  Morrisons,  who, 
spurning  the  easier  task  of  guarding  the  citadel  at 
home,  jeoparded  their  lives  in  the  high  places  of  the 
field,  when  boldly  pushing  the  conquests  of  the  cross 
over  the  marshalled  hosts  of  heathendom.  And,  when 
ye  point  to  all  of  these  and  ten  thousand  more,  tell 
me  if  their  undying  achievements  do  not  burn  in  your 
hearts  and  animate  your  spirits,  and  incite  your  whole 
soul,  with  inextinguishable  ardour,  to  deeds  of  similar 
daring  and  of  deathless  fame  ?  Or, — oh,  mournful 
alternative  !  is  the  spirit,  the  redoubted  spirit,  of  Wy- 
cliffe  now  gone  from  amongst  us  ?  Is  the  light  of 
Cranmer,  and  Latimer,  and  Ridley,  now  beginning  to 
be  shrouded  in  darkness  ?  Is  the  seraphic  fire  of  Mil- 
ton and  of  Bunyan  for  ever  extinguished  ?  Has  the 
mantle  of  Howard  and  of  Wilberforce  dropped  to  the 
earth,  and  found  no  one  able,  or  willing,  or  worthy,  to 
take  it  up  ?  Is  there  no  soul  of  Martyn,  or  Carey,  or 
Morrison  left  behind  ?  or  is  their  unquenchable  zeal 
buried  with  their  mouldering  ashes  in  the  sepulchre  ? 


220  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF,  1853. 

And  wlien  tlie  distant  wail  of  the  perishing  in  other 
lands,  deadened  in  its  passage  by  ocean's  waves  to  the 
ears  of  sense,  sounds  piercingly  in  the  ear  of  faith, 
where  is  the  successor  of  the  martyr  of  Bramanga  ? — 
is  echo  still  left  to  answer,  Where  ? — and  again  mourn- 
fully to  reduplicate,  Where  ?  Forbid  it,  0  gracious 
Heaven !  Arise  then,  ye  Christian  young  men  of  Eng- 
land, and  vindicate  at  once  the  reality  and  purity  of 
your  descent  from  the  sages,  the  prophets,  the  wor- 
thies, and  the  martyrs  of  this  favoured  Patmos  isle,  by 
buckling  on  their  armour,  nerving  yourselves  with  the 
energy  of  their  faith  and  self-sacrifice ;  marching  like 
them,  when  duty  calls,  into  the  battle-field,  and  burn- 
ing for  the  posts  of  danger  where  these  foremost 
warriors  fell !  In  the  hour  and  crisis  of  England's 
peril,  the  greatest  of  her  naval  captains  hoisted  the 
watchword  of  death  or  victory,  in  words  familiar  but 
immortal, — '  England  expects  every  man  to  do  his 
duty.'  In  this  the  hour  and  crisis,  not  of  England's 
peril  merely,  but  of  the  world's  agony  and  travail,  well 
may  we  raise  the  standard,  emblazoned  with  the  watch- 
word, '  The  Church  of  Christ — Christ  Himself,  the 
great  Head  of  the  Church — expects  every  man,  every 
professing  member  and  disciple,  to  do  his  duty.' 

"  Arise  then,  ye  Christian  young  men  of  England, 
and,  under  the  banner  of  the  great  Captain  of  salva- 
tion, rally  your  scattered  forces !  Resolve,  as  if  ye 
sware  by  Him  that  liveth  for  ever  and  ever,  that  ye 
shall  re-exhibit  to  an  admiring  world  the  deeds  of 
bygone  heroism  and  renown.  With  such  a  Divine 
leader  to  guide  you,  such  ennobling  examples  to  in- 
spirit you,  and  such  a  brilliant  cloud  of  witnesses 
encompassing  you  all  around — the  final  conquest  is 
certain,  the  victory  sure.  Arise  then,  ye  Christian 
young  men  of  England,  and  through  you  let  the 
terrors  of  fire  and  sword,  the  faggot  and  the  stake, 


^t.  47-   GREAT    BRITAIN  S    DUTY    TO    CHRIST    AND    INDIA.     221 

be  warded  off  from  these  peaceful  shores — the  asyhim 
of  the  persecuted  of  all  lands — the  Thermopylae  of 
the  old  world's  endangered  liberties  !  Through  you, 
let  the  store-houses  of  British  beneficence  be  opened 
for  the  needy  at  home  and  the  famishing  abroad. 
Through  you,  let  Britain  discharge  her  debt  of  grati- 
tude and  love  to  the  ascending  Saviour,  her  debt  of 
sympathy  and  goodwill  to  all  nations.  More  espe- 
cially, through  you,  let  her  discharge  her  debt  of- 
justice,  not  less  than  benevolence,  to  India,  in  repara- 
tion of  the  wrongs,  numberless  and  aggravated,  inflicted 
in  former  times  on  India's  unhappy  children.  In 
exchange  for  the  pearls  from  her  coral  strand,  be  it 
yours  to  send  the  Pearl  of  great  price.  In  exchange 
for  the  treasures  of  her  diamond  and  golden  mines,  be 
it  yours  to  send  the  imperishable  treasures  of  Divine 
grace.  In  exchange  for  her  aromatic  fruits  and  gums, 
be  it  yours  to  send  buds  and  blossoms  of  the  Rose  of 
Sharon,  with  its  celestial  fragrancy.  In  exchange  for 
the  commodities  and  dainties  that  luxuriate  the  carnal 
taste,  be  it  yours  to  send  the  heavenly  manna,  and  the 
water  of  life,  clear  as  crystal,  to  regale  and  satisfy  the 
new-created  spiritual  appetency.  And  desist  not  from 
the  great  emprise,  until  the  dawning  of  the  hallowed 
morn  when  all  India  shall  be  the  Lord's  ; — when  the 
varied  products  of  that  gorgeous  land  shall  become 
visible  types  and  emblems  of  the  still  more  glorious 
products  of  faith  working  by  love ;  when  the  palm- 
tree,  the  most  exuberant  of  all  tropical  growths  in 
vegetable  nectar,  and  therefore  divinely  chosen  by 
inspiration  to  set  forth  the  flourishing  condition  of  the 
righteous,  shall  become  the  sensible  symbol  of  the 
dwellers  there,  who,  fraught  with  the  sap  of  the 
heavenly  grace,  and  laden  with  the  verdure  and  the 
fruits  of  righteousness,  shall  raise  their  voices  in  notes 
of  praise,  that  swell  and  reverberate  from  grove  to 


222  LIFE    or   DR.    DUFF.  1853. 

grove,  like  the  soft,  sweet  echoes  of  heaven's  own 
eternal  hallelujahs; — when  these  radiant  climes,  pre- 
eminently distinguished  as  the  '  climes  of  the  sun,'  shall 
become  the  climes  of  a  better  sun, — even  the  Sun  of 
Righteousness — vivified  bj  His  quickening  beams,  and 
illumined  with  the  effulgence  of  His  unclouded  glory : 

*  Be  these  thy  trophies,  Qneen  of  many  Isles  ! 
On  these  high  Heaven  shall  shed  indulgent  smiles. 
First,  by  Thy  guardian- voice,  to  India  led, 
Shall  Truth  Divine  her  tearless  victories  spread. 
Wide  and  more  wide,  the  heaven-born  light  shall  stream, 
New  realms  from  thee  shall  catch  the  blissful  theme ; 
Unwonted  warmth  the  softened  savage  feel. 
Strange  chiefs  admire,  and  turbaned  warriors  kneel 
The  prostrate  East  submit  her  jewelled  pride, 
And  swarthy  kings  adore  the  Crucified  ! 

Tes,  it  shall  come  !     E'en  now  my  eyes  behold, 
In  distant  view,  the  wished-for  age  unfold. 
Lo,  o'er  the  shadowy  days  that  roll  between, 
A  wandering  gleam  foretells  th'  ascending  scene ! 
Oh !  doomed  victorious  from  thy  wounds  to  rise, 
Dejected  India,  lift  thy  downcast  eyes  ; 
And  mark  the  hour,  whose  faithful  steps  for  thee, 
Through  time's  pressed  ranks,  bring  on  the  Jubilee !  *  ** 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

1851-1854. 

MODEBATOB   OF  TUB   GENERAL   ASSEMBLY.— BEFOBE 
THE  HOUSE  OF  LOBES'  INDIA  COMMITTEE. 

The  first  Missionary  Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly. — Learning 
and  Piety. —  Welcoming  the  Deputies. — Sir  John  Pirie. — The 
Twenty  Tears  Charters  of  the  E.  I.  Company. — Burke,  Fox, 
and  John  Stuart  Mill.— The  Reforms  of  1853.— The  India 
Committees  of  Lords  and  Commons. — Dr.  Duff's  Statesmanship. — ■ 
Letters  to  his  Hindoo  Students  and  his  Wife. — His  Evidence  on 
Judicial  and  Administrative  Questions. — Fighting  the  Earl  of 
Ellonborough. — Evidence  on  Education  and  Christian  Mis.sions. 
— Real  Author  of  the  Despatch  of  July,  1854. — Lord  Halifax 
and  Lord  Northbrook. — The  Educational  Charter  of  the  People 
of  India.  —  The  Universities.  —  The  Grant-in-aid  System.  — 
Death  of  Russomoy  Dutt  and  the  Christianizing  of  his  Clan. — 
A  Strange  Baptism. — Dr.  Duff  Sorrowing  jet  Rejoicing. 

At  the  unusually  early  age  of  forty-five  Alexander 
Duff  was,  in  1851,  called  by  acclamation  to  tlie  highest 
ecclesiastical  seat  in  Scotland,  that  of  Knox  and 
Melville,  Henderson  and  Chalmers.  His  immediate 
predecessor  had  declared  that  what  the  Preacher  of 
the  Old  Testament  calls  "  the  flourish  of  the  almond 
tree  "  had  been  the  chief  recommendation  in  his  case. 
The  still  young  missionary  found  his  qualification  in 
*'  the  office  which  it  has  been  my  privilege,  however 
unworthily,  amid  sunshine  and  storm,  for  nearly  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  to  hold — the  glorious  office  of 
evane^elist,  or  that  of '  makinor  known  the  unsearchable 
riches  of  Christ  among  the  Gentiles.' 

"  Wholly  sinking,  therefore,  the  man  into  the  office, 
and  desiring  to  magnify  my  office,  I  can  rejoice  in  the 
appointment.     In  the  early  and  most  flourishing  times 


2  24  LIPB    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1851. 

of  the  Cburcli,  tlie  office  of  tlie  apostle,  missionary,  or 
evangelist,  who  '  built  not  on  another  man's  founda- 
tion,' was  regarded  as  the  highest  and  most  honour- 
able. Those  who  thus  went  forth  to  the  unreclaimed 
nations  were  the  generals  and  the  captains  of  the  in- 
vading army  in  the  field,  while  bishops  or  presbyters 
were  but  the  secondary  commandants  of  garrisons 
planted  in  the  already  conquered  territory.  And  even 
in  later  times,  when,  in  the  progress  of  degeneracy 
and  amid  the  increasing  symptoms  of  decrepitude  and 
decay,  the  bishop  came  to  mount  the  ladder  of  secular 
ambition  over  the  more  devoted  and  self-denying  mis- 
sionary, the  office  of  the  latter  still  continued  to  be 
held  in  considerable  repute.  Hence  we  read  of  Augus- 
tine, and  Willibrord,  and  Winifred,  and  Anscharius,  and 
many  more  besides,  who  fearlessly  perilled  their  lives 
in  labouring  to  reclaim  the  Saxons,  Frieslanders,  Hes- 
sians, Swedes,  and  other  pagan  and  barbarous  tribes, 
being  afterwards  created  bishops  and  archbishops, 
in  acknowledgment  of  their  arduous  and  successful 
toils.  But  in  more  recent  times,  when  the  office  of  the 
missionary  fell  into  almost  entire  desuetude  among 
the  leading  Reformed  communities  of  Christendom, 
and  the  attempt  to  revive  it  was  at  first  denounced 
as  an  unwarrantable  intrusion  and  novelty,  the  name, 
once  so  glorious  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  came  to  be 
associated  with  all  that  is  low,  mean,  contemptible,  or 
fanatical ;  but,  praised  be  God,  that  of  late  years  the 
name  has  been  rescued  from  much  of  the  odium, 
through  a  juster  appreciation  of  the  grandeur,  dignity, 
and  heavenly  objects  of  the  office  that  bears  it.  For 
the  office's  sake,  therefore,  wholly  irrespective  of  the 
worthiness  or  unworthiness  of  the  individual  who  may 
hold  it,  I  cannot  but  hail  this  day's  appointment  as  a 
sure  indication  that,  whatever  the  case  may  be  with 
others,  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  has  fairly   risen 


JFA.  45.  LEARNING    AND    PlETi'.  225 

above  tlie  vulgar  and  insensate  prejudices  of  a  vaunt- 
ingly  religious  but  leanly  spiritual  age." 

Duff  was  the  first  missionary  who  had  sat  in  the 
Moderator's  chair  since  the  first  General  Assembly  in 
1 560 ;  but,  almost  without  precedent,  he  sat  there 
twice,  as  we  shall  see.  John  Wilson,  of  Bombay,  was 
the  second,  twenty  years  after.  Striking  off  from 
his  own  theme,  in  his  opening  and  closing  charges 
to  the  assembled  fathers  and  brethren  the  Moderator 
of  1851  occupied  himself  with  the  stirring  history 
and  the  consequent  responsibilities  of  the  Kirk  which, 
from  Knox  to  Chalmers,  had  fought  and  suffered  for 
spiritual  independence.  His  lesson  was  that  all  this 
struofo'Hncr  and  success  of  the  Kirk  are  but  means  to 
an  end — the  evangelization  of  the  world.  Reviewing, 
in  his  closing  charge,  the  proceedings  of  the  Assembly, 
which  had  been  much  occupied  with  an  elevation  of 
the  standard  and  an  extension  of  the  area  of  theolo- 
gical scholarship,  during  the  eight  years'  curriculum 
of  the  students,  he  found  himself  on  familiar  ground. 
"  It  ought  to  be  counted  one  of  the  chiefest  glories 
of  our  Church  that,  from  the  very  outset,  she  resolved 
with  God's  blessing  to  secure  not  only  a  pious  but  a 
learned  ministry."  "What  we  desiderate  is,  learning 
in  inseparable  combination  with  devoted  piety.  Piety 
without  learning !  Does  it  not  in  the  case  of  religious 
teachers  ever  tend  to  fanaticism  ;  would  it  not  be  apt 
to  make  the  life  of  the  Church  blaze  away  too  fast  ? 
Learning  without  piety  !  Does  it  not  ever  tend  to  a 
frigid  indifference;  would  it  not  soon  extinguish 
spiritual'  life  in  the  Church  altogether?"  But  a 
learned  ministry  is  apt  to  be  proud.  "  Did  it  ever 
occur  to  these  shrewd  observers  that  an  ignorant 
ministry  is  apt  to  be  conceited  ?  And  if  we  must 
choose  between  two  evils,  we  must,  according  to  the 
old  adage,  choose  the  least.      But  why  choose  at  all?' 

VOL.    11.  Q 


2  26  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  185 1. 

We  repudiate  absolutely  the  proudly  learned  as  mucli 
as  tlie  conceitedly  ignorant.  .  .  Surely  the  in- 
finitely varying  forms  of  open  and  avowed  infidelity 
in  our  day  render  it  more  tlian  ever  necessary  that 
the  department  of  Christian  evidence  or  apologetic 
theology  should  be  cultivated  to  the  uttermost,  and 
that  all  the  resources  of  sharpened  intellect  and  ex- 
tensive erudition  should  be  brought  to  bear  upon  it." 

In  the  delicate  duty  of  welcoming  and  bidding  God 
speed  to  the  deputies  from  the  Reformed  Churches 
of  France  and  Belgium,  England  and  Ireland,  of  the 
Presbyterian  rite,  Dr.  Duff  showed  his  wonted  tact  and 
fervour.  Pasteurs  Monod  and  Bost,  Durand  and 
Carnot  Anquier  represented  the  former;  Professor 
Lorimer  and  Mr.  R.  Barbour,  Dr.  Kilpatrick  and  Mr. 
Hamilton,  of  Belfast,  bore  the  greetings  of  the  latter. 
To  each  the  Moderator's  wide  experience  of  men  and 
countries,  of  churches  and  societies,  enabled  him  to 
say  something  pleasantly  personal.  M.  F.  Monod's 
Memoir  oE  Rieu  he  had  borrowed  from  an  American 
friend  in  Calcutta,  and  had  been  comforted  by  it.  M. 
Best's  brother  he  knew  as  a  missionary  in  Bengal.  In 
the  Belgian  deputies  he  saw  the  fruit,  through  Merle 
D'Aubigne,  of  Robert  Haldane's  zeal.  The  English 
deputation  led  him  to  quote  his  favourite  poet's  lines 
*'  On  the  New  Forcers  of  Conscience,"  in  order  to 
remark  :  "  If  a  mind  like  Milton's  could  have  laboured 
under  such  huge  misapprehensions  of  the  character, 
genius,  tendency  and  objects  of  Presbyterian  doctrine, 
discipline  and  polity,  are  we  to  wonder  that  num- 
bers of  the  unlearned  people  in  England  should  labour 
under  misapprehensions  still  greater?"  With  the 
Irish  representatives  he  found  common  ground  in 
their  Goojarat  Mission,  of  which  he  brought  them  a 
pleasant  report.  According  to  precedent,  he  com- 
pleted   his    term    of    office   by   opening   the    General 


AL[   45.  SIR   JOHN    PIRTE.  227 

Assembly  of  1852,  with  a  sermon  on  **  The  Headship 
of  Christ  over  Individuals,  the  Church  and  the  Nations, 
practically  considered,"  which,  having  been  published 
at  its  request,  ran  through  several  editions. 

When  in  London,  in  1851,  Dr.  Duff  was  called  on 
to  commit  to  the  grave  the  body  of  his  dearly  attached 
friend  Sir  John  Pirie.  Sir  John  had  long  been  head  of 
a  large  shipping  firm,  had  been  Lord  Mayor,  and  was 
the  first  chairman  of  the  Peninsular  and  Oriental 
Steam  Company.  Dr.  Duff  had  been  blessed  to  him  in 
spiritual  things,  but  when  himself  dying,  recalled  to 
his  children  only  the  services  done  to  him  and  the 
Mission  by  his  generous  countryman.  *'  Sir  John 
Pirie  had  always  done  so  much  for  me  who  had  had  no 
claim  upon  him,  from  the  very  first  time  I  saw  him  in 
September,  1829,  on  my  first  going  out  to  India,  that  I 
never  knew  how  it  was  possible  to  return  the  obliga- 
tion. That  very  day  when  he  came  to  call  upon  us  in 
St.  Paul's  Churchyard — it  was  in  the  afternoon — we 
had  just  sat  down  to  lunch  which  we  had  meant  to 
make  our  dinner.  He  was  then  simply  Alderman 
Pirie,  and  he  said  :  *  The  agents  of  your  Mission  in 
Scotland  asked  me  to  look  out  for  a  suitable  ship  in 
which  to  take  a  passage,  and  get  it  properly  furnished. 
I've  just  come  to  tell  you  tho  thing  is  done;  and 
whatever  remains  I'll  see  to  its  being  done,  so  you 
need  not  have  a  thought  about  it.  Some  day  or  other 
if  you  like  to  go  to  the  docks  you  may  see  it,  but 
there's  no  occasion.  When  you  go  on  board  at  Ports- 
mouth, you  will  find  everything  done  as  perfectly  as  if 
you  had  looked  after  it  yourself.  I  say  this  to  relieve 
you  of  all  care  and  anxiety,  so  that  you  may  freely  go 
about  London,  and  get  such  other  articles  as  you  may 
wish  to  take  with  you.  But  my  chief  message  at  this 
particular  time  is  from  my  wife.  You  see,  I  am  too 
much  occupied  with  the  secular  afiairs  of  this  life  to  be 


228  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUPJb\  1852. 

fible  to  bestow  much  time  or  attention  on  Missions, 
though.  I  try  to  promote  them  in  every  way  in  my 
power ;  but  we  have  no  family,  and  my  wife  therefore 
has  plenty  of  time  on  her  hands.  She  spends  two 
whole  days  every  week  with  Mrs.  Fry  in  visiting  New- 
gate, and  she  is  continually  going  about  seeking  ways 
and  modes  of  doing  good.  Her  message  is,  you  must 
not  stop  a  day  in  London  but  come  out  at  once  to  our 
house  at  Camberwell,  and  there  all  kinds  of  attention 
will  be  shown  to  you.'  After  his  usual  manner  he 
would  allow  of  no  delay.  Mrs.  Pirie  was  waiting  for 
us,  and  a  warmer  reception  could  not  have  been  given 
to  any  of  her  oldest  friends.  Her  house  was  ever  after 
my  home  in  London  until  her  death  in  1869." 

From  its  foundation  under  Elizabeth  at  the  close  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  to  its  fall  under  Victoria  in  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth,  the  East  India  Company 
was  the  ally  or  the  tool  of  the  two  great  parties  of  the 
state.  The  periodical  renewal  of  its  charter,  gener- 
ally every  twenty  years,  involved  the  fall  and  the  rise 
of  Ministries.  After  the  pure  and  exalted  adminis- 
trations of  Cromwell  and  William  III.,  kings  did  not 
scruple  to  use  its  influence  as  a  bribe,  nor  statesmen 
to  covet  its  patronage  for  corrupt  ends.  The  Regu- 
latinof  Act  of  1773,  which  created  the  Governor- 
General  and  the  Chief  Justice,  struck  the  first  stroke 
at  jobbery  at  home.  But  it  so  demoralized  the  ad- 
ministration at  Calcutta,  that  in  ten  years  a  new 
charter  became  necessary.  Burke,  who  had  unhappily 
refused  the  invitation  of  the  directors  in  1772  to  go 
out  to  India  with  full  power,  as  head  of  a  commission 
of  three  to  examine  and  control  their  affairs,  in 
1782  began  his  lifelong  course  of  unreasoning  oppo- 
sition to  a  system  which,  when  reformed,  John  Stuart 
Mill  justly  pronounced  the  wisest  ever  devised  for  the 
goyernment  of  subject  races.     India  placed  Mr.  Fox 


/Et.  46  THE    KA6T   INDIA    COMPANY  S    CHARTEES.  229 

Bide  by  side  witli  Lord  North  in  the  Duke  of  Portland's 
Coalition  Ministry,  to  carry  through  Mr.  Burke's  Bill ; 
and  India  then  made  Pitt  Prime  Minister  at  twenty- 
four  to  devise  the  wiser  measure  which  ended  in  the 
creation  of  the  Board  of  Control.  All  over  London 
Fox  was  caricatured  as  Carlo  Khan  riding  an 
elephant  full  tilt  against  the  India  Office. 

When  the  next  twenty  years  had  brought  round  the 
time,  in  1813,  for  another  charter,  the  Court  of  Direc- 
tors were  better  prepared  to  defend  their  still  neces- 
sary monopoly.  The  Lords  rose  as  the  aged  Warren 
Hastings  entered  the  House  where,  a  quarter  of  a 
century  before,  he  had  been  impeached.  His  evidence 
and  that  of  a  successor,  Lord  Teignmouth,  of  Sir  T. 
Munro,  Sir  John  Malcolm,  and  Charles  Grant,  pre- 
vailed to  retain  the  China  commerce  for  the  Company. 
But  India  was  opened  to  free  trade,  and,  thanks  to 
Wilberforce,  to  missionaries  and  schoolmasters.  By 
the  next  charter  of  1833  the  China  monopoly  too 
passed  away,  the  new  province  of  the  North- West  was 
created  ultimately  a  lieutenant-governorship,  the  last 
restrictions  on  the  residence  of  Europeans  in  India 
were  removed,  and  those  administrativ^e  reforms  were 
conceded  which  co-operated  with  Dr.  Duff's  missionary 
system. 

The  subsequent  twenty  years  formed  a  period  of  real 
and  rapid  progress.  As  the  time  approached  for  the 
charter  of  1853,  the  governing  classes  in  both  India 
and  England  prepared  for  a  conflict.  By  discussions 
in  the  press  and  petitions  to  Parliament,  the  Company 
was  assailed  by  the  selfish  interests,  and  criticised  by 
the  reformers  who  sought  only  a  more  rapid  develop- 
ment of  the  policy  begun  by  Bentinck  and  Metcalfe 
and  fostered  by  Dalhousie  and  Thomason,  in  spite  of 
an  alarmed  conservatism.  As  the  official  advocate  of 
the  venerable  corporation,  Sir  John  Kaye  took  credit 


230  LIFE    OF    DR.    UUFF.  1853. 

for  all  that  had  been  done  not  only  by  the  Directors, 
but  in  spite  of  them,  by  Governor-Generals,  mission- 
aries and  those  whom  they  used  to  denounce  as  inter- 
lopers. So  the  Company  was  spared  from  extinction 
once  more,  by  the  Whigs  under  Sir  Charles  Wood  as 
President  of  the  Board  of  Control.  But  several  com- 
promises were  effected  by  the  Cabinet  and  Parliament, 
most  happily  for  both  India  and  the  mother  country. 
The  two  greatest  in  reality,  though  they  appeared 
little  at  the  time,  were,  the  concession  of  nearly  all  Dr. 
Duff's  demands  for  a  truly  imperial,  catholic,  and  just 
administration  of  the  educational  funds,  honours  and 
rewards ;  and  the  transfer  to  the  nation,  by  competi- 
tive examination,  of  the  eight  hundred  and  fifty  highly 
paid  appointments  in  the  covenanted  civil  service. 
Besides  these,  Lower  Bengal  was  created  a  lieutenant- 
governorship,  like  the  North-West  twenty  years  before, 
and  the  Punjab  soon  after ;  and  the  Crown  nominated 
a  proportion  of  the  Directors,  reduced  to  eighteen. 
And  then,  as  if  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  coming  but 
unexpected  extinction,  the  new  charter  was  passed 
subject  to  the  pleasure  of  Parliament,  and  not  for  the 
almost  prescriptive  period  of  twenty  years. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that,  in  securing  all  this, 
the  three  reformers  who  were  foremost  were  the  men 
who  in  1830-35  had  fought  and  won  the  battle  of 
educational  and  administrative  progress  in  India.  As 
we  read  again  the  many  thick  folios  which  contain 
the  evidence  and  reports  of  the  select  committees 
of  the  Houses  of  Lords  and  Commons  on  Indian 
territories,  we  see  the  suggestions  of  Dr.  Duff,  Mr. 
Marshman,  and  Sir  Charles  Trevelyan  carried  out 
even  in  detail.  Again  was  Macaulay  by  his  brother- 
in-law's  side  in  the  application  of  the  principle  of  open 
competition  to  the  appointments  of  India.  Mr. 
Marshman  did  more  than  any  other  man  to  make  Sir 


.-Et.  47-       BErORE  THE  LOEDS  COMMITTEE.  23 1 

Frederick  Halliday  the  first  Lie aten ant-Governor  of 
Bengal.  But  it  was  Dr.  DufF  who  succeeded  in 
placing  the  keystone  in  the  arch  of  his  aggressive 
educational  system  by  the  famous  Despatch  of  1854. 
He  had  returned  to  England  determined  to  secure  from 
his  own  countrymen  the  measure  of  justice  to  non- 
government colleges  and  schools  which  the  bureaucracy 
of  Calcutta  had  denied,  in  spite  of  Lord  Hardinge's 
order.  We  have  seen  how  he  began  by  privately  in- 
forming and  influencing  the  statesmen  and  members 
of  Parliament  who  cared  for  the  good  of  the  people 
of  India.  Wilberforce  and  Charles  Grant  were  gone, 
and  had  left  no  successors.  In  the  public  action  of 
Parliament  itself,  through  the  constitutional  channel 
of  its  select  committees  of  inquiry,  he  found  the 
means  not  only  of  utilising  the  private  work  he  had 
done,  but  of  informing  the  whole  country  and  prac- 
tically influencing  legislation.  When  a  government 
happens  to  be  in  earnest,  as  the  Aberdeen  ministry  of 
the  day  were,  and  when  legislation  is  inevitable,  as 
the  charter  of  1853  was,  there  is  no  duty  so  delightful 
to  the  statesmanlike  reformer  as  that  of  convincing 
a  parliamentary  committee. 

Nor  intellectually  are  there  many  feats  more  exhaust- 
ing than  that  of  sitting  from  eleven  to  four  o'clock, 
and  on  more  days  than  one,  the  object  of  incessant 
questioning,  by  fifteen  or  twenty  experts,  on  the  most 
difficult  problems,  economic  and  administrative,  that 
can  engage  the  statesman.  So  long  as  the  examina- 
tion in  chief  proceeds,  or  a  friendly  member  follows 
along  the  witness's  own  line,  all  may  go  well.  But 
when  the  cross-fire  begins,  when  you  are  the  victim 
of  a  member  who  is  hostile  to  your  views  and  is  deter- 
mined to  shake  evidence  damaging  to  his  own,  or  of 
one  who  is  at  once  conceited  enough  to  prefer  his 
own  facts  to  yours  and  clever  enough  to  delude  you 


232  LIFE   OF   DR.    DUFF.  1853. 

into  accepting  partial  premisses  whicli  will  lead  to  his 
conclusions  and  upset  yours,  then  there  is  need  for  the 
keenest  weapons  and  i?he  most  practised  skill.  This 
was  Dr.  Duff's  position,  and  he  was  moreover  one  of 
a  band  of  witnesses  of  rare  experience  and  ability. 
Such  were  these  members  of  the  Leadenhall  Street 
staff — John  Stuart  Mill,  whose  school  have  not  even 
yet  learned  how  great  and  wise  he  was  on  Indian 
questions ;  and  Thomas  Love  Peacock,  whose  piquant 
novels  afford  a  wealth  of  classic  wit  and  culture 
to  readers  with  discrimination  enough  to  discover 
genius.  Of  the  same  type  of  experience  was  Mr. 
Henry  Eeeve,  of  the  Privy  Council.  Lord  Hardinge 
stated  the  results  of  his  administration  as  Governor- 
General  and  Commander-in-Chief.  On  the  Indian 
side  were  judges  and  civilians  of  such  distinction  as 
Sir  E.  Ryan  and  Sir  E.  Perry,  R.  M.  Bird  and 
Mangles,  Sir  J.  P.  Willoughby  and  Sir  F.  Halliday, 
and  of  such  promise  as  Sir  George  Campbell.  Among 
soldiers,  besides  Gough  and  Napier  there  were  Cotton, 
Pollock  and  Melville.  Scholars  like  H.  H.  Wilson, 
lawyers  like  N.  B.  E.  Baillie,  bishops,  missionaries 
and  priests,  and  finally  Parsees  submitted  their  evidence 
week  after  week  during  the  sessions  of  1852  and  1853. 
Among  the  members  of  the  Lords  Committee  were 
peers  of  the  official  experience  of  Ellenborough,  Tweed- 
dale  and  Elphinstone,  Broughton  and  Glenelg.  Clive 
was  represented  in  his  grandson  Lord  Powis.  Lord 
Canning  unconsciously  prepared  himself  for  a  respon- 
sibility he  then  knew  not  of.  Lord  Monteagle  of  Bran- 
don, Lord  Stanley  of  Alderley,  and  Lord  Ashburton 
were  constant  and  intelligent  in  their  attendance.  The 
Commons  Committee  numbered  in  its  larger  list  the 
names  of  Joseph  Hume,  erst  Bengal  doctor  and  army 
contractor;  Mr.  Baring,  destined  to  be  Governor- 
General  ;  Sir  Charles  Wood,  whose  private   secretary 


JEt.  47.  HIS    HINDOO    STUDENTS.  233 

he  then  was;  Mr.  Cobdcn;  Mr.  Vernon  Smith,  who 
might  have  learned  more  to  fit  him  for  the  home 
management  of  the  Mutiny  when  it  came;  Mr.  Lowe, 
always  wise  on  India ;  Mr.  Gladstone,  Mr.  Disraeli, 
Lord  Palmerston,  Mr.  Macaulay,  and  Mr.  James  Wilson 
who  thus  took  his  earliest  lessons  in  Indian  finance,  for 
which  he  was  to  do  so  much,  and  do  it  in  vain,  thanks 
to  successors  unequal  to  himself.  Such  were  the 
witnesses,  and  such  the  'personnel  of  the  select  com- 
mittees appointed  to  inquire  into  the  operation  of  the 
charter  of  William  IV.,  for  the  better  government  of 
Her  Majesty's  Indian  territories  till  the  30tli  day  of 
April,  1854. 

These  letters  show  the  spirit  in  which  Dr.  Duff 
continued,  his  preparations  for  the  committee.  The 
first  is  addressed  to  Baboo  Ishur  Chunder  De,  one 
of  his  old  Hindoo  students  who  had  become  a  mathe- 
matical tutor  of  the  college,  and  the  other  teachers. 
The  second  was  written  to  his  wife. 

"  London,  2nd  April,  1853. 

"  My  dear  Friends, — Though  your  last  communication  lias 
been  so  long  unacknowledged,  rest  assured  it  is  not  from 
abated  interest  in  yourselves  personally,  or  in  your  labours. 
Oh,  no  !  though  separated  from  you  in  body  I  am  constantly 
with  you  in  spirit;  in  the  Institution  and  among  your  classes. 
If  I  am  remaining  in  this  country  longer  than  I  had  expected, 
it  is  only  for  the  sake  of  India's  welfare.  For  India  is  ever 
uppermost  in  my  mind ;  and  my  pi-ayer  to  God  is  that  she 
may  yet  be  '  great,  glorious,  and  free.'  I  am  here  now,  privately 
conferring  with  various  influential  persons  connected  with 
Parhament  and  the  India  House,  concerning  Indian  affairs. 
There  is  undoubtedly  a  growing  interest  in  the  subject.  The 
magnitude  of  the  interests  involved  is  beginning  to  be  better 
understood,  and  I  do  fondly  hope  that  much  may  yet  be  done, 
though  not  nearly  so  much  as  the  best  friends  of  India  would 
desire. 

'•"J'he  last  programme  of  the  annual   exaaiiuation   is   before 


234  ^^^^    0^    ^^-    DUFF.  1S53. 

me  ;  and  from  it  I  see  the  indications  of  your  diligence,  as  well 
as  that  of  your  pupils.  Tell  the  latter,  whether  the  older  ones 
who  are  personally  known  to  me  or  the  younger  ones  who 
have  entered  since  I  left  you,  that  I  am  intensely  and  unceas- 
ingly interested  in  their  welfare  and  in  the  progress  of  their 
studies,  and  long  very  much  to  be  once  more  in  the  midst  of 
you  all.  By  next  mail  I  hope  that  Mr.  Gardiner  will  go  out 
to  supply  Mr.  Sinclair's  place.  I  cannot  doubt  that  you  and 
your  pupils  will  all  of  you  give  him  a  warm,  hearty,  tropical 
reception.      I  remain^   my  dear  friends,  yours  very  sincerely, 

"  Alexander  Duff." 

"Champion  Hill,  liih  April,  1853. 

"Here  I  am  and  getting  deeper  and  deeper  into  ludian 
affairs.  By  perseverance  and  trust  in  the  Lord,  I  am  gradually 
getting  more  and  more  of  the  ear  of  men  in  whose  hands  Pro- 
vidence has  placed,  for  the  present,  the  future  destinies  of 
India.  Some  two  hours  were  spent  yesterday  with  Lord  Ash- 
burton  in  his  own  house.  He  got  more  and  more  interested 
with  the  subject  as  we  went  on,  took  notes,  etc.  And  when 
the  hour  came  for  his  going  to  another  meeting,  he  expressed 
the  strongest  regret,  and  begged  of  me  as  a  great  favour,  to 
come  to  him  again  to-morrow,  and  go  over  a  great  deal  of 
ground  which  remained  to  be  overtaken. 

"Thereafter  I  went  to  Trevelyan,  who  took  me  to  Lord 
Granville,  the  chairman  of  the  Lords  Indian  Committee.  The 
latter  was  singularly  frank,  and  expressed  the  highest  gratifica- 
tion at  the  prospect  of  getting  important  information  from 
me.  He  only  broke  ground  on  Indian  subjects ;  but  he 
took  my  address,  and  is  to  send  for  me  again.  They  are 
not  yet  done  with  taking  evidence  on  the  judicial  depart- 
ment ;  and  he  would  have  me  give  them  what  information  I 
could  on  that  subject,  as  an  independent  witness  unconnected 
with  the  Company.  I  told  him  that,  as  an  unprofessional 
man,  I  did  not  like  much  appearing  formally  in  that  depart- 
ment. But  when  he  urged  me  I  could  not  help  agreeing  to 
appear  before  the  Lords  on  Tuesday  next,  and  tell  them  what 
I  knew,  apart  altogether  from  legal  technicalities.  Pray  for 
me  !     It  is  a  great  opportunity  !  " 

May  12th. — "I  am  summoned  to  appear  before  the  Lords 
on  Thursday,  the  26th  May,  the  very  middle  of  our  Assembly. 


JEX.  47.  BTllEET   PEEACHEfi.  235 

I  mean  to  try  and  get  the  day  pat  off  for  a  week  later. 
But  I  sLall  now  be  obliged  to  come  up  here  agaia,  before  the 
Assembly  closes.  This  of  course  I  cannot  help,  as  these  com- 
mittees have  power  to  compel  witnesses  (if  unwilliug  even) 
to  attend.  Moreover,  it  is  essential  that  my  evidence  should 
be  given  and  recorded  on  the  education  question. 

"  I  have  been  exploring  some  of  the  darkest  places  in  London, 
in  company  of  one  of  the  most  experienced  agents  of  the 
London  City  Mission.  And  last  Sabbath  circumstances  con- 
strained me  to  turn  street  preacher  in  one  of  the  broadest 
streets  at  the  east  end  of  London.  It  was  a  precious  oppor- 
tunity of  preaching  the  gos})ol  to  hundreds  of  the  Papists  and 
outcasts.  Before  I  was  far  on,  they  became  an  attentive 
audience,  and  the  precious  invitation  of  the  gospel  was  freely 
given  to  them.  Some  seemed  affected;  and  at  the  end  several 
came  forward  with  tears  in  their  eyes,  thanking  me,  and  saying 
they  never  heard  such  words  before.  They  were  chiefly  the 
words  of  Scripture  in  its  alluring  promises  to  sinners  and 
publicans  if  they  return,  repenting  of  their  sins,  to  God/* 

Dr.  Duff's  evidence  on  the  purely  judicial  and  ad- 
miuistrative  questions  decided  by  the  charter  proved 
to  be  of  unexpected  value.  Not  only  bad  he  been 
conversant,  personally,  with  the  reforms  of  Lord 
William  Bentinck  and  the  experienced  civilians  wlio 
advised  and  assisted  the  most  radical  statesman  who 
ever  filled  the  Viceroy  of  India's  seat;  the  mission- 
ary had  for  six  years  been  the  head  of  all  the  reformers 
in  India,  who,  in  the  Calcutta  Review^  discussed  in 
detail  the  measures  which  were  successfully  pressed  on 
the  attention  of  Parliament.  It  had  been  his  duty,  as 
editor,  not  only  to  correct  their  articles,  but  to  work 
up  into  papers  of  his  own  the  materials  supplied  by 
high  officials  who  preferred  to  avoid  the  direct  re- 
sponsibilities of  criticism.  Hence  we  find  him  stating 
with  a  lawyer-like  precision,  born  of  the  familiarity 
with  a  subject  that  much  writing  about  it  gives,  the 
nature  of  the  two  prevailing  schools  of  Hindoo  law 


236  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1853. 

in  Bengal;  the  necessity  for  simple  codes,  criminal 
and  civil ;  the  merits  of  the  educated  natives  as  judges 
atoning  for  their  defects  in  an  executive  capacity ;  the 
claims  of  the  Eurasians ;  the  oppressions  of  the  ryot 
tenantry  by  their  zemindar  landlords ;  the  atrocities  of 
the  police  and  the  laxity  of  the  jail  discipline;  the 
unavoidable  neglect  of  the  sixty  millions  of  Lower 
Bengal  by  the  overworked  Grovern or- General,  and  the 
necessity  for  the  detailed  supervision  of  a  Lieutenant- 
Governor.  Most  generous,  but  wisely  limited  by  the 
truth  of  facts,  was  his  appreciation  of  Eurasian  and 
native  officials,  and  of  the  Haileybury  civilians  and 
British  administration  generally.  To  Lord  Ash- 
burton's  question,  "Do  you  consider  that  the  present 
generation  of  the  civil  servants  of  the  Company  are 
answerable  for  the  existence  of  the  abuses  you  have 
described  ? "  he  replied  :  "  Certainly  not,  intention- 
ally ;  but  no  doubt  they  may  be  answerable  indirectly 
in  another  way,  inasmuch  as  from  their  comparative 
ignorance  of  the  language  and  of  the  laws,  and  per- 
haps from  the  general  imperfection  of  the  system, 
some  of  these  abuses  may  have  sprung  up."  When 
Lord  Elphinstone,  after  his  Madras  experience,  asked 
whether  the  difficulty  of  imprinting  good  ideas  on  the 
native  mind  is  not  greater  than  an^^thing  we  can 
conceive  of  here,  where  all  people  have  some  ideas 
of  conscience,  he  said,  "  There  are  exceptions,  but 
the  difficulty  is  such  as  to  have  driven  many  to  the 
extreme  of  saying  that  we  must  leave  the  adults  to 
I  themselves,  and  look  to  the  rising  generation  as  the 
great  hope  of  the  future."  Hence,  he  added,  "  The 
British  Government  has,  perhaps,  done  relatively  as 
much  as  it  was  practicable  for  a  merely  human  gov- 
ernment, in  such  untoward  circumstances,  and  with 
such  imperfect  instruments  to  overtake.  .  .  l!^o 
amelioration  in   our  legislative  or  judicial  policy  will 


^t.  47.      PASSAGE  AT  ARMS  WITH  LORD  ELLENCOROLGH.        237 

reach  the  springs  of  some  of  those  evils  which  I  have 
attempted  so  inadequately  to  delineate.  Their  spring- 
heads are  to  be  found  in  those  deep-rooted  super- 
stitions which  work  so  disastrously  in  deteriorating 
native  society.  Nothing  can  suffice  but  a  real,  thorough, 
searching,  moralizing,  and  I  should  individually  say, 
christianizing  course  of  instruction,  which,  by  illumin- 
ing the  understanding  and  purilying  the  heart,  will 
inspire  with  the  love  of  truth  and  rectitude,  and  so 
elevate  the  whole  tone  of  moral  feeling  and  social 
sentiment  among  the  people." 

After  a  day  under  examination  on  the  whole  sub- 
ject of  the  secular  administration,  ending  in  this  only 
radical  and  effectual  remedy.  Dr.  Duff  spent  nearly 
two  days  in  giving  evidence  on  the  educational  needs 
and  application  of  that  remedy.  Here  he  had  as  his 
vigilant  adversary  the  able  and  then  bitterly  antichris- 
tian  Earl  of  Ellenborough,  with  whom  he  had  many  a 
passage  at  arms.  So  little  did  this  foe  of  Missions 
know  of  the  facts  of  an  empire  which  he  had  ruled,  and 
even  of  a  city  in  which  he  had  lived  for  two  or  three 
years,  that  on  the  mention  of  the  conversion  of  the 
Koolin  Brahman,  Krishna  Mohun  Banerjea,  he  asked, 
"  Is  not  he  a  Parsee  ? "  Having  so  smarted  under 
public  criticism  that  he  once  boasted  he  read  no 
journal  save  one  devoted  wholly  to  advertisements. 
Lord  Ellenborough  pounced  upon  a  reference  to  the 
Bengalee  papers  to  make  it  the  occasion  of  this 
inquiry,  *'  Are  they  not  in  the  habit  of  translating  all 
the  worst  and  most  libellous  passages  from  the  English 
newspapers  ?  "  The  missionary's  impromiAii  reply  was 
two-edged :  "  I  regret  to  say  that  they  very  often  do 
translate  passages  of  that  kind,  both  on  the  subject 
of  politics  and  on  the  subject  of  religion,  the  character 
of  the  one  being  antichristian  and  of  the  other  anti- 
British.     I   have   seen    translated   into    some   of   the 


?38  LIFE    OP   DE.    DUFF.  1853. 

Bengalee  papers  passages  out  of  Paine' s  '  Age  of 
Reason,'  and  similar  obnoxious  publications,  and  on 
the  other  hand,  passages  from  certain  organs  of 
violent  political  partisanship."  Lord  Ellenborougli's 
sneer  at  Lord  William  Bentinck's  inquiry,  through 
Mr.  W.  Adam,  into  the  state  of  indigenous  education, 
was  repelled  with  similarly  delicate  truthfulness. 
His  defence  of  the  immoralities  of  the  Krishna  and 
other  scriptures,  which  Lord  Northbrook  had  after- 
wards to  order  to  be  blotted  out  of  the  Government 
school-books,  as  "  heroic  legends,"  met  with  this  quiet 
rebuke,  "  There  are  such — such  as  those  taken  from 
the  '  Ramayun,'  but  even  those  are  continually  mixed 
up  not  only  with  much  that  is  wildly  extravagant,  but 
much  that  is  also  grossly  polluting."  The  more  in- 
telligent objection  suggested  by  Lord  Stanley  of 
Alderley,  whose  relation  to  Islam  has  been  so  peculiar, 
was  met  with  equal  promptitude :  "  Would  not  your 
objections  to  such  teaching  apply  to  their  teaching 
their  religion  at  all  ?  "  "  Doubtless  it  would ;  but  on 
them  must  rest  the  responsibility  of  so  doing.  Their 
religion,  if  taught  at  all,  cannot  be  taught  without 
teaching  those  things;  they  form  a  constituent  part 
of  it." 

Dr.  Duff's  statement  to  the  Lords  Committee  re- 
garding his  system  and  its  results  in  the  previous 
twenty  years  has  a  meaning  for  the  present  time, 
when  the  latest  conference,  chiefly  of  vernacular- 
preaching  missionaries  at  Bangalore,  has  this  year^ 
passed  a  resolution  of  significant  stringency  in  its 
favour.*     Asked  by  the  Duke  of  Argyll  which,  upor 


*  "  This  Conference  desires  to  express  its  full  appreciation  of  the 
value  of  high  class  Christian  education  as  a  missionary  agency, 
and  its  hope  that  the  friends  of  Indian  Missions  will  sympathise 
with  this  equally  with  other  branches  of  evangelistic  work  in  this 
country.     The  Native   Church  in   India  needs  at  present,  and  will 


^t.  47.  MISSIONARY    METHODS.  239 

the  whole,  had  been  the  most  successful  missionary 
station  with  regard  to  actual  and  declared  conversions. 
Dr.  Duff  stated  what  is  substantially  true  at  the  present 
hour,  save  that  the  deterioration  of  the  Krishnaghur 
itinerating  mission  is  one  of  many  proofs  that,  without 
educational  evangelizing,  such  missions  will  not  de- 
velop or  build  up  an  expanding  church,  but  will 
pass  away  with  their  first  converts,  leaving  only  such 
Hindooizinof  monofrels  as  the  mass  of  Xavier's  and 
the  Jesuit  churches  in  the  East  have  long  since  be- 
come: 

"We  must  draw  a  distinction  between  two  sets  of  mission 
agencies,  one  educational _,  and  tlie  otlier  the  ordinary  method 
of  itinex'acy  among  the  villagers  ;  these  two  are  essentially 
distinct.  In  the  villages  wo  often  meet  with  numbers  who 
are  comparatively  simple  and  unsophisticated  in  their  minds  ; 
numbers  too  who,  being  ignorant,  have  less  to  get  rid  of,  and 
being  of  low  caste,  or  no  caste,  have  less  to  lose.  Of  this  de- 
scription there  have  been  cases  where  considerable  numbers 
have  made  a  profession  of  Christianity ;  but  the  profession  of 
many  of  them,  with  unexercised,  unenlarged  minds,  may  be 
very  unsatisfactory ;  at  the  same  time,  the  sincerity  and  intel- 
ligence of  a  few  among  them  may  be  beyond,  all  question.  In 
this  department  of  success,  Krishnaghur  in  Bengal,  and  Tinne- 
velli  in  the  Madras  Presidency,  stand  out  as  the  most  con- 


still  more  need  in  the  future,  men  of  superior  education  to  occupy 
positions  of  trust  and  responsibility  as  pastors,  evangelists,  and 
leading  members  of  the  connuunity,  such  as  can  only  be  supplied 
by  our  high  class  Christian  lusLitutions.  Those  missionaries  who 
are  engaged  in  vernacular  work  desire  especially  to  bear  testimony 
to  the  powerful  e(Tect  in  favour  of  Christianity  which  these  in- 
stitutions are  exercising  throughout  the  country,  and  to  record 
their  high  regard  for  the  educational  ivorlc  as  a  necessary  part  of  the 
work  of  the  Christian  Church  in  India.  Tliis  Conference  feels 
bound  to  place  on  record  its  conviction  that  these  two  great 
branches  of  Christian  work  are  indispensable  complements  of  one 
another,  and  would  earnestly  hope  that  they  will  be  so  regnrded  by 
the  Christian  Church,  and  that  both  will  meet  with  continued  and 
hearty  support." 


240  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1 853. 

spicuoiis  examples^  both,  in  connection  witli  tte  Churcli  of 
England  Missions.  Then,  with  regard  to  the  educational  de- 
partments of  missionary  success,  more  has  been  realized  in 
Calcutta  than  at  any  other  station  in  India,  as  the  higher 
evangelistic  processes  in  that  department  were  begun  there  at 
an  earlier  period,  and  have  been  multiplied  in  connection  with 
different  evangelical  churches  to  a  greater  extent  than  else- 
where. Numerically  considered,  however,  the  converts  from 
these  higher  educational  missionary  processes  make  no  great 
figure ;  they  ought,  however,  to  be  estimated  not  by  their 
quantity,  but  by  their  quality.  Young  persons  come  at  a  very 
early  age,  in  a  state  of  heathenism,  and  go  through  a  long 
preparatory  course  of  training.  In  the  pi'ogress  of  their 
Christian  studies,  the  consciences  of  some  are  pricked  with 
convictions  of  sin ;  they  find  in  the  gospel  the  true  salvation, 
and  they  openly  embrace  the  Christian  faith.  It  is  but  a  small 
proportion  of  them,  however,  that  do  so;  but  then,  from  their 
cultured  and  well-stored  minds,  they  are  of  a  higher  order  of 
converts.  Some  of  them  become  teachers,  and  some  preachers 
of  the  gospel ;  and  to  train  and  qualify  such  is  one  of  the 
great  ulterior  ends  of  the  institution  which  I  was  privileged  to 
found,  as  well  as  of  other  similar  institutions  in  Calcutta, 
Madras,  Bombay  and  elsewhere.  Of  these  young  Hindoo 
preachers,  two  have  already  visited  this  country  from  our 
Madras  and  Bombay  institutions;  these  preached,  even  in 
Edinburgh,  with  the  greatest  acceptance,  to  some  of  the  most 
intellectual  congregations  there;  and  at  Calcutta  we  have  at 
least  three  such  young  men  at  this  moment,  and  at  Madras 
thi'ee,  and  three  at  Bombay,  with  others  at  these  several 
stations  following  close  on  their  footsteps.  All  this  indicates  a 
real  and  substantial  beginning;  and  as  similar  causes  in  similar 
circumstances  produce  similar  effects,  the  multiplication  of 
similar  Christian  educational  means  may,  by  God's  blessing, 
be  expected  to  issue  in  similar  results  throughout  the  chief 
cities  and  districts  of  India.''' 

For  Dr.  Duff  and  the  whole  body  of  Christian 
reformers  at  that  time,  however,  the  outcome  of  the 
inquiry  by  the  Parliamentary  committees,  and  of  the 
legislation  that  followed,  was  the  famous  Educational 


^:t.  47.  EDUCATIONAL     REFORMS.  24 1 

Despatch  of  18-Vk  How  erapliatically  he  was  its 
author,  how  directly  his  evidence  told  on  the  President 
of  the  Board  of  Control,  on  the  Cabinet  and  on  the 
Parhament  of  that  day,  will  bo  seen  from  this  con- 
densed answer  to  the  invitation  of  Lord  Stanley  of 
Alderley,  "  Will  you  state  what  you  would  propose 
the  Government  sliould  do  towards  the  further  im- 
provement and  extension  of  education  in  India." 

"  Fall  back  on  the  resolutions  of  Lord  William  Bentinclc,  in 
March,  1835,  resolutions  which,  withoufc  damaging  or  inter- 
fering with  the  existing  vested  rights  of  any  one,  would  lead 
to  the  gradual  abolition  of  these  oriental  colleges  as  seminaries 
for  the  educational  training  of  natives,  and  chus  liberate  the 
funds  so  wastcfully  lavished  upon  them  for  the  purposes  of  a 
sound  and  liealtliful  education  throughout  the  land.  If  the 
learned  oriental  languages  are  to  be  taught  at  all  in  the 
Government  institutions,  they  ought  to  be  taught  simply  as 
languages  by  one  or  two  native  professors,  nnder  general 
European  superintendence,  with  a  practical  view  to^vards  the 
enrichment  of  the  vernacular  tongues,  and  the  raising  up  of  a 
superior  class  of  vernacular  translators  and  teachers.  In  this 
salutary  direction  some  considerable  steps  have  recently  been 
taken  in  the  Sanskrit  College  of  Poena,  under  the  admirable 
arrangements  of  Major  Candy.  Then,  secondly,  the  time  has 
come  when,  in  places  like  Calcutta  and  Bombay,  the  Govern- 
ment might  very  well  relinquish  its  pecuniary  control  over 
primaiy  or  merely  elementary  education.  The  demand  is  in 
these  places  so  great  for  the  higher  English  instruction  that, 
were  a  test  or  criterion  of  scholarship  established  for  ad- 
mission to  the  colleges,  where,  as  in  Europe,  the  higher 
brauches  alone  of  literature,  philosophy  and  science,  etc., 
ouglit  to  be  tanght,  the  natives  would  be  found  both  able  and 
willing  in  sufficient  numbers  to  qualify  themselves.  In  Cal- 
cutta the  pupils'  fees  in  the  veimacular  school  connected  with 
the  Hindoo  College  amount  to  about  12,000  rupees  annually 
(£1,200).  In  the  Hindoo  College  itself  they  amount  to 
about  30,000  rupees  (£3,000).  Some  of  the  heads  of  native 
society  have  now  .acquired  sufficient  experience  and  aptitude 
to  enable  them  to  carry  ou  the  management  of  the  necessai'y 
VOL.    II.  E 


242  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1053. 

preparatory  seminaries  themselves.  In  this  way  a  consider- 
able savins:  miarht  be  effected  in  the  educational  funds. 
Thirdly  :  the  time  has  come  when,  more  especially  at  the 
presidency  seats,  lectureships  on  high  professional  subjects, 
such  as  law  and  civil  engineering,  should  be  established,  not 
as  an  integral  or  constituent  part  of  the  course  of  any  existing 
Government  college,  but  on  such  a  free  and  unrestricted 
footing  as  to  admit  of  the  attendance  of  qualified  students 
from  all  other  institutions,  East  Indian,  Armenian,  Missionary 
or  Native.  In  this  way  not  only  might  a  stimulus  be  given  to 
the  general  cause  of  sound  education,  but  the  Government 
might,  in  the  spirit  of  Lord  Hardinge^s  resolution,  obtain  for 
its  own  services  a  larger  share  than  now  of  really  superior 
native  talent  and  cultivated  acquirement.  The  time  has  also 
come  in  Calcutta,  at  least,  when,  with  comparatively  little 
additional  expense  to  Government,  a  university  might  be 
established,  somewhat  after  the  general  model  of  the  London 
University,  with  a  sufficient  number  of  faculties,  constituted 
on  so  wide  and  liberal  and  comprehensive  a  basis,  as  to 
embrace  within  the  range  of  its  stimulating  and  fostering 
influence  whatever  sound,  invigorating,  purifying,  elevating 
studies  may  be  carried  on  in  any,  whether  of  the  Government 
or  non-Goveimment  institutions.  Fourthly  :  the  time  has 
now  come  when,  in  the  estimation  even  of  many  who  formerly 
thought  otherwise'  (I  simply  state  this  is  an  expression  of  my 
own  deliberate  opinion,  in  which,  however,  I  know  there  is  an 
entire  concurrence  on  the  part  of  a  large  body  of  British 
subjects  in  this  country  and  India),  the  Government  might  with 
the  greatest  propriety  and  advantage  act  on  the  principle  re- 
commended in  the  minute  by  Lord  Tvveeddale,  dated  August, 
1846.  That  principle,  for  very  strong  and  weighty  reasons  set 
forth  in  the  minute  itself — a  minute  which,  in  justice  to  the 
noble  author,  and  to  the  great  cause  of  improved  education 
which  he  so  ably  advocates,  might  well  be  called  for  as  evidence 
by  this  committee — that  principle  is  to  allow  the  Bible  to  be' 
introduced  as  a  class-book  into  the  English  classes  of  Govern- 
ment institutions,  under  the  express  and  positive  proviso  that 
attendance  on  any  class,  at  the  hour  when  it  was  taught, 
should  be  left  entirely  optional ;  in  other  words,  leaving  it 
entirely  free  to  the  native  students  to  read  it  or  not,  as 
fcheir  consciences  might   dictate  or  their  parents  desire. 


JEt.  ^-j.  A   PEACTICABLE    IDEAL.  243 

Lastly,  the  Government  ought  to  extend  its  aid  to  all  other 
institutions,  by  whomsoever  originated  and  supported,  where 
a  sound  general  education  is  communicated.  .  .  Here 
at  home  the  Government  does  not  expend  its  educational 
resources  on  the  maintenance  of  a  few  monopolist  institutions ; 
it  sti'ives  to  stimulate  all  parties,  by  offering  proportional  aid 
to  all  who  show  themselves  willing  to  help  themselves. 
.  .  Without  directly  trenching  on  the  peculiar  religious 
convictions  or  prejudices  of  any  parties,  Hindoo,  Mussulman, 
European  or  any  others,  the  Governmeat  educational  funds 
would  have  the  effect  of  extending  and  multiplying  tenfold,  at 
a  comparatively  small  cost,  really  useful  schools  and  seminaries, 
and  of  thus  more  rapidly  and  widely  diffusing  the  benefits  of  an 
enlightened  education  among  the  masses  of  the  people.  Thus 
also,  by  the  adoption  of  such  and  other  kindred  improving 
measures,  and  the  smile  of  the  God  of  providence  upon  them, 
may  the  British  Government  in  India  render  its  administra- 
tion of  that  vast  realm  a  source  and  surety  of  abounding  pros- 
perity to  itself,  a  guarantee  of  brightening  hope  to  the  millions 
of  the  present  generation,  a  fount  of  reversionary  blessing  to 
future  generations  who,  as  they  rise  in  long  succession,  may 
joyously  hail  the  sway  of  the  British  sceptre  as  the  surest 
pledge  not  only  of  the  continued  enjoyment  of  their  dearest 
rights,  but  the  extension  and  improvement  of  their  noblest 
privileges." 

Rarely,  if  ever,  lias  a  parliamentary  committee  had 
such  an  ideal  sketched  for  it,  or  a  policy  struck  on  so 
high  a  key.  Lord  Ellenborough  did  not  hke  opinions 
which  cut  at  the  root  of  his  almost  equally  fervid 
secularism,  and  mildly  suggested  political  ruin  to  "  our 
Grovernment,"  as  the  result  of  success  in  effectinsr  a 
great  improvement  in  the  education  of  the  Hindoos. 
Dr.  Duff  caught  at  the  opportunity  to  answer  the  ex- 
Governor- General,  and  went  to  the  very  root  of  the 
matter  in  a  statement  which  thus  concluded  :  "  I  hav^e 
never  ceased  to  pronounce  the  system  of  giving  a  hio-h 
English  education,  without  religion,  a  blind  suicidal 
policy.     On  the  other  hand,  for  weighty  reasons,  I  have 


244  I^IFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1853, 

never  ceased  to  declare,  that  if  our  object  be,  not  merely 
for  our  own  aggrandisement  but  very  specially  for  the 
welfare  of  tlie  natives,  to  retain  our  dominion  in  India, 
no  wiser  or  more  effective  plan  can  be  conceived  than 
that  of  bestowing  this  higher  English  education  in 
close  and  inseparable  alliance  with  the  illumining, 
quickening,  beautifying  influences  of  the  Christian 
faith.  The  extension  of  such  higher  education,  so 
combined,  would  only  be  the  means  of  consolidating 
and  perpetuating  the  British  Empire  in  India  for  years 
or  even  ages  to  come,  vastly,  yea  almost  immeasurably, 
to  the  real  and  enduring  benefit  of  both,"  Lord  Ellen- 
borough  returned  to  the  charge  from  the  flank. 
Having  secured  the  admission  that  Dr.  Duff"  would 
look  on  the  withdrawal  of  our  controlling  power  as  the 
signal  for  universal  anarchy  and  chaos  in  the  present 
circumstances  of  India,  he  insinuated  "  we  should  not 
therefore  run  any  risks,  nor  do  anything  which  might 
lead  to  that  result."  "  Nothing,  assuredly,  which  would 
naturally  or  necessarily  tend  to  so  disastrous  a  con- 
summation," was  the  rejoinder.  And  the  three  days' 
examination  ended  with  the  reiterated  statement 
elicited  by  Lord  Wynford,  that  Dr.  Duff"  did  not  fear 
those  evil  political  results  from  the  extension  of  educa- 
tion "  if  wisely  and  timeously  united  with  the  great  im- 
proving, regulating,  controlling,  and  conservative  power 
of  Christianity."  A  few  days  afterwards  these  views 
received  independent  support  from  Sir  C.  Trevelyan 
on  all  those  points.  That  hard-headed,  shrewd 
oflQcial,  who,  after,  six  years  in  Upper  India  and  six 
years  in  Bengal,  had  become  Secretary  to  the  Trea- 
sury, made  this  remarkable  statement  in  reply  to 
the  Bishop  of  Oxford,  the  only  spiritual  peer  on  the 
committee :  "  Many  persons  mistake  the  way  in 
which  the  conversion  of  India  will  bs  brouo-ht  about. 
I  believe  it  will  take  place  at  last  wholesale,  just  as 


ALL  47.  THE    GIJL'AT    EDUCATIONAL    CUAKTEi:.  245 

our  own  ancestors  were  converted.  The  country  will 
have  Christian  instruction  infused  into  it  in  every  way 
by  direct  missionary  education,  and  indirectly  through 
books  of  various  kinds,  through  the  public  papers, 
through  conversation  with  Europeans,  and  in  all  the 
conceivable  ways  in  which  knowledge  is  communicated. 
Then  at  last,  when  society  is  completely  saturated  with 
Christian  knowledge,  and  public  opinion  has  taken  a  de- 
cided turn  that  way,  they  will  come  over  by  thousands. " 
So  well  did  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Control, 
the  present  Lord  Halifax,  master  this  and  the  other 
evidence,  that,  althongli  he  had  entered  on  office  only 
a  few  months  before,  he  at  once  made  a  reputation  as 
an  official  of  the  higliest  order  by  the  five  hours'  speech 
with  which  he  introduced  the  new  India  Bill.  This 
done,  Dr.  Dufi"  and  Mr.  Marshman  worked  out  the 
educational  portion  of  their  statements  before  the 
committee,  in  a  form  which  Lord  Northbrook,  then 
the  President's  private  secretary,  embodied  in  a  state 
paper.  That  was  sent  out  to  the  Marquis  of  Dalhousie 
as  the  memorable  Despatch  of  the  9th  July,  1854, 
signed  by  ten  directors  of  the  East  India  Company. 
Dr.  Duff's  handiwork  can  be  traced  not  only  in  the 
definite  orders,  but  in  the  very  style  of  what  has  ever 
since  been  pronounced  the  great  educational  charter 
of  the  people  of  India.  Had  he  done  nothing  besides 
influencing  the  decrees  of  Lord  William  Bentinck, 
Lord  Hardinge,  and  Lord  Halifax,  each  a  stage  in  the 
catholic  edifice  of  public  instruction,  that  would  have 
been  enough.  But  these  ordinances  by  Parliament 
and  the  Government  of  India,  were  possible  only  be- 
cause of  the  missionary's  practical  demonstration  in 
1830-34.  And  that  demonstration  had  for  its  chief 
end  the  destruction  of  Hindooism,  and  the  Christiani- 
zation  of  the  hundred  and  thirty  millions  of  Eastern 
and  Northern  India. 


246  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1854. 

The  Despatcli  covers  eighteen  foHo  pages  of  a  par- 
liamentary blue-book.  It  has  been  often  reprinted  in 
India,  but  when  in  1873  Dr.  Duff  attempted  to  procure 
a  copy  in  this  country,  Lord  Kinnaird  led  the  India 
Office  to  republish  it.  Beginning  with  the  re-assertion 
of  Lord  William  Bentinck's  two  great  but  disregarded 
principles,  that  "  the  education  we  desire  to  see  ex- 
tended in  India  must  be  effected  by  means  of  the 
English  language  in  the  higher  branches  of  instruction, 
and  by  that  of  the  vernacular  languages  to  the  great 
mass  of  the  people,"  Parliament  and  the  Company 
combine  to  establish  the  machinery  for  the  purpose. 
And  this  they  do  although  "  fully  aware  "  that  it  "  will 
involve  in  the  end  a  much  larger  expenditure  from  the 
revenue  of  India  "  than  was  allowed  at  the  time.  The 
machinery  was :  Government  inspectors  of  secular 
instruction;  universities  on  the  model  of  that  of 
London,  but  with  professorships  in  physical  science; 
secondary  schools,  English  and  Anglo-vernacular,  in 
every  city  and  county ;  primary  and  indigenous  schools 
carefully  improved  ;  grants  in  aid  of  all ;  like  university 
degrees  to  all  who  work  up  to  certain  uniform  stand- 
ards ;  normal  schools,  school  books,  scholarships,  public 
appointments,  medical,  engineering  and  art  colleges; 
and  finally  female  schools.  As  to  religion,  Lords 
Halifax  and  Northbrook  put  into  the  mouth  of  the 
directors  sentiments  similar  to  those  which  Lord 
Derby  afterwards  expressed  on  behalf  of  the  Queen  in 
the  Proclamation  of  1858  :  "  The  Bible  is,  we  under- 
stand, placed  in  the  libraries  of  the  colleges  and 
schools,  and  the  pupils  are  able  freely  to  consult  it. 
This  is  as  it  should  be,  and,  moreover,  we  have  no 
desire  to  prevent  or  to  discourage  any  explanations 
which  the  pupils  may,  of  their  own  free-will,  ask  from 
their  masters  on  the  subject  of  the  Christian  religion, 
provided  that  such  information  be  given  out  of  school 


^t.  48.         ORIGIN    OF   THE    UNIVERSITIES    OF    INDIA.  247 

hours."  But  of  this  voluntary  instructiou  '*  no  notice 
shall  be  taken  by  the  inspectors  in  their  periodical 
visits."  In  the  review  of  the  progress  of  education  in 
India  with  which  it  concludes,  the  Despatch  says,  of 
*'  Madras,  where  little  has  yet  been  done  by  Govern- 
ment to  promote  the  education  of  the  mass  of  the 
people,  we  can  only  remark  with  satisfaction  that  the 
educational  efforts  of  Christian  missionaries  have  been 
more  successful  among  the  Tamul  population  than  in 
any  other  part  of  India." 

The  rest  of  Dr.  Duffs  Indian  career,  outside  of  the 
purely  spiritual  sphere,  was  devoted  to  the  realizing 
of  what  he  had  thus  legislatively  and  administratively 
secured  from  Parliament  and  the  Company.  The 
struggle  was  long  and  bitter,  and  when  he  was  re- 
moved it  became  more  and  more  unsuccessful  down 
to  the  present  hour.  At  this  stage  we  may  show 
his  satisfaction  that  a  system  so  catholic  and  so 
cultured,  fair  to  all  men  and  all  truth  because  born 
of  the  teaching  of  Him  Who  came  to  gather  all  into 
His  one  fold,  has  been  authoritatively  written  for 
ever  on  the  statute-book  of  our  Eastern  Empire. 
But  the  two  features  absolutely  now  in  India,  of  the 
universities  and  the  grants-in-aid,  demand  a  word  of 
explanation.  The  time  is  coming — the  period  has 
come  —  when  men  dispute  whose  is  the  honour  of 
having  first  suggested  them. 

Mr.  C.  H.  Cameron,  one  of  the  early  successors  of 
Macaulay  in  Calcutta,  seems,  from  the  Parliamentary 
evidence,  to  have  been  the  first  to  declare  that  work 
like  Dr.  Duffs  had  made  Bengal  ripe  for  a  university. 
Dr.  Mouat,  when  secretary  to  the  Government  Council 
of  Education,  elaborated  the  proposal  officially,  but  it 
was  rejected  by  the  Court  of  Directors  as  then  pre- 
mature. The  first  whom  Dr.  Mouat  consulted  on  the 
sclieme  was  Dr.  Duff,  who   went  over  it  with  him  in 


248  LITE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1854. 

detail.  The  missionary's  further  development  and 
advocacy  of  the  reform  in  private  and  public,  gave 
it  the  Christian  catholicity  of  spirit  which  led  to  its 
adoption  ten  years  after.  The  still  more  fruitful  grant- 
in-aid  proposal  was  first  laid  by  Dr.  Duff  himself  before 
the  Court  of  Directors,  as  the  result  of  his  early  con- 
ferences with  reformers  like  Lord  Cholmondeley  and 
Mr.  J.  M.  Strachan  in  1851.  He  urged  it  as  the  only 
just  alternative  if  the  state  persisted  in  refusing 
to  allow  the  Bible  to  be  taught,  under  a  conscience 
clause,  in  its  colleges,  as  the  Koran  and  the  Yedas 
are  taught.  When,  by  almost  their  last  act,  the  Bast 
India  Company  attempted  to  resile  from  the  grant- 
in-aid  orders,  in  the  case  of  the  Christian  Santals, 
Mr.  Stracban  published  a  successful  remonstrance 
based  on  this  very  ground. 

On  its  way  to  Calcutta  tbe  Despatch  of  1854  was 
crossed  by  a  private  letter  from  Dr.  W.  S.  Mackay, 
announcing  one  of  those  events  which,  while  they 
illustrate  the  opinion  expressed  by  Sir  C.  Trevelyan  as 
to  the  social  process  of  India's  conversion,  show  that 
the  Spirit  works  as  the  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth. 

"  Calcutta,  29/A  June,  1854. 

"  Strange  events  are  passing  around  us  ;  and  though  our 
fears  exceed  our  hopes,  no  man  can  say  what  the  issue  may  be. 
You  may  have  heard  that  Russomoy  Datt  is  dead ;  and  you 
know  that  the  family  had  always  a  leaning  towards  the  gospel. 

"  While  attending  his  father's  burning,  the  eldest  son,  Kishen, 
was  taken  ill  of  fever,  and  died  also  after  a  few  days'  illness. 
The  next  day,  Grish  (the  youngest  son)  wrote  to  Ogilvy 
Temple,  asking  me  to  go  and  visit  him.  I  was  very  ill  at  the 
time,  and  confined  to  bed;  so  I  got  Mr.  Ewart  to  accompany 
Ogilvy  ;  and  they  saw  nearly  all  the  brothers  together.  They 
conversed  with  Ewart  long  and  seriously,  and  begged  him  to 
pray  with  them,  all  joining  in  the  Amen.  It  gradually  came 
out  that  their  dying  brother  had  a  dream  or  vision  of  the  other 
world  ;  that  he  professed,  not  only  his  belief  in   Christianity, 


Ai.t.  48.  THE    DUTT    FAMILY.  249 

but  his  desire  to  be  immcdiufcly  baptized,  and  desired  me  tc 
be  sent  for.  Object  ionn  were  made  to  tliis,  and  then  he  asked 
them  to  send  for  Mr.  Wylie.  Tliis  also  was  evaded ;  and  at 
last,  Grish  offered  to  read  the  baptismal  service,  to  put  the 
questions,  and  to  baptize  him ;  and  thus  the  youngest  brother 
(himself  not  yet  a  Christian)  actually  baptized  the  other  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God ! 
The  dying  man  then  called  all  his  family  around  him,  and,  in 
the  presence  of  Mr.  Naylor,  bore  dying  testimony  to  Christ, 
and  besought  his  family  to  embrace  the  gospel.  It  appeared 
that  old  Russomoy  himself  had  been  a  careful  reader  of  the 
Bible,  and  that  ho  had  made  all  the  ladies  of  the  family  write 
out  the  whole  of  the  Psalms  in  Bengalee. 

"  We  found  that  all  the  brothers  and  most  of  their  sons  were 
so  far  believers  in  Christianity  that  they  were  making  prepar- 
ations in  their  families,  getting  their  affairs  in  order,  and  con- 
versing with  their  wives,  with  a  view  of  coming  over  to  the 
Lord  in  a  body — their  cousin,  Shoshee  Chunder  Dutt,  with 
them.  The  wives  were  willing  to  remain  with  their  husbands, 
but  are  still  firm  idolaters.  We  have  had  several  interviews 
with  them  since  of  a  very  interesting  nature,  and  Lai  Behari 
has  been  particularly  useful.  .  .  If  the  whole  family  are 
baptized  together,  you  may  suppose  what  an  excitement  it  will 
produce ;  for  take  them  all  in  all,  they  are  the  most  distin- 
guished Hindoo  family  under  British  rule.  Their  ideas  of 
Christian  doctrine  are  vague,  but  sound  on  the  whole.  Their 
guide  in  reading  the  Bible  has  been  Scott's  Commentary;  and 
they  seem  to  acquiesce  in  his  views  of  the  Trinity  and  Atone- 
ment. But  alas,  our  dear  friend  Wylie  hangs  between  life  and 
death,  and  I  fear  the  worst.  He  went  to  see  the  Dutts  at  my 
request  on  Wednesday  week — was  eagerly  interested — and  as 
soon  as  he  got  home,  began  a  letter  to  one  of  them.  While 
he  was  writing  the  fever  struck  him,  and  he  had  to  lay  down 
his  pen.  The  half-finished  letter,  with  a  few  words  added  by 
]\Iilne,  and  a  note  from  me,  describing  the  circumstances  in 
which  it  was  written  and  Mr.  Wylie's  desire  that  it  should 
be  sent  as  it  was,  have  all  been  sent  to  Grish.'' 

Of  this  letter  Dr.  Duff  wrote  to  Dr.  Tweedie  that  it 
should  be  kept  as  a  peculiar  and  singularly  interesting 
ritateraent.     After  further  instruction  by  Dr.  Mackay 


250  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1854. 

and  mucli  prayer  and  study  of  the  Scriptures,  all  tlie 
families  were  received  by  baptism  into  Christ,  in  the 
Bengalee  church  built  for  the  Rev.  K.  M.  Banerjea. 
*'  The  case  altogether  "  was  characterized  by  Dr.  Duff 
in  October,  1854,  when  he  was  suffering  severely 
under  reaction  from  his  excessive  labours,  as  "  one 
of  the  very  rarest,  if  not  the  rarest  that  has  yet 
occurred  in  India.  The  old  man,  the  father,  was  the 
very  first  of  my  native  acquaintances.  Many  a  long 
and  earnest  talk  have  I  had  with  him.  From  the  first 
he  was  singularly  enlightened  in  a  general  way,  and 
superior  to  native  prejudices.  His  sons  were  wont  to 
come  constantly  to  my  house,  to  discuss  the  subject 
of  Christianity  and  borrow  books.  I  need  not  say 
how,  in  my  sore  affliction,  the  tidings  of  God's  work 
among  them  has  tended  to  let  in  some  reviving  beams 
on  the  gloom  of  my  distressed  spirit.  InteUigence  of 
this  sort  operates  like  a  real  cordial  to  the  soul,  more 
especially  now  as  I  am  slowly  emerging  from  the 
valley  of  the  shadow  of  a  virtual  death.  Praise  the 
Lord,  0  my  soul !  "  Mr.  Macleod  Wylie,  whose 
colleague  as  a  native  judge  Russomoy  Dutt  had  been, 
was  restored  to  do  work  for  the  Master  to  this  hour. 
The  Rev.  John  Milne,  to  whom  Dr.  Mackay  alludes,  was 
the  godly  preacher  of  Perth  to  whom  the  Free  Church 
congregation  of  Calcutta,  and  good  men  of  all  sorts  in 
Bengal,  were  grateful  for  ministering  to  them. 

When  describing  Calcutta  and  its  great  Hindoo 
septs  in  1830,  we  anticipated  that  we  should  see 
how  the  Christianity  brought  to  them  by  Dr.  Duff 
*'  tested  them  and  sifted  their  families,  and  still  tries 
their  descendants  as  a  divine  touchstone."  Russomoy 
and  the  Dutt  family  were  the  first  of  these  thus  to 
stand  the  test.  So  is  it  that  many  shall  come  from 
the  East  and  the  West  and  shall  sit  down  in  the  king- 
dom of  heaven. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

1854-1855. 

IN  AMERICA    AND   GAXADA.— SECOND    FAREWELL    TO 
CHRISTENDOM. 

Mr.  George  H".  Stnart  of  Philadelphia. — The  Young  Republic 
Sensitive  to  Criticism. — The  Pope's  Nuncio  to  America. — Dr. 
Duff  and  Sfoi'iny  Weather. — Letter  to  his  Wife. — A  Memorable 
Anniversary. — Weeks  of  Tempest. — A  Sabbath  in  the  Storm. — 
An  Ice-covered  Stt-amer. — Christ  in  the  Ship. — Stranded  in  the 
HiuLson. — ISTevv  York. — Welcomed  by  Seventy  Ministers  of  Phil- 
adelphia in  a  Snowstorm. — Orations  there  and  in  New  York. — 
American  Criticism. — Preaching  to  Congress. — A  Day  with  the 
President — At  George  Wasliington's  Tomb. — Triumphal  Progress 
by  Pittsburg,  Cincinnati,  Louisville,  St.  Louis,  Chicago,  and 
Detroit. — The  Falls  of  Niagara. — Montreal. — Toil  and  E.xhaus- 
tion.  —  Missionary  Convention  in  New  York. — Farewell  to  America. 
— General  Assembly  of  1854.  —  Paving  the  Penalty  of  Over-work. 
— At  Malvern. — The  Fifth  Earl  of  Aberdeen. — At  Biarritz  and 
Pan. — Relapse  at  Rome. — A  Peace-maker  in  the  Martyr  Church 
of  the  Vaudois. — From  Genoa  by  Palermo,  Alexandria  and 
Beyrout,  to  Damascus,  Jerusalem,  and  Constantinople. — Farewell 
Warnings,  through  the  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  to  Christen- 
dom.— Returns  to  India  for  the  Third  Time. 

Among  the  American  visitors  to  Edinburgh,  the  his- 
torical capital  of  Presbyterianisra.  in  1851,  was  Mr. 
George  H.  Stuart,  a  merchant  of  Philadelphia.  With 
what  Dr.  Dnff  afterwards  described  as  '•'  all  that  mar- 
vellous readiness  and  frankness  peculiar  to  the  Ameri- 
can character,  though  himself  originally  an  Irishman, 
a  combination  therefore  of  the  excellencies  of  the  two 
characters,"  he  introduced  himself  to  the  Moderator 
of  the  General  Assembly  at  the  oflScial  residence.  As 
he  had  sat  spell-bound  by  the  addresses  of  that  year, 
and  had  been  roused  by  the  contagious    enthusiasm 


252  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1854. 

of  the  Missionary -Moderator,  he  determined  to  invite 
Dr.  Duff  to  visit  the  Churches  of  the  United  States. 
*'  You  must  come  to  America,"  exckximed  Mr.  Stuart 
as  he  burst  in  upon  the  wearied  orator,  "  you  shall 
have  a  cordial  welcome.'*  And  observing  the  gather- 
ing frown  of  dissent,  he  prevented  refusal  by  the  one 
argument  which  was  irresistible,  "We  want  to  be 
stirred  up  there ;  there  is  plenty  of  material  there,  we 
need  only  to  be  stirred  up."  At  the  beginning  merely 
of  his  financial  crusade,  Dr.  Duff  had  anew  to  stir  up 
his  own  Church  and  country.  But  it  came  to  be  un- 
derstood that,  if  the  invitation  were  renewed  when 
that  should  have  been  completed,  it  would  be  con- 
sidered. Meanwhile  a  formal  request  for  a  visit  came 
from  the  Synod  of  Canada.  Repeatedly  did  Mr. 
Stuart  write  and  plead,  and  cause  not  a  few  ecclesias- 
tical and  public  bodies  to  do  the  same.  When  the 
beginning  of  1854  saw  the  missionary  return  from 
the  successful  close  of  his  nearly  four  years'  campaign 
all  over  Scotland,  exhausted  in  body  but  refreshed 
in  spirit,  his  Foreign  Missions  Committee  sent  him 
forth  to  the  great  lands  of  the  West,  to  our  cousins 
in  the  United  States  and  to  our  own  people  in  the 
colonies  now  happily  confederated  as  the  Dominion 
of  Canada. 

The  time  was  not  favourable  for  the  kindly  recep- 
tion in  the  West  of  public  men  from  the  old  country, 
not  even  of  ecclesiastics.  The  young  Republic  was 
then  very  sensitive  to  criticism.  Its  generous  enthusi^ 
asm  for  the  men  and  the  causes  which  were  hallowed 
to  it  by  sacred  sentiments  and  old  memories,  had 
not  been  met  by  corresponding  sympathy  or  kindly 
appreciation.  Writers  like  Charles  Dickens,  Mrs. 
TroUope  and  even  Sir  Charles  Lyell,  represented 
not  a  few  smaller  critics  unused  to  travel  and  innocent 
of    the   charity   as    well   as    breadth  of    view  which 


JEl  48.  THE    TWO   NUNCIOS.  253 

familiarifcj  with  men  and  countries  is  only  now  begin- 
ning to  give  to  a  race  with  such  imperial  responsibili- 
ties as  the  British.  In  Dr.  Duff  the  people  of  America 
had  a  very  different  observer,  one  who  represented 
Asia  as  well  as  Europe  ;  whom  India  and  the  East  had 
made  familiar  with  the  magnitudes,  and  more  than  the 
varieties  of  races  and  tongues  and  civilizations,  which 
imperialise  the  republicans  of  the  West ;  whom,  above 
all,  his  mission  as  an  ambassador  for  Christ  clothed 
with  a  charity  and  fired  with  a  zeal  unequalled  at 
that  time  in  Christendom.  Still,  even  so,  the  many 
Churches  of  the  United  States  might  have  been  justi- 
fied, if  not  in  suspicion,  yet  in  a  cold  caution  towards 
the  ecclesiastical  orator.  For  they  had  just  been 
sorely  tried,  grievously  deceived,  by  an  Italian  notable, 
who  came  with  all  the  powers  of  the  papal  nuncio. 
With  letters  from  the  Pope  and  Cardinal  Autonelli, 
Monsignor  Gaetano  Bedini,  Archbishop  of  Thebos, 
Apostolic  Nuncio  to  Brazil,  had  taken  the  United 
States  on  his  way.  He  fared  well,  as  a  curiosity  at 
least,  even  among  those  who  were  not  of  his  rite,  until 
some  of  the  Italian  refugees  from  his  torturing  per- 
secution at  Bologna  revealed  who  he  was.  His  own 
Church,  resenting  his  attempt  at  interference,  joined 
in  the  hue  and  cry  which  rendered  it  expedient  to 
smuggle  the  nuncio  on  board  a  steamer  bound  for 
Cuba.  Mr.  George  H.  Stuart  did  not  do  an  altogether 
popular  thing  wlien  he,  for  three  years,  gave  Dr.  Duff 
no  rest  until  the  missionary,  whose  powers  of  reproach 
and  satire  in  his  Master's  cause  had  not  been  forgotten 
since  the  Exeter  Hall  oration  of  1836,  crossed  the 
Atlantic.  But  he  whom  not  a  few  feared  as  likely  to 
appear  another  Bedini,  proved  to  be  a  second  White- 
field.  "  Xo  such  man  has  visited  us  since  the  days  of 
Whitefield,"  was  the  cry  of  the  crowd  which  waved  to 
the  Scottish  missionary  as  he  left  them,  their  farewells 


254  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1854. 

from  tlie  wliarf  at  New  York.  "  What  a  contrast  is 
this  to  the  departure  of  Bedini !  "  was  what  many 
said. 

Dr.  Duff  shall  himself  tell  much  of  the  story  of  his 
travels  and  his  toils,  in  such  portions  of  his  letters 
to  his  wife  as  may  now  be  published.  These  present 
a  strange  contrast  to  the  newspaper  records  of  the 
tour,  which  from  the  Hudson  to  Chicago,  Detroit  to 
Montreal,  and  back  to  Boston  and  'New  York  again, 
became  a  triumphal  progress  as  described  in  the  re- 
ports and  criticisms  of  American  journalists.  If, 
whenever  he  sailed,  or  made  long  journeys,  the  mis- 
sionary became  the  victim  of  storm  and  tempest,  of 
the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold,  we  must  reflect  that 
his  busy  life  and  ardent  nature  forced  him  to  travel 
generally  at  the  wrong  season,  alike  in  East  and 
West. 

**Steameb  *AriiicA,'  mouth  op  the  Hudson  River, 

ISth  February,  1854. 

**  Wherever  I  wander,  wherever  I  roam,  I  feel 
that  my  first  note  is  due  to  you,  the  companion  of 
so  mau^  of  my  wanderings,  and  the  associate  of 
my  joys  and  sorrows  for  well-nigh  a  quarter  of  a 
century.  It  is  with  no  ordinary  feelings  of  gratitude 
to  God  I  now  sit  down  in  the  saloon  of  the  steamer 
to  notify  that,  after  one  of  the  longest  and  most 
boisterous  passages  ever  experienced  by  the  great 
Atlantic  steamers,  our  anchor  has  just  been  cast 
within  the  bar  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson  River, 
within  an  hour  and  a  half  steaming  of  New  York. 
Our  pilot  came  on  board  about  an  hour  ago,  and  had 
we  an  hour  or  two  more  of  daylight  we  should  this 
niofht  be  lodo;ed  on  the  American  shore.  But  the  fog 
and  mist  have  so  settled  down  upon  us  that,  despite 
the  moon,  our  pilot  cannot  venture  up  the  river.     But 


^t.  48.  WINTER   IN   THE    ATLANTIC.  255 

truly  tbankful  all  are  to  be  snugly  and  quietly  ancliored 
here  to-night,  after  such  a  tremendous  and  almost 
unprecedented  tossing-.  Had  not  our  vessel  been 
perhaps  the  strongest  built  and  most  powerful  in 
machinery  on  the  line,  instead  of  being  here  this 
evening  we  should  either  have  been  not  half  way  as 
yet,  or  in  the  bottom  of  the  deep. 

"  And  what  a  memorable  anniversary  is  this  night 
to  you  and  to  me — the  night  of  our  shipwreck  on 
Dassen  Island  !  And  how  strange  the  coincidences  as 
to  time  !  On  the  morning  of  the  14th  February,  1830, 
we  landed  on  Dassen  Island  as  forlorn  fugitives  from 
the  awful  wreck.  On  the  14th  February,  1840,  we 
landed  at  Bombay,  after  our  severe  tossing  in  the 
Arabian  seas  !  And,  if  spared  till  to-morrow  morning, 
I  shall  land  on  the  14th  February,  1854,  on  the  shores 
of  the  New  World,  the  refuge  land  of  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers  !  That  14th  of  February  seems  to  be  a  day 
of  peculiar  eventuality  in  my  life. 

"  We  started  beautifully  from  Liverpool  at  11  a.m. 
on  Saturday,  28th  January.  A  little  after  lunch  the 
vessel  got  out  of  the  sand-banks  of  the  Mersey  into 
the  Irish  Channel,  where  there  was  a  strong  breeze, 
and  a  chopping,  jumbling  sea.  I  soon  sickened  as 
usual,  and  had  to  lie  down.  For  two  or  three  days 
I  was  conscious  only  of  my  misery — an  awful  sensi- 
bility of  uneasiness  and  pain  without  power  of  read- 
ing or  even  thinking.  The  weather  night  and  day 
continued  in  its  stormiest  mood.  After  having  lain 
for  upwards  of  three  days  like  a  dead  log,  unable  to 
lift  my  head,  I  contrived  on  Wednesday,  1st  February, 
to  get  up  for  a  little  into  the  saloon.  On  Saturday 
forenoon,  the  4th,  the  captain  predicted  a  gale  before 
evening.  Towards  evening  the  gale  came  ahead  with 
almost  resistless  fury.  The  vessel,  capable  of  moving  in 
ordinary  water  at  the  rate^of  thirteen  or  fourteen  miles 


256  LIFE    OP   DR.    DUFF.  1S54. 

an  hour,  struggled  like  a  giant  against  tlie  gale, 
making  only  about  a  mile  or  mile  and  a  half  an  hour. 
The  motion  was  such  as  I  never  remember  to  have 
experienced.  Such  pitching  and  rolling — such  hori- 
zontal tremors  and  perpendicular  quiverings — such 
creaking,  cracking,  and  doleful  straining  sounds — such 
fchumpings  of  the  waves  like  the  noise  of  artillery, 
now  on  one  side,  and  now  on  the  other,  as  they  broke 
over  her  bulwarks,  and  momentarily  submerged  her 
mighty  hull  in  the  surging  waters  !  Sleep  that  night 
was  out  of  the  question.  At  the  height  of  the  gale, 
about  midnight,  our  danger  was  most  imminent ;  but 
towards  morning  the  gale  began  to  abate,  that  is, 
towards  the  dawn  of  the  day  of  hallowed  rest.  Still 
it  continued  to  blow  what  the  sailors  call  *  half 
a  gale,'  and  the  spectacle  of  sea  one  mass  of  boil- 
ing foam  rolling  in  mountains,  was  grand  beyond 
description. 

"  Being  most  anxious  to  remember  the  Sabbath- 
day  to  keep  it  holy  I  got  into  the  saloon,  and  by  the 
captain's  ready  permission  held  a  short  service  there, 
most  of  the  male  passengers  being  present  (the  ladies 
unable)  with  the  servants,  etc.  I  read  the  107th 
Psalm,  and  made  some  remarks  on  a  passage  in  Isaiah 
with  prayer.  It  was  with  difficulty  we  contrived  to 
sit,  on  account  of  the  fearful  motion.  But  the  exertion 
did  me  good  in  many  ways,  and  I  thanked  the  Lord 
for  the  opportunity  of  testifying  to  His  goodness  and 
grace  amid  the  wonders  of  the  deep.  The  weather 
continued  very  stormy,  and  the  cold  increased  at 
the  same  time.  On  Monday  and  Tuesday,  snow,  hail, 
and  sleet  with  a  turbulent  sea  and  strong  head  winds. 
On  Tuesday  forenoon  (7th),  the  captain  predicted 
another  gale ;  and  it  came,  if  possible,  more  severely 
than  before.  It  looked  at  one  time  as  if  the  vessel 
could  not  possibly  survive  it.     But  it  pleased  the  Lord 


^t.  48.  AN   lOE-COVERED    STEAMER.  257 

still  to  spare  us.  On  Wednesday,  tliough  the  paroxysm 
of  the  gale  was  over,  it  blew  almost  furiously  all 
the  day,  with  snow.  On  that  niglit  the  thermometer 
fell  to  16°,  and  on  Thursday  morning  the  spectacle 
presented  by  the  vessel  was  most  extraordinary. 
Though  it  still  blew  hard,  the  sky  cleared  with  intense 
frosty  air,  exhibiting  the  ship  as  if  one  huge  mass  of 
ice.  The  decks  were  covered  with  it  several  inches 
thick,  the  ropes,  spars,  and  rigging;  the  boats  and 
paddle  works  ;  the  masts  up  to  their  summits  with 
the  sails — all,  all  incrusted  in  ice  from  two  to  six 
inches  thick ;  while  in  the  fore-part,  where  the  spray 
was  greatest,  there  was  an  accumulation  of  ice  two 
or  three  feet  thick  over  the  whole  woodwork  of  the 
vessel,  within  and  without.  The  captain  remarked 
that  if  ours  had  been  a  sailing  vessel,  we  should  now 
be  utterly  helpless,  as  not  a  sail  could  be  used  nor  a 
rope  handled ;  in  fact,  she  would  float  like  a  log  alto- 
gether unmanageable,  at  the  mercy  of  the  winds  and 
waves.  The  quantity  of  ice  thus  formed  may  appear 
from  the  fact,  that  by  its  weight  the  vessel  lay  nine 
inches  deeper  in  the  water  than  she  would  otherwise 
have  done  !  Of  course  all  hands  were  set  to  work  with 
hatchets,  mallets,  and  other  instruments  to  break  up 
as  much  of  the  ice  as  possible,  and  throw  it  overboard. 
"  This  morning,  Monday  13th,  for  the  first  time 
since  we  left  old  England,  a  compai'atively  smooth  sea, 
with  a  gentle  favourable  breeze !  We  all  felt  the 
change  in  its  reviving  influence,  and  anxiously  ex- 
pected this  night  to  be  released  from  our  uninterrupted 
tossings.  And  truly  at  this  moment  there  is  quiet. 
The  vessel  safely  at  anchor  within  the  bar  — no  motion. 
It  seems  almost  unnatural,  so  accustomed  had  we 
become  to  the  roar  of  the  ocean  waves,  the  bowlings 
of  the  winds,  and  the  multitudinous  sounds  of  the 
labouring  vessel,  straining  through   all   her  timbers. 

VOL.    II.  s 


258  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1 854. 

But  to  tlie  Lord  do  I  give  thanks.  He  hatli  brought 
us  at  last  over  the  stormy  billows  into  a  quiet  haven. 
Nor  has  all  this  trial  been  in  vain.  When  down- 
right ill,  the  mind  was  utterly  incapable  of  thought ; 
but  there  were  intervals  when,  in  spite  of  the  sicken- 
ing sensations,  the  mind  could  variously  exercise  itself. 
The  whole  of  the  past  came  up  for  review  before  me, 
all  the  way  in  which  the  Lord  hath  led  me.  And  oh, 
how  humbling  the  retrospect  as  regarded  myself  I 
The  loving-kindnesses  of  the  Lord,  how  manifold,  how 
unceasing  !  My  own  shortcomings  in  every  way,  how 
manifold  !  At  times  I  felt  a  burning  wish  that  all  my 
past  life  were  blotted  out  of  remembrance,  and  that 
I  might  be  privileged  to  begin  anew,  with  a  heart 
wholly  dead  to  sin  and  sense  and  the  world,  and  wholly 
alive  to  the  Lord  in  all  holiness  and  devotedness.  In 
the  end  I  had  no  consolation  whatever  but  in  clinging 
as  with  a  death-grasp  to  the  precious  assurance  that 
the  blood  of  Christ  cleanseth  from  all  sin. 

"  In  the  multitude  of  my  thoughts  I  was  often 
with  you  and  the  dear  boys,  and  was  led  intensely  to 
agonize  in  prayer  for  you  all.  And  then  I  wondered 
why  I  was  where  I  was ;  whether  I  was  on  the  path 
of  duty,  and  what  the  duty  might  be  !  My  conclusion 
was,  on  a  review  of  all  antecedents,  that  I  was  shut  up 
to  visit  America,  though  even  now  I  know  not  what 
the  Lord  has  in  store  for  me  there.  With  this  feeling, 
I  thought  that  if  never  heard  of  any  more,  and  our 
vessel  foundered  amid  the  stormy  Atlantic  waves,  the 
Lord  might,  in  one  way  or  other,  overrule  my  death 
to  the  good  of  the  souls  of  the  members  of  my  family, 
and  raise  up  friends  to  them,  and  insure  the  further- 
ance of  His  own  cause.  On  these  points  I  came  at 
times  to  a  serene  feeling  of  resignation  to  His  holy 
will. 

"But,  if  spared,  oh  how  I  longed  to  be  a  new  bur- 


^t  48.  BBLF-QUESTIONINGS.  259 

nished  instrument  in  His  hands.  I  feel  my  own  un- 
speakable shortcomings.  I  really  know  not  what  I  am 
to  do,  or  what  I  can  do  in  this  western  realm,  towards 
the  advancement  of  the  Redeemer's  glory.  Bat  1  now 
find  great  consolation  in  this,  that  I  have  been  brought 
here  not  to  do  anything  myself,  but  to  gain  something 
from  the  experience  of  God's  people  here,  which  I 
may  carry  away  with  me  and  turn  to  account  some 
other  day  amid  the  realms  of  Gentilism.  I  wait  for 
guidance  ;  I  wait  for  light  in  the  path  of  duty  ;  I  desire 
to  follow  the  Lord  wherever  and  however  He  may  lead 
me.  Oh,  for  simplicity,  single-heartedness,  and  self- 
denying  devotedness  to  Him  that  loveth  us !  I  burn 
with  desire  to  see  the  chaff  and  dross  of  the  old  man 
consumed,  and  for  the  pure  bright  shining  of  holiness 
in  the  inner  and  outer  man  ! 

" '  Oh  wretched  man  that  I  am,  who  shall  deliver  me 
from  the  body  of  this  death !  '  Would  to  Grod  I  could 
add  with  emphasis,  '  Thanks  bo  to  God,'  etc.  But  a 
heart  tainted  with  sin,  how  is  it  to  be  perfectly  cleansed? 
It  really  seems  like  the  tainted  cask,  which,  though  oft 
washed  and  somewhat  sweetened,  continues  to  exhibit 
something  inodorous  and  unsavoury  still.  But  in  the 
end,  if  faithful  unto  death,  will  the  last  remnant  of  this 
taint  be  removed?  Oh,  for  the  rapid  diminution  of  it 
now,  that  heaven  might  enter  the  soul  to  the  entire 
exclusion  of  earth  and  its  corrupting  vanities  !  I  have 
been  writing  even  on,  what  has  been  uppermost  in  my 
mind,  but  here  I  must  pause  for  the  present,  with  a 
prayer  for  every  blessing  to  rest  on  you  and  our 
children. 

14:th  February,  7  a.m. — "  Very  tantalizing — still  at 
anchor,  a  dense  fog  preventing  our  moving.  Singular 
the  effect  of  habit.  From  the  literally  incessant  com- 
plex motions  of  the  vessel  for  a  whole  fortnight,  when 
I   lay   down   last   night    the    perfect    motionlessness 


260  LIFE   OF   DR.    DUFF.  1854. 

seemed  quite  unnatural,  so  much  so  that  I  could  not 
sleep  on  account  of  the  deathlike  stillness.  After 
some  broken  snatches  I  was  glad  at  four  to  hear  the 
sound  of  the  capstan  in  raising  the  anchor.  I  instantly 
got  up  and  dressed  in  the  dark.  Then  up  to  the  deck, 
but  sorry  to  find  the  dense  fog  put  an  end  to  further 
preparation  for  onward  movement.  Got  into  conver- 
sation with  the  chief  and  second  officers.  With  the 
latter  I  had  often  spoken  before,  he  being  a  member 
of  Lundie's  congregation  at  Birkenhead.  With  the 
former  I  had  no  previous  opportunity,  but  found  him 
an  intelligently  religious  man,  who  had  read  much  and 
thought  much.  He  had  also  been  in  Calcutta,  and 
had  read  the  Memoir  of  Mahendra,  for  whom  he  cher- 
ished sentiments  of  admiration.  Strange  how  things 
come  about !  Our  chief  talk  was  on  the  ingredients 
of  vital  spiritual  religion — real  heart  religion — as  con- 
tradistinguished from  formalistic  mechanical  outside 
religion.  And  a  more  edifying  conversation  I  have 
not  had  with  any  one  for  many  a  day.     . 

"  I  am  full  of  anxieties,  in  spite  of  every  effort  to 
cast  the  burden  of  my  cares  upon  the  Lord.  Quite 
refreshed  at  the  same  time  by  reading  a  portion  of  the 
119  th  Psalm.  Precious  is  that  blessed  word  !  It  is 
divine  authority  transfused  with  tenderness  and  love. 
What  would  the  world  be  without  it  ?  a  creation  with- 
out a  sun. 

Ibth  Fehruarij,  10  a.m. — "  Instead  of  being  at  New 
York  yesterday  forenoon  as  we  expected,  we  are  here 
ifor  the  last  half-hour  stuck  fast  ten  feet  deep  in  a 
mud-bank,  within  three  miles  of  our  destined  haven. 
How  notable  the  probationary  ways  of  Grod  !  Yester- 
day up  to  noon  the  fog  was  so  dense  that  nothing 
could  be  seen.  The  entrance  to  this  river  is  somewhat 
like  that  to  the  Mersey,  the  Thames,  or  the  Ganges. 
That  is,  for  about  eighteen  miles  out  seaward  there 


^t.  48.  IN   THE    HUDSON.  26 1 

are  endless  sand-banks  and  shallows.  For  large  vessels 
like  ours  there  is  but  one  channel,  and  that  a  very 
intricate  zigzag  and  narrow  one  winding  through 
the  sand  and  nmd-banks.  In  the  case  of  the  Mersey 
and  Ganges,  where  there  are  similar  intricacies,  there 
aye  so  many  buoys  and  floating  lights  that  a  skilful 
pilot  could  steer  his  vessel  through  even  a  dense 
fog.  Not  so  here.  In  such  a  port  as  that  of  New 
York  it  is  scandalous,  it  is  scandalous  to  think  of  the 
state  of  things.  For  about  nine  miles  there  are  only 
three  small  stake-looking  objects  visible  above  water, 
and  in  a  fog  not  visible  beyond  a  few  hundred  feet. 
About  noon  the  fos:  cleared  a  little  and  one  of  these 
stakes  was  seen.  Our  vessel  soon  moved  on  a  little, 
until  she  fairly  grounded  on  a  sand-bank,  striking  upon 
it,  though  not  very  heavily,  several  times.  By  backing 
the  engines  she  was  ultimately  moved  off.  Night 
came  on,  and  she  anchored  in  water  so  shallow  that 
she  barely  floated — drawing  as  she  does  even  now, 
after  consuming  a  thousand  tons  of  coal,  18  feet. 
As  the  tide  ebbed  she  again  grounded,  and  was 
aground  altogether  from  midnight  till  about  seven  this 
morning.  What  an  anxious  night  to  captain  and  all 
on  board !  Happily  the  wind  was  light,  otherwise  had 
there  been  a  heavy  sea,  or  a  strong  wind,  or  a  gale 
such  as  we  had  at  sea,  she  must  have  proved  quite  a 
wreck  before  morning.  From  the  peculiarity  of  the 
motion,  I  felt  all  night  that  we  were  aground;  and 
very  wakeful  at  any  rate.  Meditation  took  all  my 
sleep  away.  Up  between  three  and  four  to  see  what 
was  to  be  done.  'This,'  said  the  captain, 'is  worse 
than  all  our  gales  on  the  passage.'  About  seven  this 
morning,  as  the  tide  rose,  the  vessel  was  at  length 
extricated  from  the  sand-bank.  All  felt  unusually 
joyous.  At  last  how  we  were  gladdened  when  we 
came   close   to    Staten   Island    on   the  left — the  first 


262  LIEE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1854 

American  house  we  saw  crovv^ning  its  not  lofty  but 
pleasantly  wooded  land.  .  .  Soon  after  we  got 
to  the  deck  after  breakfast,  the  ship  proceeding  full 
speed,  she  plunged  into  a  mud-bank  ten  feet  deep ! 
Instantly  the  engines  backed,  but  though  plying  their 
utmost  energy,  no  effect  on  the  position  of  our  noble 
vessel.  Here  she  is  fairly  stuck;  and  the  captain 
says  he  will  have  to  discharge  the  whole  of  his  cargo 
here,  and  then  get  steamers  to  tug  her  off !  Mean- 
while he  has  sent  for  a  small  steamer  to  take  off  the 
passengers  and  their  luggage.  For  that  steamer  we 
are  now  anxiously  waiting.  The  Lord  send  us  deliver- 
ance in  His  ovv^n  time  and  way." 

"New  Yore.  A  little  past  noon,  Fehruary  Ibth. — 
With  heartiest  thanks  to  God  I  now  record  the  fact  of 
my  arrival  in  this  great  city.  The  small  steamer  did 
come  to  take  off  passengers  and  luggage  and  mails. 
At  the  wharf,  Stuart  of  Philadelphia,  his  brother  of 
this  place,  and  the  Eev.  Mr.  Thomson,  one  of  the 
Presbyterian  ministers,  were  waiting  to  welcome  me  ; 
and  what  a  right  hearty  and  joyous  welcome  they  did 
give !  It  really  made  one  weep  for  very  gratitude  and 
joy.  I  now  found  the  advantage  of  my  being  the 
bearer  of  the  Government  despatches.  It  gave  me 
precedence  before  all  others,  and  as  to  luggage  it  was 
hurried  through  in  a  few  minutes,  while  that  of  the 
passengers  was  subjected  to  a  painfully  minute  exami- 
nation. First  we  were  driven  off  to  Mr.  Thomson's, 
though  Mr.  Stuart  and  his  brother  had  expected  me ; 
and  now  in  my  own  bedroom — large  and  airy — I  am 
writing  the  conclusion  of  a  long  letter.  .  .  The 
captain  and  oflBcers  declared  they  had  never  made  such 
an  uninterruptedly  stormy  passage.  And  then  our 
very  critical  position  yesterday  and  last  night  had  a 
strong  wind  risen  ! 


.^t.  48.  PHILADELPHIA.  263 

"  The  only  thing  that  really  distresses  me  is  that 
they  are  already  publishing  all  manner  of  extrava- 
gancies about  me  in  the  newspapers.  The  natural 
tendency  of  all  this  on  my  spirit  is  to  paralyse  it,  as 
the  glory  is  too  much  taken  from  the  Creator  and 
bestowed  on  the  creature.  This  is  sinful,  and  the 
holy  and  jealous  God  will  not  allow  it,  but  blast  the 
whole  with  the  mildew  of  His  sore  displeasure.  Oh 
for  grace,  grace,  grace  !     Pray  for  me,  oh  pray  I  " 

"Philadelphia,  1st  March,  1854. 

" .  .  Time  is  absorbed  more  than  ever  in  this 
land  of  '  Go-a-headism '  in  all  things.  But  no  !  I 
must  qualify  this  somewhat  by  adding,  except  perhaps 
pure,  simple,  genuine,  unsophisticated  spiritual  religion. 
For,  though  there  is  such  religion  here  in  individual 
cases,  I  begin  to  fear  that,  as  to  its  prevalence  and 
extent,  America  is  not  going  ahead  of  the  old  country ; 
still,  I  must  not  be  judging  prematurely. 

"  AVe  landed  here  in  the  most  terrific  snowstorm, 
and  in  a  perfect  hurricane  of  wind  and  drift.  Nothing 
like  it  here,  they  say,  for  more  than  twenty  years. 
And  happy  we  to  have  got  in  at  all  on  that  awful 
night.  Other  trains  from  the  west,  etc.,  got  fairly 
embedded  in  snow-wreaths ;  and  for  a  day  or  two, 
passengers  shut  up  in  them,  incapable  of  being 
extricated  !  Their  trials  and  sufferings  you  may  con- 
ceive. Half  an  hour  later,  and  we  too  should  have 
been  detained  in  the  drift  all  night.  Thanks,  then, 
be  to  God  for  our  safe  arrival !  I  sent  a  paper  which 
would  show  you  what  sort  of  a  reception  we  met 
with  here.  It  is  still  to  me  like  a  visicn  of  the  night 
or  an  ideal  dream.  I  knew  that  Mr.  Stuart,  in  his 
zeal  and  warm  enthusiasm,  meant  to  invite  a  few 
friends  to  meet  me  in  his  house ;  but  in  such  a  tempest 
I  concluded  that  not  one  could  venture  out.     Wearied 


264  LIFE    or   DE.    DUFF.  1 854. 

and  fatigued  with  the  long  journey  and  detention  in 
the  snow,  and  the  foul  air  in  our  carriage — one  of  the 
long  American  kind — crammed  with  passengers,  the 
tempestuousness  of  the  weather  not  admitting  of  a 
single  chink  or  crevice  being  opened,  I  concluded,  as 
a  matter  of  course,  that,  almost  immediately  on  arrival 
I  would  be  enabled  to  retire  to  my  bedroom  for  repose. 
Judge  then  of  my  surprise,  my  downright  astonish- 
ment, when,  on  entering  the  spacious  house,  I  was 
told  that  between  sixty  and  seventy  ministers  were 
waiting  to  welcome  me — then,  between  ten  and  eleven 
o'clock  at  night,  and  such  an  awful  night  of  storms  ! 
--Episcopalians,  Presbyterians  of  every  school,  Con- 
gregationalists,  Methodists,  Baptists,  Dutch  Reformed, 
in  short,  all  the  evangelical  ministers  of  every  church 
in  Philadelphia  and  its  neighbourhood !  Never  was 
there  such  a  gathering  of  ministers  in  this  city  be- 
fore, on  any  occasion  or  for  any  object.  No  wonder 
though  I  stood  in  dumb  amazement,  wondering  what 
all  this  could  mean.  To  each  one  of  those  assembled 
I  was  introduced,  and  from  each  received  such  a  hearty 
shake  of  the  hand,  and  such  a  cordial  welcome  in 
words,  that  I  could  do  nothing  but  show  the  fulness 
of  my  heart  and  choked  utterance  by  the  earnest  look 
and  tearful  eye.  After  the  salutations  were  all  over, 
the  company  retired  to  the  dining-room,  where  a  long 
table  was  laden  with  a  magnificent  collation  of  all 
manner  of  luxurious  things — fit  for  the  entertainment 
of  an  Asiatic  prince.  I  was  requested  to  ask  the 
blessing ;  since,  as  worthy  Mr.  Stuart  said,  '  all  were 
anxious  to  hear  the  sound  of  my  voice.'  After 
collation  all  again  retired  to  the  drawing-room, 
when  one  of  the  ministers  in  the  name  of  the  rest, 
in  a  neat,  warm  address,  welcomed  me  to  America; 
and  Dr.  l^.Iurray,  better  known  as  '  Kirwan,'  followed 
it  up   with  some  notices  of  his  meeting  with  me  at 


^t.  48.  RECEPTION   AT   PniLADELruiA.  265 

Exeter  Hall  and  Belfast  Assembly.  Mr.  Stuart  him- 
self stated  how  he  was  present  at  my  opening  address 
as  Moderator  of  our  Assembly.  Then  a  chapter  of 
the  Bible  was  read ;  and  a  bishop  of  the  Episcopal 
Methodists  prayed — oh,  how  sweetly  and  earnestly  ! 
— it  pierced  my  very  heart. 

"  A  little  past  midnight  this  remarkable  party  broke 
up,  amid  the  hurricane  raging  outside.  Some  of 
them,  as  they  told  afterwards,  were  hours  before  they 
reached  their  homes,  though  not  above  a  mile  or  two 
distant,  buffeted  by  the  tempest  and  up  to  the 
waist  in  snow.  How  can  I  portray  my  commingled 
feelings  when  I  retired  towards  one  o'clock  to  my 
couch  of  repose  I  It  is  impossible.  Such  a  reception, 
so  new,  so  peculiar,  so  unprecedented,  what  could 
it  mean  ?  With  one  or  two  exceptions,  not  one  of 
the  assembled  ministers  had  ever  seen  my  face  in  the 
flesh.  And  yet,  as  each  one  shook  hands  with  me,  he 
spoke  as  if  I  were  an  old  familiar  friend ;  as  if  he 
knew  all  about  me,  and  hailed  me  as  a  brother  in  the 
Lord.  Never  before  was  any  minister  or  missionary 
of  any  deuomination  so  received  and  so  greeted  in  this 
part  of  the  world,  nor  in  any  other  that  I  have  ever 
beard  of.  What  could  it  all  mean  ?  I  was  lost  in 
wonder,  adoring  gratitude  and  love.  I  approached 
these  shores  with  much  anxiety,  in  much  fear  and 
trembliug.  1  felt  an  oppressive  uneasiness  of  spirit 
which  I  could  not  shake  off.  My  only  refuge  was 
in  casting  myself  wholly  on  the  Lord,  and  in  praying 
that  His  will  might  be  done,  and  His  alone.  That 
I  might  realize  myself  as  absolutely  the  clay,  and  He 
my  potter,  to  shape  me,  mould  me  as  He  willed,  and 
breathe  into  me  and  through  me  what  He  willed. 
Surely,  I  felt,  this  unparalleled  reception  must  be  a  first 
smile  of  Jehovah.  Who  but  He,  by  His  Holy  Spirit, 
could   have   breathed   into   such   diversities   as   were 


266  LIFE    OP    Dli.    DtJFF.  1854. 

present  then,  such  a  unity  of  feeling,  and  sentiment, 
and  goodwill  towards  a  total  stranger — and  that 
stranger  not  a  noble,  or  statesman,  or  man  of  literature 
or  science,  or  discoverer,  or  ex-governor  like  Kossuth, 
but  merely  a  humble  missionary  to  the  heathen. 
One  thing  I  have  rejoiced  in,  and  that  is,  that  the 
Lord  enabled  me  to  remain  faithful,  in  adhering  to  my 
post  in  heathen  lands,  in  upholding  the  work  of 
evangelization  as  the  greatest  work  on  earth,  in  thus 
honouring  the  Lord  in  connection  with  that  cause, 
which  though  despised  by  the  world  is  the  highest 
and  noblest  in  His  estimation  :  and  could  this  be  a 
realization  of  the  promise,  '  Them  that  honour  Me, 
I  will  honour  '  ?  I  then  trembled,  lest  this  might  be 
a  proud  thought  instilled  by  Satan,  and  prayed  that 
my  sense  of  personal  nothingness  might  be  deepened 
and  deepened,  until  it  became  too  deep  for  Satan  ever 
to  fill  it  up  again.  And  in  the  end,  I  seemed  to  feel  as 
if  in  my  inmost  soul  I  never  had  a  deeper  or  humbler 
sense  of  my  own  utter  unworthiness  and  nothingness 
than  after  that  astonishing  reception.  Oh,  that  the 
Lord  may  evermore  increase  the  feeling,  until  from 
the  outer  sanctuary  of  earth  He  call  me  to  the  inner 
sanctuary  above,  where  Satan  and  his  wiles  cannot 
enter ! 

"  On  Tuesday  forenoon  the  wind  was  hushed  into 
a  calm,  but  on  the  streets  the  snow  lay  from  four  or 
five  to  eight  or  nine  feet  deep.  The  causeways  for 
foot  passengers  were  gradually  cleared  by  thousands 
employed  in  hurling  the  snow  into  the  main  street. 
Yast  walls  of  snow  were  thus  piled  up  there,  that  is, 
along  the  sides  of  the  main  streets,  choking  up  the 
narrower  ones  altogether,  and  rendering  them  utterly 
impassable  by  any  vehicle ;  and  in  the  broader  ones 
leaving  the  middle  part  with  three  or  four  feet  of  snow 
on  it.     Then  the  sleighs  were  all  put  in  requisition, 


JEt  48.    HIS    FIRST    SPEECH    IN   THE   UNITED    STATES.  267 

sleiglis  of  all  sliapes  and  sizes — smaller  ones  with  one 
horse  carrying  one  or  two,  larger  ones  with  many 
horses  carrying  numbers.  And  as  they  made  no 
noise  in  the  snow,  the  horses  were  covered  with  small 
bells,  which  kept  up  a  jumbling  and  interminable 
tinkling  of  bells  all  over  the  city. 

"  The  hall  where  the  first  meeting  was  to  be  held  is 
the  largest  in  Philadelphia,  holding,  when  full,  between 
three  and  four  thousand  people.  All  were  to  be  ad- 
mitted by  tickets ;  of  these  about  a  thousand  had 
been  privately  distributed  among  the  most  influential 
families  in  the  city,  in  order  to  ensure  the  presence 
of  those  whose  presence  it  was  our  object  to  ensure. 
The  rest  were  disposed  of  in  the  ordinary  way  by  book- 
sellers to  the  first  comers.  But,  tempestuous  though 
the  weather  was,  thousands  applied  for  tickets  who 
could  not  get  any.  This  proved  that  there  would  be  a 
crowded  meeting.  And  so  it  was.  On  the  platform  all 
ministers  of  all  churches  were  present.  Dr.  Murray  made 
an  admirable  introductory  address.  The  manifestations 
of  enthusiasm  on  the  part  of  the  audience  took  me 
utterly  aback,  because  I  had  been  warned  that  an  Ameri- 
can audience  was  always  sober,  stern,  sedate— the  very 
contrast  of  an  Exeter  Hall  audience — never  exhibiting 
any  of  those  noisy  symptoms,  either  of  approbation  or 
disapprobation,  that  are  usual  in  the  '  Old  Country,'  as 
Great  Britain  is  always  called  here.  On  this  account 
I  was  astonished  at  the  outburst  of  applause,  when  Dr. 
Murray  stepped  forward  to  take  me  by  the  hand  and 
welcome  me,  in  the  name  of  that  great  audience,  to 
American  hearts  and  hearths  and  homes.  The  rounds 
of  applause  were  repeated  again  and  again.  This 
made  me  feel  that  the  people  were  animated  by  some 
unusual  emotion,  and  I  prayed  the  Lord  more  fervently 
than  ever  to  guide  me  in  what  I  should  address  to 
them.       The  outline  of  what  I  said  has  been  reported 


268  LIFE    OP   DK.    DUFF.  1854. 

in  the  newspapers,  consisting  of  things  new  and  old, 
but  all  new  to  the  audience.  The  manner  in  which 
the  whole  was  received  astonished  me  utterly.  I  was 
utterly  unconscious  of  saying  anything  new,  or  any- 
thing remarkable — and  yet  the  interpolations  of  the 
reporter  about  '  applause,*  can  convey  no  idea  what- 
ever of  the  enthusiasm  with  which  all  was  received, 
and  especially  the  concluding  parts,  which  were  new 
to  myself  and  called  forth  entirely  by  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  audience.  When  I  alluded  to  America  and 
Britain  shaking  hands  across  the  Atlantic  as  the 
two  great  props  of  evangelic  Protestant  Christianity 
in  the  world ;  and  to  America's  not  standing  by  and 
see  the  old  mother  country  trodden  down  by  the 
legions  of  European  despotism,  whether  civil  or  re- 
ligious, you  would  have  thought  that  all  the  winds 
in  the  cave  of  ^olus  had  been  let  loose,  and  that 
the  great  audience  was  convulsed,  and  heaved  to  and 
fro  in  surging  billows,  like  the  Atlantic  Ocean  in  a 
hurricane.  Nothing  like  such  a  scene  had  ever  been 
witnessed  here  before  at  any  religious  meeting  what- 
ever. I  could  not  but  have  an  intense  impression 
that  the  Lord  had  greatly  more  than  answered  all  my 
prayers,  had  greatly  more  than  rebuked  my  fainting 
unbelief,  had  greatly  more  than  exceeded  my  utmost 
hopes  or  wishes,  or  even  imaginations.  I  retired  more 
than  ever  lost  in  wonder  and  amazement,  praising  and 
magnifying  the  name  of  the  Lord. 

Wednesday,  22nd. — "  A  stream  of  visitors  inquiring 
for  me  the  whole  day  long,  from  early  morn  till  late 
in  the  evening.  In  the  middle  of  the  day  Mr.  Stuart 
got  a  nice  sleigh  and  drove  us  over  all  the  city,  the 
day  being  dry  and  cold.  It  is  an  easy  and  most 
delightful  mode  of  travelling.  At  9  p.m.  went  to  a 
prayer-meeting  of  ministers  and  office  bearers,  where 
fresh  greetings  awaited  me. 


Mi.  48.  IN   INDEPENDENCE    HALL.  269 

Tlmrsdaij. — "]\Iore  visitors  than  ever  tlirougliout  the 
day.  In  the  evenini^  attended  and  spoke  at  tlie  anniver- 
sary of  the  Sabbath  Observance  Society.  From  what 
was  then  said,  it  appears  that  they  have  liere  the 
very  same  difficulties  to  contend  against  that  we  have 
in  the  old  country. 

Friday. — "  Went  this  day  to  inspect  some  of  the 
public  institutions.  Visited  '  Independence  Hall,'  in 
which  the  leaders  of  the  llevolution  in  1776  signed 
the  declaration  of  American  independence,  by  which 
they  were  declared  rebels  and  traitors  against  the 
British  Monarchy;  this  led  to  the  war,  wliich  ter- 
minated in  1784  in  their  favour.  The  hall  is  almost 
idolized  now.  Went  through  the  Mint  of  the  United 
States,  which  is  in  this  city  and  in  which  most  of 
the  California  gold  is  prepared  for  use  ;  the  Colonel 
at  the  head  of  it  very  kindly  going  round  himself, 
and  explaining  all  the  varied  processes,  some  of 
them  exquisitely  beautiful.  Visited  Bible  and  Tract 
Depositories,  etc. ;  met  with  some  of  the  religious 
committees  or  boards,  who  assembled  purposely  to 
confer  with  me,  to  explain  their  operations,  and  re- 
ceive any  suggestions  which  I  might  offer.  I  felt  very 
humbled  indeed,  in  my  own  mind,  to  think  of  the  way 
in  which  these  experienced  sages  were  pleased  to 
listen  to  anything  and  everything  which  I  was  led  to 
remark.  It  was  still  the  sensible  presence  of  the 
Lord  with  me.  In  the  evening  met  a  huge  party  of 
friends  at  the  house  of  one  of  the  leading  ministers : 
very  profitable,  but  after  the  day's  inspections  and 
talkings,  fearfully  fatiguing. 

Saturday. — "  No  cessation  of  the  stream  of  callers. 
Went,  under  the  guidance  of  a  minister  and  layman  of 
great  intelligence,  to  visit  the  coloured  Refuge,  or  that 
for  Negro  children.  Greatly  gratified  by  its  industrial 
and  scholastic  departments ; — then  the  famous  Peni- 


270  LIFE   OF    DR.   DUFF.  1 854. 

tentiary,  tlie  first  ever  erected  on  wliat  is  called  the 
separate  system  ;  tliat  is,  every  prisoner  has  a  separ- 
ate room  for  himself  or  herself,  with  some  work  to 
do,  such  as  weaving,  shoemaking,  carpentry,  with  no 
possibility  of  communicating  with  one  another.  The. 
arrangement  of  the  compartments  is  so  contrived 
that,  on  Sabbath,  all  the  prisoners  in  one  wing  may 
hear  sermon  without  seeing  the  chaplain  or  seeing  one 
another.  I  entered  many  of  the  cells  and  conversed 
freely  with  the  solitary  inmates.  Everything  was 
clean,  cells  well  ventilated,  with  a  small  outer  court 
attached  to  each,  in  which  each  prisoner  can  take 
exercise  in  the  open  air,  without  any  intercourse  with 
his  fellows.  Altogether,  it  was  the  finest  prison  con- 
trivance I  had  ever  seen,  though  Pentonville  in  Lon- 
don is,  I  believe,  constructed  very  much  after  its 
model. 

Sabbath,  26th  Feb. — *'  The  evening  of  this  day, 
preached  in  the  great  hall  in  which  I  lectured  on  Tues- 
day, as  being  the  largest  place.  Other  evening  services 
of  a  stated  kind  having  been  given  up,  all  the  minis- 
ters were  there ;  and  long  before  six  o'clock  the  place 
was  crammed.  The  platform  gallery  was  so  crowded 
that  it  yielded  considerably ;  and  great  apprehensions 
were  entertained  that  it  would  give  way  altogether,  but 
the  Lord  mercifully  spared  us  in  this  respect.  From 
the  crowd  so  long  congregated  there,  the  ventila- 
tors not  having  been  opened  and  the  steam  flues 
having  been  heated  beyond  ordinary,  the  atmosphere 
was  quite  dreadful  before  I  began.  It  was  like  en- 
countering the  steaming  heat  of  Bengal  in  September, 
without  free  circulation  of  air  and  without  a  punkah  ! 
Besides  ministers  many  of  the  leading  citizens  were 
there,  some  of  whom  are  seldom  seen  in  any  place  of 
worship.  The  awful  state  of  the  atmosphere  compelled 
me  to  abbreviate,  but  the   Lord  greatly  strengthened 


JEt.  48.  HOME    MISSION    WORK.  27I 

me.  The  people  were  obviously  affected.  May  impres- 
sions be  lastingly  sealed  home  on  souls  !  Went  home 
drenched,  to  pass  a  restless,  sleepless  night. 

Monday,  27th. — "  Saw  and  conversed  with  many 
of  the  conductors  and  agents  of  religious  and  other 
societies.  Visited,  in  the  centre  of  the  city,  a  district 
as  low,  sunken  and  debased  as  the  worst  parts  of  the 
Cowgate  of  Edinburgh,  or  the  wynds  of  Glasgow,  or 
the  St.  Giles  of  London.  Some  days  before  a  depu- 
tation of  ladies  called  on  me  to  tell  me  of  their 
society  and  its  operations,  in  the  attempt  to  bring  the 
Gospel  to  the  door  of  the  outcast  population.  They 
said  their  anniversary  was  to  be  held  on  Monday 
evening,  and  wished  me  to  speak  at  it.  I  did  not 
promise,  as  I  could  not  calculate  on  my  strength. 
But  on  Monday  afternoon  I  went  with  Mr.  Stuart 
and  Mr.  Thomson,  of  New  York,  and  one  of  the  city 
missionaries,  to  visit  a  portion  of  the  wretched  dis- 
trict. We  entered  many  of  the  awful  dens — some 
underground,  with  darkness  made  visible  by  a  few 
half-mouldering  cinders,  and  heaps  of  rags  and  bones 
and  filth  all  around ;  some  up  stairs  like  broken 
ladders,  and  trap- doors,  with  similar  accumulations, 
in  the  midst  of  which  men  and  women  and  children, 
filthy,  haggard,  savage-like  and  drunken,  lay  cursing 
and  blaspheming.  Anything  worse  I  have  not  seen, 
even  in  London.  And  of  this  description  there  are 
many  thousands  in  this  Philadelphia, — this  city  of 
brotherly  love  !  All  this  was  quite  new  to  me ;  I  had 
never  read  or  heard  of  such  scenes  in  these  regions 
of  the  west.  Such  vileness,  such  debasement,  such 
drunkenness,  such  beastliness,  such  unblushing  shame- 
lessness,  such  glorying  in  their  criminality,  such 
God-defying  blaspheniousness ;  in  short,  such  utter 
absolute  hellishness  I  never  saw  surpassed  in  any  land, 
and  hope  I  never  will.     Indeed,  out  of  perdition,  it  ia 


272  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1854. 

not  conceivable  how  worse  could  be.  We  all  got 
sickened  in  body  and  in  spirit.  After  what  I  saw  and 
beard  and  smelt  and  bandied,  I  felt  stirred  up  in  spirit 
to  address,  if  possible,  the  evening  meeting.  More 
especially  did  I  feel  called  on  to  speak,  since  I  was 
told  that  no  general  interest  was  manifested  by  the 
community  in  the  effort  to  raise  these  sunken  masses. 
It  had  also,  contrary  to  my  permission,  been  an- 
nounced that  I  was  to  speak.  A  large  and  crowded 
audience  were  thus  assembled.  As  the  thorough  work 
of  'territorial'  excavating  seems  all  but  unknown  here, 
I  tried  to  explain  our  Scottish  system  of  operation, 
as  exemplified  by  Chalmers  and  Tasker  in  the  West 
Port,  and  went  into  many  details  and  appeals. 
The  Lord  manifestly  was  there  with  His  presence. 
From  all  I  have  heard  since,  an  interest  has  been 
awakened  in  the  work  here  that  is  altogether  new, 
and  will,  it  is  believed,  never  die  out  until  the  masses 
of  the  outcast  be  reclaimed.  It  was  delightful  to  be 
able  thus  to  harmonise  the  home  and  foreign  mission 
work. 

Tuesday,  28th. — "  This  morning,  a  deputation  from 
the  ladies  came  to  thank  me  for  the  preceding  even- 
ing's address,  with  written  note  of  thanks  from  the 
managers.  In  the  evening,  met  the  elite  of  society 
here,  at  the  house  of  a  Mr.  Milne,  originally  from 
Aberdeen — a  very  flourishing  manufacturer  on  a  great 
scale  here.  Some  two  hundred  were  assembled.  After 
much  conversation,  and  the  supper  collation,  I  was 
asked  to  favour  the  party  with  some  account  of  the 
rise  and  progress  of  our  Mission  in  Calcutta.  This 
I  supplied,  all  seemingly  interested  exceedingly  in  the 
statement.  It  was  near  one  this  morning  before  I  got 
home.  To-day  I  was  to  have  proceeded  to  Princeton 
College,  but  this  morning  felt  so  poorly  after  such  a 
long  run   of  uninterrupted    excitation — physical    and 


^t.  48.  EXCESSIVE   WORK.  273 

mental  and  moral — that  I  could  not  move.  Thrice 
I  tried  to  dress ;  aud  thrice,  in  sheer  despair,  I  was 
obliged  to  retire  to  bed.  I  now  feel  better.  And 
having  shut  myself  up,  from  necessity,  in  my  bed- 
room, I  have  betaken  myself  to  the  writing  of  letters. 
You  may  say,  Why  allow  yourself  to  be  done  up  in 
this  way?  Indeed,  I  have  fought  and  struggled  and 
toiled  to  prevent  it.  But  all  in  vain.  The  kindness 
of  these  people  is  absolutely  oppressive ;  their  impor- 
tunity to  address  here  and  there  and  everywhere  so 
absolutely  autocratic,  that  I  am  driven,  in  spite  of 
myself,  to  do  more  than  I  know  I  can  well  stand. 
Bad  as  the  state  of  things  in  Scotland  was  in  this 
respect,  it  is  ten  times,  yea,  a  hundred  times  worse 
here.  Here  the  applicants  are  legion,  and  their  din- 
ning impetuous  as  the  Atlantic  gales.  Ministers  in  all 
directions  ask  me  to  preach  for  them ;  committees  of 
all  sorts,  of  a  religious,  philanthropic,  or  missionary 
character,  do  the  same ;  managers  of  schools  entreat 
me  to  visit  and  address  their  pupils ;  young  men's 
associations  and  all  manner  of  nondescripts  beleaguer 
me.  Indeed,  if  I  could  multiply  myself  into  a  hun- 
dred bodies,  each  with  the  strength  of  a  Hercules  and 
the  mental  and  moral  energy  of  a  Paul,  I  could  not 
overtake  the  calls  and  demands  made  upon  me,  here 
and  from  many  other  quarters,  since  my  arrival.  The 
necessitated  confinement  of  this  day,  however,  is  a 
seasonable  lesson ;  and  I  must  set  on  a  face  of  flint 
in  resisting  aggression  beyond  what  I  am  able  to  bear 
or  encounter.  All  very  delightful,  if  one  had  the 
needful  strength.  But  no  strength  of  no  man  that 
ever  lived  could  stand  out  all  this.  They  little  know 
how  much  more  painful  it  is  to  me  to  be  obliged  to 
refuse  than  it  would  be  to  comply.  As  regards  this 
place,  I  have  abundant  satisfaction  in  already  know- 
ing that  I  have  not  come  here  in  vain. 

VOL.    TI.  T 


274  T'irE    OP    DR.    DUFF.  1854. 

"  Thougli  1  have  spoken  notliing  but  what  has  long 
been  familiar  to  my  own  mind,  I  have  evidently  been 
led  to  speak  much  that  was  new  to  most  people  here. 
Last  evening  tliis  one  came  up  to  me  and  thanked  me 
for  the  announcement  and  exposition  of  one  principle, 
and  another  for  that  of  another,  and  so  on  in  dozens. 
It  looked  as  if  a  flood  of  new  principles  had  been 
poured  in  upon  a  dry  or  empty  reservoir.  Several 
openly  declared  that  if  I  should  do  nothing  more  in 
the  New  World  tlian  what  had  been  done  already  in 
this  place,  it  was  more  than  worth  my  while  to  have 
crossed  the  Atlantic  in  order  to  achieve  it.  An  im- 
pulse, they  said,  has  been  given  to  the  cause  of  vital 
religion  and  personal  piety,  as  well  as  the  cause  of 
home  and  foreign  missions,  such  as  has  never  been 
imparted  before — an  impulse  which,  through  the  press 
and  the  correspondence  of  individuals,  will  vibrate 
through  tlie  whole  Union.  Well,  well ;  to  the  Lord 
be  all  the  praise  and  the  glory !  Amen.  That  this 
can  be  no  mere  empty  talk  seems  evident  from  the 
way  in  which  the  entire  press  here,  alike  secular  and 
religious,  has  treated  of  these  meetings  and  their 
results.  I  do  desire,  therefore,  to  thank  God  and  take 
courage.  Oh,  for  more  grace,  more  living  spirituality, 
more  faith,  more  wisdom,  more  entire  self-forgetting, 
self-consuming  consecration  to  His  cause  and  glory ! 

"  Men  of  weight  and  note  in  this  community  are 
already  pressing  upon  me  the  duty  of  not  returning 
to  Scotland  for  a  twelvemonth — vehemently  insisting 
on  my  having  a  call  from  God  here,  from  the  effects 
already  manifested.  Others  seriously  insist  upon  it 
that  I  ought  to  remain  here  altogether.  Of  course,  to 
all  this  my  reply  is  very  simple  and  peremptory ;  though 
such  urgencies  show  the  feeling  awakened.  Oh,  that 
the  Lord  may  strengthen  me  more  and  more  !  fit  me, 
prepare  me  for  all  He  would  have  me  to  be  and  to  do." 


ALt  48.  AT   ELIZABETH   TOWN.  275 

"  ErjzABETn  Town,  Friday,  Srd  March. 
"  Yesterday  I  came  on  to  this  place  in  New 
Jersey,  Mr.  Stuart  accompanying  me.  It  is  the  scene 
of  the  labours  of  Dr.  Murray,  the  celebrated  author  of 
"  Kirwan's  Letters,"  in  whose  house  I  am  now  com- 
fortably entertained.  Thougli  far  from  well  I  came 
on  yesterday,  as  I  had  arranged  to  do  so.  It  was 
professedly  for  quiet  that  I  came ;  but  these  people's 
notions  of  quiet  seem  odd  enough.  It  is  all  in  kind- 
ness; but  this  way  of  showing  kindness  is  quite 
killing.  Dinner  w^as  early,  several  friends  having  been 
invited  to  meet  me,  some  from  New  York.  These 
latter  returned  by  the  six  o'clock  train.  Then  came 
poui-ing  in  dozens  of  respectabilities  to  tea  to  greet 
me — ministers  and  laymen  with  their  wives  and 
daughters.  An  incessant  talk  was  kept  up  till  eight, 
when,  as  many  who  had  come  from  distances  of 
twenty  and  thirty  miles  had  to  return  by  train,  we 
had  worship,  myself  being  called  on  to  conduct  it. 
By  that  time  I  was  fairly  exhausted,  with  a  racking 
headache.  However,  I  concluded  that  with  worship 
all  was  ended.  And  true,  most  of  the  visitors  with- 
drew ;  but  to  my  horror,  their  withdrawal  was  only 
the  signal  for  a  fresh  influx  from  the  neighbourhood, 
until  the  room  was  again  filled.  To  me  it  was  a 
real  purgatory  in  my  jaded  exhausted  state.  Never- 
theless I  strove  to  hold  on  till  ten  o'clock,  when 
nature  could  stand  out  no  longer,  and  I  told  my  kind 
host  I  must  instantly  retire,  or  literally  fall  from  my 
chair  on  the  floor.  So  I  slipped  ofi"  at  once,  with 
sensations  all  over  my  body  as  if  I  had  been  pounded 
in  a  mortar.  Now  all  this  is  out  of  respect  and  kind- 
ness to  me.  Of  course  the  feeling  on  the  part  of 
these  strangers  I  cannot  but  appreciate,  and  do  ap- 
preciate. But,  at  this  rate,  it  will  soon  kill  me  out- 
right.    It  is   in  vain    that    I   complain    and   protest. 


276  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1854, 

There  is  sucli  an  impetuous  earnestness  about  tliem 
that  on  they  work  without  a  moment's  thought  as  to 
consequences. 

*'  To-night  there  is  to  be  a  public  meeting  here ; 
and  to-morrow  I  return  to  New  York,  where  I  have 
some  ten  days'  labour  before  me.  But  New  York  and 
Philadelphia  are  the  two  most  important  cities  in  the 
Union.  Therefore,  my  chief  strength  will  be  devoted 
to  them.  To  other  places  I  can  only  pay  a  very  hasty 
visit.  The  weather  has  been  very  trying ;  and  the 
way  in  which  houses  are  heated  here  with  steam  and 
stoves  really  often  sickens  me.  But  my  trust  is  in 
the  Lord,  that  He  will  direct  me  and  uphold  me,  and 
enable  me  to  accomplish  whatever  He  hath  purposed 
by  bringing  me  hither." 

Of  the  contemporary  American  criticisms  on  the  first 
great  address  in  the  Concert  Hall  of  Philadelphia  this 
was  the  most  discriminating :  "  Dr.  Duff  is  obviously 
labouring  under  ill-health,  and  his  voice,  at  no  time 
very  strong,  occasionally  subsides  almost  into  a  whisper. 
In  addition  to  this  drawback  he  has  none  of  the  mere 
external  graces  of  oratory.  His  elocution  is  unstudied ; 
his  gesticulation  uncouth,  and,  but  for  the  intense 
feeling,  the  self-absorption  out  of  which  it  manifestly 
springs,  might  even  be  considered  grotesque.  Yet  he 
is  fascinatingly  eloquent.  Though  his  words  flowed 
out  in  an  unbroken,  unpausing  torrent,  every  eye  in 
the  vast  congregation  was  riveted  upon  him,  every 
ear  was  strained  to  catch  the  slightest  sound ;  and  it 
was  easy  to  be  seen  that  he  had  communicated  his  own 
fervour  to  all  he  was  addressing.  Indeed,  while  all 
that  he  said  was  impressive,  both  in  matter  and  man- 
ner, many  passages  were  really  grand."  The  excite- 
ment which  moved  the  capital  of  Pennsylvania  was 
repeated  in  New  York  on  a  greater  scale,  and  found 
expression    in    such  journalistic  description  as  this  : 


JEt.  48.  CONTEMPORARY    AMERICAN    CRITICISM.  277 

'*  Two  HOURS  BEFORE  Du.  DuFF — and  most  instructive 
hours  they  wore,  not  soon  to  be  forgotten.  When, 
towards  the  close  of  his  masterly  discourse,  we  went 
to  the  front  of  the  gallery  (in  the  Tabernacle)  and 
looked  at  the  orator  in  full  blaze, — his  tall  ungainly 
form  swaying  to  and  fro,  his  long  right  arm  waving 
violently  and  the  left  one  hugging  his  coat  against  his 
breast,  his  full  voice  raised  to  the  tone  of  a  Whitefield, 
and  his  face  kindled  into  a  glow  of  ardour  like  one 
under  inspiration, — we  thought  we  had  never  witnessed 
a  higher  display  of  thrilling  majestic  oratory.  '  Did 
you  ever  hear  such  a  speech?'  said  a  genuine  Scots- 
man near  us,  '  he  cannot  stop.'  Since  Chalmers 
went  home  to  heaven  Scotland  has  heard  no  elo- 
quence like  Duff's.  In  London  he  has  commanded 
the  homage  of  the  strongest  minds.  .  .  After  a 
quiet,  graceful  introduction  of  his  theme,  founded  on 
the  missionary  teachings  of  the  Scripture,  he  led  us 
across  the  seas  to  the  scene  of  his  apostolic  labours. 
The  description  was  complete.  Magnificent  India, 
with  its  dusky  crowds  and  ancient  temples,  with 
its  northern  mountains  towering  to  the  skies,  its 
dreary  jungles  haunted  by  the  tiger  and  the  hyena, 
its  crystalline  salt-fields  flashing  in  the  sun,  its  Mal- 
abar hills  redolent  with  the  richest  spices,  its  tanks 
and  its  rice-fields,  was  all  spread  out  before  us  liko 
a  panorama.  We  saw  the  devotees  thronging  in  cara- 
vans to  the  shrine  of  Jugganath.  We  heard  the 
proud  Brahmans  contending  for  the  absurdities  of 
their  ancient  faith,  which  claims  to  have  existed  on 
this  earth  for  four  millions  of  years.  .  .  When 
the  orator  opened  his  batteries  upon  the  sloth  and 
selfishness  of  a  large  portion  of  Christ's  followers,  his 
sarcasm  was  scalding  on  the  mercenary  mammonism 
of  the  day.  Under  the  burning  satire  and  melting 
pathos  of  that  tremendous  appeal  for  dying  heathen- 


278  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1 854. 

dom  tears  of  indignation  welled  out  from  many  an  eye. 
We  all  sat  in  shame  and  confusion.  I  leaned  over 
towards  tlie  reporters'  table.  Many  of  them  had  laid 
down  their  pens.  They  might  as  well  have  attempted 
to  report  a  thunderstorm.  As  the  orator  drew  near 
his  close  he  seemed  like  one  inspired.  His  face  shone, 
as  it  were  the  face  of  an  angel !  He  had  become  the 
very  embodiment  of  missions  to  us,  and  was  lost  in  his 
transcendent  theme.  Never  before  did  we  so  fully 
realize  the  overwhelming  power  of  a  man  who  is  pos- 
sessed with  his  theme.  The  concluding  sentence  was 
a  swelling  outburst  of  prophecy  of  the  coming  triumphs 
of  the  Cross.  As  the  last  thrilling  words  died  into 
silence  the  audience  arose  and  lifted  up  the  sublime 
doxology : 

*' '  Praise  God,  from  -whoTn  all  blessings  flow ; 
Praise  Him,  all  creatures  here  below.' " 

Washington  next  claimed  the  presence  of  the  mis- 
sionary, and  that  he  reached  by  way  of  Baltimore. 
There  he  preached  to  Congress,  in  the  hall  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  there  he  had  a  pro- 
longed interview  with  the  President.  The  Speaker  sat 
to  the  left  of  his  official  chair,  the  President,  Franklin 
Pierce,  to  the  right.  Emblems  of  mourning  for  the 
late  Vice-President,  covering  the  canopy,  surrounding 
the  portraits  of  Washington  and  Lafayette,  and 
"  enveloping  the  Muse  of  History  in  her  car  of  Time 
over  the  central  door,"  seemed  to  intensify  the  stillness 
of  the  dense  congregation  of  public  men  from  all  parts 
of  the  States.  The  young  Republic  was,  indeed,  spread 
before  the  preacher,  as,  after  devotions  led  by  the  chap- 
lain of  the  Senate  and  ministers  of  several  churches,  he 
spake  from  the  inspired  words  of  Paul  to  the  dying 
Roman  Empire  :  "  By  one  man  sin  entered  into  the 
world,  and  death  by  sin,  and  so  death  passed  upon  all 


A^X  48.  FKOM    WASHINGTON    TO   MOKTiiEAL.  279 

men,  for  tliat  all  have  sinned."  After  a  day  with  the 
President,  and  another  at  the  tomb  of  George  Washing- 
ton, at  Mount  Vernon,  he  turned  westward,  with  the 
Rev.  Dr.  R.  Patterson  as  his  secretary  and  friend,  across 
the  Alleghany  ]\Iountains  to  Pittsburg  in  the  Ohio 
valley.  There  he  found  many  Scotsmen  and  too  many 
Presbyterian  divisions,  since  reduced  by  ecclesiastical 
union.  "  Proceeding  along  the  singularly  beautiful 
valley  of  the  Ohio,  with  its  meadows  and  groves,  and 
cultured  plains  and  rolling  wooded  hills,  by  Cincinnati 
and  Louisville  on  to  the  junction  of  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi ;  from  that  to  St.  Louis,  then  northward 
to  Chicago,  on  the  Lake  Michigan ;  thence  crossing 
eastward  to  Detroit  I  entered  Canada,  visiting  the 
principal  places  there  as  far  as  Montreal,  and  returned 
by  Boston  and  New  York.  Holding  public  meetings 
at  the  principal  places  as  I  went  along,  everywhere  I 
met  with  the  same  kind  and  generous  reception." 
Such  was  Dr.  Duff's  rapid  summary  to  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  subsequent  May,  of  a  tour  in  which 
his  voice  fairly  gave  way  at  Cincinnati,  and  he  was 
careful  not  to  omit  Princeton,  the  centre  of  evan- 
gelical  theology  in  the  West.  A  letter  to  Mrs.  Duff 
has  preserved  this  record  of  his  experience  in  Canada. 
"  Montreal,  18th  Ajjril,  1854. 

"  Home  comes  uppermost  in  my  mind  when  I  lie 
down  and  when  I  rise  up,  and  oft  throughout  the  busy 
day.  By  way  of  a  little  recreation  to  my  own  mind,  I 
shall  now  avail  myself  of  an  hour's  breathing- time  in 
my  bedroom,  under  cold  and  headache,  for  noting 
some  of  the  incidents  in  my  campaign. 

Wednesday,  6ih  April. — "  This  morning  up  at  day- 
break, to  visit  the  famous  Niagara  Falls.  Reached 
Hamilton,  some  forty  or  fifty  miles  distant,  about 
2  p.m.  There  several  friends  were  waiting  for  me. 
After  a  good  deal  of  talk,  proceeded  to  the  house  of 


28o  Lli-'E   OF   BR.   DUFF.  1S54. 

Mr.  Isaac  Buclianan,  tlie  leading  merchant  of  Hamilton. 
This  town  lies  at  the  head  of  a  small  lake,  which  com- 
municates, by  a  cut,  with  Lake  Ontario.  It  lies  in  a 
hollow  of  considerable  breadth — a  rids^e  of  two  or 
three  hundred  feet  high  running  along  the  south  side 
of  the  vale,  and  another  along  the  north.  Reaching 
the  curl  of  the  southern  ridge  (called  there  the  '  moun- 
tain ')  it  does  not  dip  to  the  south,  but  shoots  across, 
as  tableland,  to  Niagara  and  Lake  Erie.  The  house  is 
elevated  on  that  mountain,  whence  is  a  magnificent 
prospect  of  the  Hamilton  valley  and  Lake  Ontario. 
There  a  company  of  friends  had  been  invited  to  dine 
with  me,  and  so  no  rest  or  pause  till  we  started  for 
the  public  meeting  in  his  church,  where  I  had  to  ad- 
dress a  large  and  crowded  audience.  Ministers  of  all 
denominations  were  there ;  the  Established  Kirk  min- 
ister actually  took  part  in  the  preliminary  devotional 
service  !  It  was  a  grand  meeting ;  all  seemed  to  be 
unusually  solemnized.  It  was  past  midnight  before  I 
could  retire,  worn  out,  to  my  bedroom  on  the  moun- 
tain. 

Thursday^  6th. — "  Up  in  the  morning  to  breakfast 
between  seven  and  eight,  as  I  had  to  attend  a  meeting 
of  the  office-bearers  and  members  of  the  church  at 
10  a.m.  This  proved  a  very  hearty  meeting;  but  I  had 
to  address  them  for  nearly  two  hours.  The  end  was 
that  they  formed  themselves  into  a  regular  association, 
after  the  home  model,  to  raise  quarterly  contributions 
for  our  Mission,  some  dozen  and  half  of  the  ladies 
present  volunteering  to  act  as  collectors.  Altogether 
it  was  a  very  gratifying  spectacle  and  noble  result. 
Besides  all  this,  the  treasurer  put  £50  into  my  hands 
for  our  Mission,  as  the  result  of  the  collection  spon- 
taneously made  on  the  preceding  evening.  Between 
12  and  1  p.m.  went  to  the  railway  station  to  proceed 
to  New  London,  about  100  miles  west  of  Hamilton, 


^t.  48.  IN   CANADA.  281 

t,owards  Lake  Huron.  AVe  started  with  a  very  heavy 
train  of  between  six  and  seven  hundred  passengers  ; 
and  as  the  first  fifty  miles  west  is  a  gradual  ascent, 
we  proceeded  very  slowly.  Like  all  American  railways 
it  is  but  a  single  line,  and  very  recently  opened.  Well, 
on  we  went  till  we  passed  a  small  station,  some  thirty 
miles  distant,  within  half  a  mile  of  a  town  ambitiously 
called  Paris.  There  our  engine  slipped  off  the  rail; 
but  the  steam  being  instantly  let  off,  and  the  engine 
happily  breaking  down,  none  of  the  passenger  trams 
were  overturned,  though  the  shock  and  coUision  were 
such  as  to  break  the  panes  of  glass  in  the  backmost 
one  in  which  I  sat.  A  second  more — yes,  a  single 
second  more,  and  the  whole  would  have  been  over- 
turned. What  lives  then  would  have  been  lost ;  what 
limbs  fractured — it  is  fearful  to  contemplate.  God 
be  praised  for  the  marvellous  deliverance  !  At  that 
wretched  little  station,  with  a  cold  biting  frost,  where 
neither  food  nor  shelter  could  be  had,  we  had  to  wait 
on  in  expectation  of  the  train  from  the  west.  As  it 
turned  out,  it  too  had  met  with  an  accident  and  so 
was  delayed.  Meanwhile,  another  train  arrived  from 
the  east  with  300  more  passengers.  But  the  rail  was 
broken  up  by  our  mishap,  and  so  no  passage  for  it. 
Towards  dusk  the  western  train  came  up ;  then  pas- 
sengers and  luggage  were  reciprocally  transferred 
from  the  eastern  to  the  western  train,  and  about  half- 
past  8  p.m.  we  were  afloat  again,  very  weary,  cold, 
and  hungry !  It  was  between  eleven  and  twelve  before 
we  reached  Loudon.  The  congregation  had  assembled 
at  seven,  waited  patiently  till  half-past  nine  when  a 
telegraph  convoyed  the  news  of  our  disaster,  and  they 
dispersed.  By  1  a.m.  I  tried  to  get  to  rest,  praising 
God  for  His  wondrous  goodness. 

Frida)/,  7th. — "  Up  early  to  breakfast ;  a  new  circular 
issued,  inviting  the  congregation  to  assemble  at  half- 


282  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1854. 

past  ten,  and,  singular  to  say,  a  full  cliurcb  we  liad  by 
that  time.  As  the  train  was  to  leave  between  1  and  2 
p.m.,  I  went  to  the  pulpit  with  the  watch  before 
me,  and  spoke  on  till  near  the  train  time.  From  the 
church  went  to  the  railway  terminus,  and  proceeded 
eastward.  A  very  fine  set  of  ministers  and  people  I 
met  at  London  ;  had  no  idea  of  such  a  noble  Christian 
people  in  such  an  out-of-the-world  place.  Several 
ministers  and  others  accompanied  me  for  a  dozen  miles 
by  the  rail,  as  they  had  seen  so  little  of  me ;  but  the 
exhaustion  to  me  after  speaking  was  really  awful. 
And,  singular  to  add,  when  within  three  or  four  miles 
of  the  place  of  accident  on  the  preceding  day,  our 
engine  again  slipped  off  the  rail,  and  buried  itself  in  a 
steep  clay  bank,  without  (most  mercifully)  overturning 
the  passenger  carriages.  We  had  all  to  get  out,  climb 
the  wet  clay  bank,  and  walk  about  on  the  crest  of  it, 
waiting  for  the  arrival  of  a  train  from  the  east.  Mr. 
Buchanan,  being  a  leading  director  of  the  railway,  sent 
on  to  the  next  station  for  an  engine.  It  came ;  but, 
after  trial,  could  do  nothing  for  us.  Then  we  got 
into  the  engine,  amid  the  coal  and  wood,  and  posted 
back  to  the  station,  the  cold  (there  being  no  shelter) 
piercing  us  through  and  through.  My  shoe  soles  had 
also  given  way,  and  my  feet  were  wetted.  From  all 
this  I  contracted  a  heavy  cold,  which  has  been  gener- 
ally oppressing  me  ever  since.  At  the  small,  wretched 
station,  without  shelter  or  food,  we  had  to  wait  on  till 
nigh  midnight  before  we  started,  so  that  instead  of 
reaching  Hamilton  at  6  p.m.  on  Friday  we  only 
reached  it  at  3  a.m.  on  Saturday  morning.  The  Lord 
be  praised,  we  arrived  at  last,  with  unbroken  limbs. 

Saturday,  8th. — "  After  a  very  brief  repose,  up  to 
breakfast  at  eight ;  down  to  Hamilton  to  meet  with 
friends,  at  ten ;  and  at  noon  on  board  the  steamer 
on  Ontario  to  Toronto,  distant  about  fifty  miles.     The 


yEt.  48.  IN  TORONTO.  283 

wind  blew  sharp  and  cold,  the  lake  was  rougli.  At 
Toronto  Dr.  Burns  and  a  whole  legion  of  friends  were 
waiting  to  receive  and  shake  hands  with  me.  Verily, 
I  was  not  much  in  a  mood  for  such  a  greeting.  But 
I  had  to  make  the  best  of  it.  Getting  to  Dr.  Burns's 
house,  friends  there  again,  whereas  the  bed  was  the 
only  proper  refuge  for  poor  me.  At  last  I  retired, 
well  gone,  but  praising  the  God  of  Providence. 

Sunday,  9th. — "  Up  early  to  breakfast.  Thereafter 
Dr.  Burns  asked  me  to  address  a  large  class  of  seventy 
or  eighty  young  females  taught  by  Mrs.  Burns.  I 
could  not  dechne ;  though,  witli  heavy  work  before 
me,  with  headache,  and  cold,  and  sore  throat,  I  felt  it 
rather  much.  In  the  afternoon  I  preached  in  Kroom's 
church — a  very  large  one,  and  very  awfully  crowded, 
passages,  pulpit-stairs  and  all.  But,  as  often  before, 
the  Lord  out  of  my  weakness  perfected  His  own 
grace  and  strength,  and  impressions  were  seemingly 
produced  that  day  which  will  shoot  their  results  into 
the  ages  of  eternity.  At  the  top  of  the  pulpit- stairs, 
close  to  my  right  hand,  among  other  notables,  was 
Mackenzie,  one  of  the  chief  leaders  of  the  rebellion  of 
1838,  for  whose  head  then  our  Queen  offered  a  thou- 
sand pounds.  He  is  a  very  talented  man,  but  a 
notorious  scoffer  at  relif^ion.  On  comino-  home  Dr. 
Burns  expressed  his  apprehension  and  belief  that  Mac- 
kenzie was  there  only  to  get  materials  for  a  scoffing 
article  in  a  paper  of  which  he  is  editor.  How  strange  ! 
next  morning  (Monday)  Mackenzie  wrote  a  long  letter 
to  Dr.  Burns,  eulogistic  in  the  highest  degree.  In  ray 
first  prayer  I  had  alluded  to  the  motive  that  may  have 
brought  many  there,  referring  to  the  case  of  Zaccheus. 
Mackenzie,  in  his  letter,  said  that  Zaccheus-like  (he 
is  himself  a  little  man)  he  had  indeed  gone  to  church 
that  day,  and  finding  no  seat  in  a  pew,  and  no  syca- 
more tree  to  climb,   he   mounted  to  the  top   of  the 


284  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF,  1854, 

pulpit-stairs,  and  there  was  arrested  in  a  way  he  never 
was  before  by  Divine  truth  ;  and  then  he  entered  into 
a  long  and  admiring  dissertation  on  the  speaker  and 
his  subject.  Oh,  that  the  Lord  may  render  that  one 
of  His  own  arrows  sharp  in  the  heart  of  this  once 
arch-foe  of  His  own  cause. 

Monday,  10th. — "Up  again  at  eight  to  breakfast, 
feverish  and  head  aching,  with  cold  and  sore  throat. 
At  9  a.m.  a  deputation  of  ministers  and  office-bearers 
from  the  Negro  church  of  Toronto  came  to  me  with  a 
written  address  from  the  congregation,  to  which  I 
endeavoured  to  reply  as  suitably  as  I  could.  It  was 
a  warm,  hearty  and  delightful  interview.  My  soul 
yearned  in  longing  over  these  representatives  of  poor 
Africa's  much  mjured  children,  while  I  could  not  help 
exulting  at  the  liberty  on  British  soil.  Most  of  these 
and  their  fellows  were  once  slaves  in  free  America, 
and,  as  fugitives,  became  free  men  the  instant  they 
touched  the  British  soil.  One  foot  across  it,  and  the 
whole  United  States  are  defied  to  meddle  with  them. 
Thanks  be  to  God,  '  slaves  cannot  breathe  in  England,' 
no,  nor  in  any  corner  of  any  British  territory  all  over 
the  world!  After  the  deputation  callers  began  to  come 
in.  I  went  again  and  again  to  my  bedroom  for  a  little 
repose.  In  vain.  No  sooner  in  than  rap,  rap,  rap  at 
my  door.  This  important  personage  and  that  calling, 
I  must  see  them,  and  so  on  to  2  p.m.,  when  we  had 
some  dinner.  At  three  had  to  address  a  class  of 
elderly  persons.  At  four  had  to  go  to  Knox's  College 
and  address  assembled  students  thereof,  with  those  of 
other  colleges  united  on  the  occasion,  together  with 
professors  and  ministers.  Between  six  and  seven  went 
home  to  prepare  for  a  social  party  at  Dr.  Burns's.  I 
thought  there  would  be  a  dozen  or  so ;  but  lo,  some 
six  or  seven  dozen  of  the  notabiUties  of  Toronto  came 
pouring  in.     Of  course,  after  tea  I   had  to  address 


^t.  48.  TORONTO   AND    KINGSTON.  2S5 

them  for  an  hour  or  two.  Then  supper ;  then  bed 
about  midnight,  lying  down  like  a  rotten  log  of  wood, 
as  nerveless  and  sapless. 

Tuesday,  Will. — *' Up  to  breakfast  with  some  chief 
personages  in  the  town;  a  gathering  there  again,  with 
endless  talk.  Thereafter  visited  model  normal  school, 
lunatic  asylum,  and  other  public  institutions,  and 
this  one  and  that  one,  bedridden  or  sick,  who  must 
see  me  and  shake  hands.  Really  it  was  dreadful, 
considering  that  the  great  public  meeting  was  to  be 
that  same  evening.  At  7  p.m.  the  meeting  in  the 
biggest  church  of  Toronto,  crammed  to  suffocation 
with  3,000  people.  Obliged  to  speak  in  a  stifling 
exhausted  atmosphere  for  nearly  three  hours,  to  an 
audience  whose  attention  never  for  a  moment  flagged. 
Little  knew  they,  however,  at  what  cost  of  life-blood 
to  the  speaker.  Home  about  eleven,  and  tried,  rather 
in  vain,  to  rest. 

Wednesday,  12th. — "Up  again,  for  what?  a  thing 
of  all  others  most  hateful  to  me — a  public  breakfast. 
About  five  hundred  ladies  and  gentlemen  were  there. 
Of  course  it  was  meant  as  the  greatest  possible  com- 
pliment to  me;  but  jaded  as  I  was,  the  very  prospect 
of  it  was  agonizing.  But  being  there,  what  could  I 
do  but  speak  again — which  I  did  for  an  hour,  Dr. 
Burns  afterwards  telling  me  that  it  was  perhaps  the 
most  telling  of  all  my  addresses  ;  though  when  ended 
1  could  not  myself  tell  what  I  had  said.  From  the 
breakfast  off  post-haste  to  a  meeting  of  presbytery — 
addressing  there  again.  At  noon,  presbytery  and 
other  ministers  and  students,  and  hundreds  of  laity,  off 
with  me  to  see  me  on  board  the  steamer  for  Kingston. 
Kino-ston,  where  a  son  of  Dr.  Burns  is  minister,  is 
about  180  miles  east  of  Toronto,  on  the  same  side  of 
the  lake.  Dr.  Burns  resolved  to  accompany  me  thither. 
As  the  steamer  started   the  hundreds    on  the   wharf 


286  LIFE    OP   DR.    DUFF.  1854. 

took  off  tlieir  liats  and  gave  me  three  clieers.  In  fact, 
the  whole  of  the  proceedings  there  were  marked  by  an 
enthusiasm  throughout  which  was  quite  oppressive. 
At  Coburg,  about  half-way  to  Kingston,  and  the  seat 
of  a  presbytery,  the  steamer  was  to  stop  for  a  few 
minutes,  and  the  captain  agreed  to  remain  two  hours 
to  let  me  and  Burns  go  on  shore,  where  it  was  said 
some  friends  waited  to  shake  hands  with  me.  We 
arrived  at  7  p.m.;  friends  were  standing  on  the  wharf. 
I  was  soon  in  a  carriage  and  off  to  the  distance  of  a 
mile,  and  ushered  pell-mell  into  a  church  crowded 
and  crammed  with  people,  and  without  delay  taken  to 
the  pulpit,  where  I  had  to  address  the  vast  audience. 
I  went  on  until  the  loud  tolling  of  the  steamer  bell 
warned  that  it  was  time  to  get  on  board.  So  about 
half-past  nine  we  hurried  on  board,  and  the  cabin  I 
got  into  was  so  cold  that  I  could  not  change  in  it ; 
and  in  this  way  by  morning  my  own  cold  was 
increased. 

Thursday,  VSth. — "At  six  o'clock  reached  Kingston ; 
cold,  sharp,  frosty  wind;  masses  of  ice  all  around. 
The  city  contains  about  12,000  inhabitants;  Toronto 
has  40,000.  It  was  once  the  seat  of  government,  and 
a  very  handsome  and  beautiful  town  it  is,  with  many 
fine  stone  buildings.  During  the  day  visited  the 
Castle,  the  strongest  next  to  Quebec  in  Canada ;  on  it 
a  million  sterlinsf  has  been  lavished.  Visited  also  the 
Penitentiary,  with  500  inmates  in  it,  mostly  employed 
in  trades — carpentry,  shoemaking,  etc.,  so  that  the 
product  of  the  work  nearly  sustains  it.  I  saw  many 
of  the  chief  inhabitants.  There,  however,  popery  is 
in  the  ascendant.  At  night  a  great  public  meeting  in 
the  city  hall;  ministers  of  all  denominations  there,  and 
amonof  the  rest  two  ar  three  Kirk  or  Establishment 
ministers  and  professors,  as  their  theological  college  is 
at  Kingston.    Then  an  address  (written)  was  delivered 


/Et.  48.  LAKE    ONTARIO.      MONTREAL.  287 

to  me  in  the  name  of  all  the  churches.  Gave  a  long 
address  in  reply.  Much  heartiness  and  goodwill,  and 
apparent  good  accomplished. 

Friday,  14ih. — "Up  early,  as  a  public  breakfast 
was  to  be  encountered  at  eight  o'clock.  Had  to  give 
a  long  address  there  again ;  and  from  the  breakfast 
hurried  into  the  steamer  that  was  to  take  me  to 
Ogdensburgh,  at  the  east  end  of  the  lake,  some  seventy 
or  eighty  miles  on  my  way  to  this  place.  The  ono 
thousand  islands,  as  they  are  called,  commence.  They 
are  of  all  sizes,  from  a  small  one  fit  only  to  support  a 
few  shrubs  or  trees,  up  to  miles  in  length.  They  say 
there  are  really  fifteen  hundred  of  them  in  all,  large 
and  small.  They  are  more  or  less  rocky  and  wooded, 
but  not  much  elevated  above  the  water.  In  summer, 
when  covered  with  green  foliage,  they  must  look  very 
beautiful,  and  a  sail  through  them  must  be  enchanting. 
They  want,  however,  rising  grounds  or  hills  beyond ; 
but  instead  of  hills  there  is  a  vast  flat  country  on  both 
sides.  The  islands  are  in  the  narrows,  or  where  the 
lake  gradually  narrows  into  the  river.  Reached 
Ogdensburgh,  on  the  south  or  American  (New  York) 
side  of  the  St.  Lawrence*  about  eleven  at  night,  as 
they  had  to  go  slowly  on  account  of  the  masses  of 
floating  ice.  It  was  cold,  dark,  and  wet;  no  vehicle 
to  the  iun,  so  the  captain  advised  me  to  sleep  on 
board,  which  I  did.  In  the  morning,  after  a  very 
weary  night,  rose  like  a  lump  of  ice,  and  crushed  with 
racking  headache.  Started  by  rail  at  seven  for 
Mover's  Junction,  about  one  hundred  miles  due  east, 
in  the  state  of  New  York,  and  about  forty  miles  due 
south  from  Montreal.  We  reached  it  about  noon. 
Messrs.  Eraser  and  Inglis,  the  Free  Church  ministers 
of  this  city,  were  waiting  to  convey  me  thither.  It 
was  two  before  we  started.  About  four  we  reached 
the  St.  Lawrence,  about  ten  miles    west  of  the  city. 


288  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1854. 

Montreal  is  near  the  east  end  of  a  large  island,  above 
twenty  miles  long,  with  a  considerably  elevated  wooded 
ridge  along  its  eastern  half  called  the  '  Mountain.'  It 
is  surrounded  by  the  united  waters  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
and  the  Ottawa  River,  a  mighty  stream  too,  which 
comes  from  the  north-west,  and  combines  with  the  St. 
Lawrence  at  the  western  extremity  of  the  island.  The 
French  called  the  hill  *Mont  Royal,'  corrupted  into 
Montreal.  We  crossed  the  river  in  a  steamer,  where, 
from  the  rapidity  of  the  current,  it  seldom  is  frozen 
over;  thence  by  rail  for  ten  miles  to  this  city  of  60,000 
inhabitants — mostly  French  papists,  with  rich  endow- 
ments and  vast  establishments,  cathedrals,  churches, 
colleges,  and  convents.  There  Mr.  Redpath — whom 
with  his  wife  I  met  two  years  ago  at  Mr.  Lewis's 
of  Leith,  being  excellent  godly  persons — was  waiting 
with  his  carriage  to  take  me  to  his  house  about  half- 
way up  the  mountain,  along  which  are  many  very  fine 
gentlemen's  residences,  and  commanding  a  noble  view 
of  the  city  and  river  and  country  beyond.  I  was  so 
ill  that  I  had  soon  to  get  to  bed,  but  very  thankful 
to  the  kind  and  gracious  Providence  which  brought 
me  under  the  roof  of  Christian  people. 

Sabbath,  16th. — "About  eight,  Mr.  R.  came  in  to 
see  how  I  was.  The  moment  he  looked  at  me,  he 
said,  '  You  are  not  fit  to  preach  to-day;  and,  however 
great  the  disappointment  to  us,  we  dare  not  see  you 
risk  your  life.'  Well,  I  was  so  ill  v/ith  headache,  sore 
throat,  and  oppressed  chest,  that  I  was  compelled  to 
say  that  I  felt  unable  to  leave  bed,  far  less  preach. 
So  he  wrote  instantly  to  Mr.  Frasei*  to  notify  this. 
I  felt  much  indeed  for  the  latter,  but  what  could  I  do  r 
I  was  laid  low,  and  could  not  do  what  I  was  provi- 
dentially disabled  from  attempting.  Poorly  indeed  all 
day,  but  most  precious  and  soul-reviving  meditation. 
God  be  praised  for  the  discipline. 


^t.  48.  AT    MONTREAL.  289 

Monday,  17th. — "Still  much  oppressed  with  the  cold. 
It  was  a  fine  sunshiny  though  slightly  frosty  day. 
At  noon  we  went  in  the  carriage  to  the  river  side,  here 
all  frozen  over  though  two  miles  broad.  Men,  and 
horses,  and  sleighs,  and  wagons  cross  it  still,  the  ice 
being  the  only  bridge  for  four  months.  Masses  float 
down  from  above,  get  under  the  ice,  heave  it  up,  and 
thus  swell  the  bulk.  Then  sometimes  vast  snow-flills, 
followed  by  a  little  rain;  then  the  intense  frost  binding 
up  all  in  one  consolidated  icy  fabric,  the  roads  cut 
across  through  the  masses  of  ice.  Here  now,  with 
only  occasional  bare  patches,  the  whole  ground  is 
covered  with  snow  three  or  four  feet  deep.  A  large 
company  of  friends  had  been  invited  to  meet  me  in  the 
evening.  So,  poorly  as  I  was,  I  was  obliged  to  see 
them.  I  spoke  to  them,  as  far  as  my  head  and  throat 
would  allow,  for  an  hour  or  two. 

Tuesday  flight,  18th. — "  This  morning  decidedly 
better,  though  still  a  sufferer.  Kept  as  quiet  as  I 
could  all  day,  to  be  ready  for  the  great  meeting  in  the 
evening.  It  was  a  vast  one  of  3,000  people,  densely 
pressed  together.  The  Lord  enabled  me  in  my  weak- 
ness to  speak  with  more  than  ordinary  unction,  power 
and  faithfulness.  The  impressions  were  evidently 
intense.  Ministers  and  all  seemed  to  be  in  the  dust, 
and  with  shame  confess  their  past  shortcomings.  The 
Lord  be  praised  ! 

Wednesday,  19th. — "  This  morning  a  great  public 
breakfast  was  given  to  me,  and  I  had  to  speak  again. 
Hundreds  were  there,  and  I  saw  them  so  interested, 
that  I  spoke  on  and  on.  No  one  having  moved  I  was 
unconscious  of  time,  until  when  I  concluded,  I  looked 
at  my  watch  and  found  it  one  p.m. ;  I  had  spoken 
three  hours.  And  though  most  of  them  were  business 
people  not  one  stirred.  They  seemed  greatly  moved 
and  impressed,  and  the  varied  addresses  delivered  by 

VOL.    IT.  u 


290  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1854. 

several  of  the  number  were  really  thrilling.  They 
all  thanked  me  for  the  faithfulness  with  which  I  spoke 
the  truth  to  them ;  declared  my  visit  to  be  to  them  an 
*  angel  visit ; '  that  I  must  have  been  sent  by  Christ 
the  Head  to  rouse  them  from  their  apathy ;  that  they 
could  not  now  think  of  the  past  without  shame  and 
sorrow ;  that  they  must  resolve  before  God  to  do 
henceforth  what  they  never  did  before.  It  was  most 
affecting  also.  It  seemed  as  if  we  could  never  part 
— and  such  a  parting,  with  many  a  tear !  It  was  a 
scene  for  a  painter.  God  in  mercy  grant  that  these 
impressions  may  be  permanent.  It  is  thus  ever  with 
Him.  He  brought  me  low.  This  brought  my  soul  into 
closer  communion  with  Himself,  and  when  raised  up, 
I  spoke  like  one  who  had  come  out  from  the  sanctuary 
after  a  gracious  and  glorious  interview.  Praise  be  to 
His  holy  name  !  Hallelujah  !  Come,  Lord  Jesus,  come 
quickly.     Amen. 

"  I  meant  to  have  gone  to  Quebec ;  but  now  find  I 
cannot — a  sore  disappointment.  Sir  James  Alexander 
wrote  to  me  from  Government  House,  and  other  in- 
fluential individuals,  pressing  me  to  visit  Quebec.  I 
fully  was  bent  on  going ;  but  to  my  grief  find  that 
the  river  is  not  yet  open  for  steamers." 

Dr.  Duff  turned  back  to  New  York,  giving  up  his 
intention  of  going  home  by  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia  and 
New  Brunswick,  in  order  to  attend  a  catholic  Mission- 
ary Convention,  the  first  of  the  kind  that  had  been 
held  in  the  States.  Throughout  two  days,  the  4th 
and  5th  of  May,  after  fresh  addresses  in  the  Broadway 
Tabernacle,  to  the  young  men  of  the  city  on  religious 
education,  at  various  religious  anniversaries,  and  to 
a  select  circle  of  its  leading  men  on  his  own  work  in 
India,  he  guided  the  deliberations  on  Foreign  Missions 
of  nearly  three  hundred  evangelical  clergymen,  from 
ftU  parts  of  the  West.     He  closed  the  proceedings  with 


^t.  48.  FAREWELL   TO    AMERICA.  29 1 

a  series  of  practical  resolutions  which  gave  a  powerful 
impulse  and  healthy  consolidation  to  the  missionary 
churches  and  societies,  and  then  with  a  two  hours' 
address  of  high-toned  fervour.  Ou  the  morning  of 
Saturday,  the  13th  of  May,  when  he  was  to  embark  in 
the  Pacific  for  Liverpool,  the  city  bade  him  farewell. 
The  address  of  St.  Paul  to  the  elders  of  Ephesus  who 
accompanied  him  to  the  sea-shore,  gave  the  key-note 
to  the  proceedings.  This  was  the  ancient  and  inspired 
benediction  into  which  the  Scottish  Missionary  burst 
forth  at  the  close,  leaving  it  as  his  latest  prayer  for  the 
peoples  of  North  America :  "  ]\Iay  the  God  of  your 
fathers  help  you ;  may  the  Almighty  God  bless  you  with 
every  blessing  of  heaven  above,  and  every  blessing 
of  the  deep  below;  and  may  your  blessings  prevail 
beyond  the  blessings  of  your  progenitors  to  the  utmost 
bounds  of  the  everlasting  hills.  May  the  everlasting 
arms  be  above  and  around  you.  May  the  eternal  God  be 
your  refuge ;  and  may  it  yet  be  declared  of  the  people 
of  this  land  as  it  was  of  old :  '  Happy  art  thou,  0 
Israel ;  who  is  like  unto  thee,  a  people  saved  by  the 
Lord  !'  Amen  and  Amen  !  And  now  (here  the  congre- 
gation rose),  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the 
love  of  God,  the  communion  and  fellowship  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  rest  and  abide  with  you,  and  with  all  the  people  of 
this  nation,  now,  henceforth  and  for  evermore.  Amen." 
Then,  descending  from  the  pulpit,  and  making  his 
way  through  the  crowds  who  pressed  on  him  to  feel 
the  grasp  of  his  hand  once  more  and  obtain  another 
parting  word,  he  passed  to  the  steamer.  There,  wrote 
Dr.  Murray,  "  the  scene  defied  description.  The 
wharf  and  the  noble  Pacific  were  crowded  with  clergy- 
men and  Christians  assembled  to  bid  him  farewell. 
Many  could  only  take  him  by  the  hand,  weep  and 
pass  on.  Never  did  any  man  leave  our  shores  so  en- 
circled with  Christian  sympathy  and  affection."      The 


292  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1854. 

University  of  New  York  enrolled  him  on  its  honour 
lists  as  LL.D. 

He  reached  Edinburgh  just  in  time  to  take  part  in 
the  Foreign  Mission  proceediDgs  of  his  own  Church's 
General  Assembly,  and  to  tell  Scotland  somewhat  of  his 
experience  in  the  United  States  and  in  Canada.  Al- 
though he  had  nowhere  pled  for  money,  and  had  alluded 
to  his  own  special  work  in  India  only  when  pressed  to 
do  so  at  social  gatherings,  a  letter  was  put  into  his 
hands  as  his  friends  left  the  steamer,  containing  £3,000 
from  New  York  and  Philadelphia.  Canada  also 
helped,  and  during  his  three  months'  absence  Glasgow 
had  raised  a  like  sum.  Thus  was  a  new  colleo^e  built 
for  him  and  his  colleagues  in  Calcutta,  against  his 
return  eighteen  months  afterwards.  But  that  was 
nothing  to  the  advantage  reaped  from  his  visit  by  all 
the  churches  of  the  West.  If  the  United  States  are 
doing  more  for  India,  as  well  as  for  Africa  and  China 
and  dying  Turkey,  proportionally,  than  even  the  old 
mother  country,  and  will  in  this  "  aye  more  and  more 
increase,"  so  far  as  the  zeal  is  to  be  traced  to  any  one, 
it  is  due  to  two  men,  Adoniram  Judson  and  Alexander 
Duff. 

But  now  the  physical  and  mental  penalty  had  to 
be  paid.  Did  any  man,  in  any  profession  and  under 
any  stimulus,  ever  spend  his  whole  being  as  Dr.  Duff 
had  done,  in  travel  and  organizing,  in  writing  and 
speaking,  under  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold,  in 
east  and  north  and  west  ?  In  the  five  years,  from  the 
palankeen  journey  over  Southern  India  which  began 
in  the  burning  heat  of  11th  of  May,  1849,  to  the  pro- 
gress through  Atlantic  storms  and  North  American 
snows  which  closed  on  the  29th  May,  1854,  in  the 
stifling  air  of  Tanfield  Hall,  Edinburgh, — and  all  this 
following  years  of  labour  in  the  then  unhealthy  Cal- 
cutta and  a  similar  five  years'  experience  in    Bengal, 


^t.  48.  AT    MALVERN.  293 

Scotland  and  England, —  Alexander  Duff  had  lived 
many  lives  before  he  was  fifty.  "  Yet  not  I,  but  Christ 
liveth  in  me,"  was  ever  the  aspiration  of  his  otherwise 
overtasked  spirit. 

He  had  planned  to  return  to  India  in  the  autumn ; 
the  physicians  ordered  his  careful  treatment  to  be 
followed  by  absolute  rest  in  the  sunny  south  of  Eu- 
rope. Congestion  of  the  brain,  inflammation  in  some 
of  the  membranes  and  other  affections,  the  most  alarm- 
ing of  which  was  mental  prostration  from  the  reaction, 
forbade  even  Duff  to  defy  the  doctors.  He  was  as 
helpless  as  the  day,  in  Calcutta,  when  his  remon- 
strances availed  nothing  with  Sir  Ranald  Martin,  who 
l;ad  him  carried  on  board  ship  for  Greenock.  When, 
by  the  middle  of  June,  he  was  able  to  travel  by  easy 
stages,  he  went  south  by  Lancaster  to  Great  Malvern. 
The  water  treatment  and  regimen  were  then,  and 
there,  beginning  to  attract  such  cases  as  his.  After 
a  time  the  more  serious  symptoms  subsided,  but  the 
still  exhausted  patient  suffered  from  an  impaired  nerv- 
ous system  and  blood  in  the  state  of  anaemia.  "  Bad 
but  hopeful,"  was  still  the  verdict  of  the  physicians  on 
his  condition.  The  first  gleam  of  improvement  at  the 
end  of  July  led  him  to  reason  with  them  thus — "  Let 
me  travel  slowly  to  India  through  Southern  Europe, 
and  I  need  not  begin  work  there  till  February  next." 
The  plea  was  in  vain ;  Major  Durand  was  going,  "  and 
we  may  go  together  as  we  did  twenty-five  years  ago." 
The  Master  had  immediate  service  for  the  sufferer 
even  in  Malvern. 

All  who  were  like-minded  with  himself  in  the  place 
and  its  neighbourhood  sought  him  out.  And  when  by 
August  he  got  the  first  night  of  real  sleep  he  had 
enjoyed  for  five  weeks,  he  began  once  more  to  be 
about  the  Father's  business.  Among  those  at  Malvern 
under  treatment  like  himself  was  Lord  Haddo,  whose 


2.94  I^I^E    OP   DE.    DUFF.  1854. 

father,  the  fourth  Earl  of  Aberdeen,  was  the  Premier 
at  that  time  of  Crimean  War  preparations.  How  Lord 
Haddo  and  his  wife  had  become  active  Christians, 
and  how  he  with  his  son  George  had  been  sent  to 
Malvern,  is,  with  much  else,  told  by  the  Rev.  E.  B. 
Elliott,  *  author  of  the  Horce  Apocahjjpticce.  At- 
tracted to  Dr.  Duff,  first  by  his  book  on  India  and 
India  Missions  and  then  by  spiritual  sympathy.  Lord 
Haddo  makes  this  entry  in  his  journal  on  Sunday,  6th 
August :  "  Dr.  Duff  drank  tea  with  me  yesterday,  and 
we  spent  together  a  pleasant  evening.  He  is  going  to 
make  an  extensive  tour  on  his  way  to  Calcutta,  and  I 
promised  him  letters,  among  others,  to  Elphinstone," 
who  had  been  appointed  Grovernor  of  Bombay.  Dr. 
Duff  urged  Lord  Haddo,  who  had  been  elected  M.P. 
for  Aberdeenshire  just  when  told  that  he  must  soon 
die,  to  try  a  winter  in  Egypt.  "  At  this  critical  time 
of  trial,"  writes  Lord  Haddo's  biographer,  "  Dr.  Duff's 
visits  were  a  great  comfort  to  him."  He  had  told  his 
wife  and  his  father,  on  the  11th  August,  "  I  wish  to 
be  considered  and  spoken  of  as  a  dying  man ;  it  will 
assist  me  in  many  things."  "  No  words  can  express 
the  intenseness  of  my  sympathy  with  you  under  pre- 
sent circumstances,"  was  the  response  of  Dr.  Duff  to  a 
similar  communication  received  when  himself  exhausted 
by  the  effect  of  a  vapour  bath,  and  able  only  to  pro- 
mise to  see  Lord  Haddo  in  the  evening.  Lady  Haddo, 
the  present  Dowager  Countess  of  Aberdeen,  joined  her 
husband  at  once,  and  with  both  Dr.  Duff  read  portions 
of  Isaiah's  prophecy,  the  25th  and  26th  chapters,  and 
the  103rd  Psalm.  "  His  remarks,  and  the  prayer  that 
followed,  were  always  remembered  by  them  after- 
wards."    This  was  the  beginning  of  intercourse  valued 

*  Memoir  of  Lord  Haddo,  in  his  latter  years  fifth  Earl  of  Aber- 
deen.    Fifth  edition,  1869. 


/Et.  48.        WITH  LOUD  AND  LADY  HADDO.  295 

by  the  noble  Gordon  family,  by  Lord  Polwartli  and 
Lord  Balfour  of  Burleigh,  and  resulting  in  the  founda- 
tion of  a  memorial  Mission  in  Natal,  to  be  hereafter 

recorded. 

"Malvern,  19 th  August,  1854. 

"Dear  Lady  Haddo, — I  was  greatly  affected  by  Lord 
Haddo's  simple  and  transparently  ingenuous  and  humble  state- 
ment respecting  himself  and  his  religious  feelings.  One 
cannot  be  too  jealous  over  oneself  in  so  vital  a  matter ;  nor 
exercise  too  severe  a  scrutiny  into  one's  motives,  or  the  ground 
of  one's  confidence.  It  is,  however,  a  grand  thing  to  re- 
member that,  however  precious,  and  however  much  to  be 
desired  certain  frames  and  feelings  may  be,  as  fruits  of  the 
Spirit  in  the  soul,  and  however  much  these  may  contribute  to 
the  enjoyments  of  a  religious  life,  it  is  not  to  these  we  are  to 
look  as  the  foundation  of  our  hopes.  Ah,  no  !  If  it  were  so, 
we  should  soon  be  reduced  to  the  servitude  of  the  poor  toiling 
serfs  of  blind  superstition.  It  is  to  the  glorious  promises  of 
Jehovah,  and  the  finished  work  of  that  atoning  saci-ifice  on  the 
cross,  that  we  are  privileged  to  look  as  the  only  sure  and  in- 
fallible foundation  of  all  our  hopes  of  real  blessedness  in  time, 
and  consummated  blessedness  through  all  eternity.  With 
earnest  prayer  that  you  may  be  sustained  from  on  high  under 
your   present    sore    trial,    I    remain,   yours    very    sincerely, 

"Alexander  Duff." 

On  learning  that  he  would  not  be  able  to  leave 
Malvern  in  time  to  accompany  Lord  and  Lady  Haddo 
to  Egypt,  he  wrote  : 

28th  August,  1854. — "  This,  to  my  own  mind,  is  a  great  dis- 
appointment. But  what  can  I  say  ?  A  life  of  probation  like 
the  present,  when  realized  as  such,  consists  very  much  of  a 
succession  of  disappointed  hopes  and  blasted  plans  and  pur- 
poses. It  is  so  to  put  our  faith  to  the  test.  It  is  part  of  the 
furnace  heat  that  is  employed  by  the  Divine  Eefiner  to  purge 
away  more  and  more  of  the  dross  of  earthly  clingings,  attach- 
ments and  delights;  to  bi-iug  the  soul  to  look  to  Him  alone  as 
the  all-sufficient  and  all-satisfying  portion.  Oh  for  the  child- 
like confidence  to  enable  us  in  all  our  trials  to  say,  '  Even  so, 
Father,  for  so  it  seemcth  good  in  Thy  sight.'  " 


296  LIFE    or   DR.    DUFF.  1855. 

To  LoED  Haddo. — Qth  September,  1854. — "Truly  there  is 
no  peace  except  in  simple  undoubting  reliance  on  tlie  Lord 
Jesus  Christ, — in  His  all-sufficiency  and  all- willingness  to  save 
unto  the  uttermost  all  who  come  unto  God  through  Him.  It 
is  this  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  realizing  the  glory  of 
His  person  as  Immanuel,  and  the  whole  absolute  perfection 
of  His  work  consummated  on  the  cross,  that  removes  the 
sense  of  guilt  from  the  troubled  conscience,  and  leads  to  a 
thirsting  and  panting  of  heart  to  be  conformed  to  His  image. 
Then  it  is  that  the  gracious  influences  of  the  Holy  Ghost  may 
gradually  be  felt  more  and  more,  in  their  world-abandoning, 
God-loving  results.  By  looking  unto  Jesus — the  great  Sun  of 
righteousness — with  believing,  loving  hearts,  these  hearts  of 
ours,  under  the  transforming  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
gradually  contract  somewhat  of  the  Divine  nature  and  likeness. 
A  mirror  may  reflect  the  glorious  orb  of  the  sun,  but  does  not 
itself  change  its  nature  so  as  to  become  self-luminous.  But 
the  heart  that  is  renewed  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  not 
only  reflects  the  rays  of  the  Sun  of  righteousness  more  and 
more  distinctly,  but  itself  gradually  is  so  transformed  as  to 
become,  as  it  were,  self-luminous.  It  becomes  a  burnished 
and  shining  gem  or  diamond,  as  it  were,  from  having  been  a 
mere  clod  of  earth.  Oh  what  a  glory  is  here !  What  an 
emanation  from  the  cross  !  .  .  I  send  a  little  work  to  your 
address,  and  it  is  for  your  son,  whose  demeanour  when  here 
won  my  heart.  May  the  perusal  of  it  be  blessed  to  his  soul ! 
With  warmest  remembrances  to  Lady  Haddo,  I  remain,  dear 
Lord  Haddo,  yours  very  sincerely, 

"Alexander  Dufp.'* 


The  little  work  alluded  to  was  "  The  Mirage  of 
Life,"  which  be  sent  to  Lord  Haddo's  eldest  sou 
George,  afterwards  sixth  Earl  of  Aberbeen,  with  this 
inscription : — "  From  Dr.  Daff  to  the  young  friend 
who  so  kindly  brought  him  grapes,  at  the  Willows, 
Great  Malvern,  in  August,  1854." 

Slowly  did  Dr.  Duff's  recovery  proceed.  The  be- 
ginning of  the  winter,  however,  forced  him  south  even 
from  Malvern.     After  a  residence  at  Bajonne,  under 


^t.  49.         IN    ROME.       LORD    PALWERSTON  S    NAME.  297 

the  care  of  his  wife  and  eldest  son,  who  had  completed 
his  medical  studies,  he  turned  aside  to  Biarritz,  where 
the  winter  was  spent  in  seclusion  in  a  mild  invigorat- 
ing atmosphere,  favourable  to  the  still  congested  brain. 
His  son  acted  as  his  physician  and  his  secretary, 
answering  the  many  communications  from  Great 
Britain  and  America,  and  particularly  stating,  "  My 
father's  intellectual  powers  are  wholly  unimpaired, 
and  the  substance  of  the  brain  is  unaffected."  After 
Pau  and  Moutpellier,  he  was  able  to  sail  from  Mar- 
seilles for  Civita  Vecchia,  so  as  to  reach  Rome  by 
Easter.  There  the  papal  police  daily  visited  his  lodg- 
ings, and  all  his  applications  for  the  return  of  his 
passport  were  ignored.  At  last,  on  appealing  to  the 
British  Consul,  he  was  told,  "  Go  where  you  please ; 
just  say  you  are  an  Englishman :  Palmerston  is  in 
power."  The  wisdom  of  this  advice  he  often  proved. 
At  Rome  he  had  a  severe  relapse.  Seeking  a  region 
of  purer  warmth  at  that  season,  he  resolved  to  sail 
from  Genoa  to  Syria.  When  at  Turin,  on  his  way  to 
the  port,  his  spirit  was  roused  by  two  very  different 
but  allied  movements — the  growth  of  constitutional 
liberty  in  Piedmont,  which  has  since  blossomed  and 
fruited  into  a  united  Italy  with  Rome  as  its  capital ; 
and  a  threatened  division  in  the  Waldensian  Church. 
Of  the  former  he  wrote,  on  the  18th  May :  '•'  This  is 
the  only  kingdom  on  the  continent  that  has  now  a 
really  free  constitution.  The  boon  of  civil  and  re- 
ligious liberty  is  felt  like  a  new  pulse  beating  through 
the  heart  of  the  whole  community,  awakening  the 
spirit  of  improvement  and  enterprise,  industry  and  pro- 
gress in  all  directions.  Hail,  then,  blessed  Liberty !  thou 
genial  and  prolific  mother  and  nurse  of  man's  noblest 
aspirations  and  doings.  More  especially,  hail  liberty 
of  conscience,  liberty  to  seek  after,  worship,  and  serve 
the  living  God  in  the  ways  of  His  own  appointment ! " 


298  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1855. 

From  the  liour  that,  as  a  boj,  he  first  read  Milton's 
great  sonnet,  he  had  been  eager  to  visit  the  valleys  of 
the  Yaudois.  At  La  Tour  he  encountered  a  deputation 
to  the  Church  from  the  Irish  Presbyterians,  and  Dr. 
Stewart,  of  Leghorn,  as  representing  the  Free  Church 
of  Scotland.  What  they  told  him  made  him,  in  spite 
of  his  weakness,  determine  to  go  on  with  them  to  the 
Synod,  at  which  certain  fundamental  points  in  the 
constitution  of  the  Vaudois  Church  were  to  be  dis- 
cussed. "  The  tyrannies  and  persecution  of  centuries 
could  not  annihilate  the  martyr  Church  of  the  Vau- 
dois," he  exclaimed;  "they  only  bound  its  members 
together  with  a  cement  of  increasing  tenacity,  even 
that  of  their  manifested  faith  and  shed  blood.  But 
now  when,  for  almost  the  first  time  in  their  history, 
full  civil  and  religious  liberty  has  been  conceded  to 
them,  questions  of  an  internal  kind  have  arisen,  divid- 
ing men's  judgments  and  alienating  men's  hearts  from 
each  other."  He  mastered  these  ecclesiastical  dis- 
putes ;  he  saw  Dr.  Revel,  the  Moderator,  on  the  one 
side,  and  the  leaders  of  the  other  party,  and  he  so 
brought  his  power  of  spiritual  suasion  to  bear  on  them 
that  he  left  the  Synod  with  the  grateful  assurance  that 
he  had  won  the  blessedness  of  the  peacemaker.  "  For 
the  first  time  after  a  silence  of  twelve  months,"  he 
wrote  to  his  wife,  "my  tongue  was  unstrung  in  an 
Alpine  valley,  confronting  the  assembled  descendants 
and  representatives  of  perhaps  the  noblest  race  of 
confessors  and  martyrs  which  European  Christendom 
has  yet  seen."  But  the  effort  and  the  snow  and  damp 
of  that  elevation  proved  too  much.  He  hurried  down 
to  Genoa  for  Palermo,  where  he  hailed  an  old  friend 
in  the  Consul,  whom  he  had  met  at  the  Cape  de  Verd 
Islands  in  1829.  Thence  by  Alexandria  he  reached 
Beyrout,  where  he  studied  the  noble  American  Pres- 
byterian Mission.     He  crossed  the  Lebanon  by  easy 


^t.  49.  FAREWELL    WARNINGS.  299 

stages  to  Damascus,  and  thence  doubled  back  to  Jeru- 
salem, "  experiencing  nouglit  but  benefit  from  the 
fresh  and  gentle  exercise  and  the  soothiog  ineffable 
influences  connected  with  everything  in  '  Immanuel's 
land.'  "  Jaffa  was  the  port  of  departure  for  Constan- 
tinople, whence  he  took  steamer  to  Marseilles  again. 
From  St.  Germain,  near  Paris,  on  the  10th  of  August, 
he  reported  such  an  improvement  in  his  condition  as 
to  add  :  "  Were  I  an  independent  man,  I  would  soon 
take  the  risk  into  my  own  hands.  Meanwhile,  set 
aside  by  a  committee  for  the  recovery  of  health,  I  feel 
bound  to  act  with  due  deference  to  the  views  and 
feelings  of  others."  "  A  great  evangelical  gathering" 
kept  him  for  a  little  at  Paris,  where  he  had  pleasant 
intercourse  w^ith  Tboluck  and  Krummacher.  He  then 
reported  himself  at  Malvern,  only,  however,  to  neglect 
the  medical  injunctions  laid  upon  him,  for  they  con- 
tained this  sentence  :  "  A  brain  like  yours  would  prey 
upon  itself  if,  after  acquiring  a  certain  amount  of 
power,  it  was  not  allowed  to  exercise  it." 

The  glorious  autumn  quiet  of  an  Edinburgh  Sep- 
tember was  all  he  could  give  to  his  boys,  then  demand- 
ing a  father's  personal  care  more  than  ever.  Along 
with  the  Rev.  James  Mitchell,  of  Poona,  and  the  Rev. 
John  Braid  wood,  of  Madras,  he  was  commended  to 
the  guidance  and  blessing  of  God  by  the  Presbytery 
of  Edinburgh  assembled  in  tlie  Free  High  Kirk.  His 
address,  delivered  amid  the  public  excitement  of  the 
Crimean  War,  contained  these  passages  : 

"  The  law  of  the  kingdom  is  that  of  growth  and  progress. 
Whether  it  be  in  the  soul  of  an  individual  man,  or  in  the  body 
of  a  collective  Churcli,  if  we  try  to  arrest  its  growth  and  out- 
spreading, or  in  other  words,  if  we  try  to  keep  the  good  we 
have  acquired  to  ourselves,  we  shall  fmd  that  if  there  be  truth 
in  the  Bible,  and  faithfulness  in  the  God  of  heaven,  that 
Church  and  that  individual  will  begin  to  droop,  and  wither. 


300  LIFE   OP   DE.    DUFF.  1855. 

Rnd  decay ;  and  finally  lose  what  liaa  been  attained  to,  for 
they  are  then  manifestly  fighting  against  an  eternal  law  of 
God.  What  is  a  Mission  ?  It  is  an  aggressive  expedition 
into  an  enemy's  teri-itory  :  and  here  I  may  ask.  Are  not  the 
children  of  this  world  wiser  in  their  generation  than  the  chil- 
dren of  light  ?  This  country  is  at  this  moment  at  war  with 
a  mighty  empire.  Suppose  you  were  to  send  forth  your  forces 
to  occupy  some  small  point  of  the  territory  of  the  enemy,  is 
the  work  done  when  that  portion  of  the  territory  is  occupied 
at  the  outskirts  ?  .  .  .  But  is  there  not  a  limit  to  these 
constantly  swelling  demands  ?  There  is.  What  is  it  then,  you 
will  next  ask  ?  It  is  that  we  go  on  by  means  of  your  continu-' 
ally  increasing  support,  conquering  and  still  conquering, 
until,  by  the  blessing  of  God  upon  the  work,  there  shall  be  a 
sufficient  extent  of  territory  gained  from  the  enemy  which  may 
itself  supply  the  needful  resources  in  men  and  means;  and 
begin  to  be  self-maintaining  and  self -propagating  too.  And 
when  once  this  point  of  indigenous  self-support  has  been 
reached  in  a  mission,  then  your  hands  will  be  liberated,  and 
you  may  carry  your  appliances  of  warfare  elsewhere.  But  I 
insist  that,  till  this  point  be  reached,  you  must  make  up  your 
minds  to  the  fact,  that  the  very  success  of  your  Missions  must 
for  a  time  entail  increasing  expense.  This  fact  you  must  be 
prepared  wisely  to  meet,  and  heroically  to  encounter.  It  does 
cut  one's  heart  to  the  quick, — and  I  have  felt  it  oftener  than 
once, — when,  with  almost  infinite  toil  and  sufiering,  we  have 
succeeded  in  gaining  one  point,  and  then  another;  when  it 
pleased  the  Lord  to  raise  up  human  agents,  one  after  another, 
waiting  to  be  sent  forth ;  and  when  we  reported  that  they 
were  ready  to  enter  on  the  glorious  enterpi'ise,  to  find,  that, 
instead  of  meeting  with  a  prompt,  and  earnest,  and  cordial 
response, — rejoicing  in  our  success,  under  God,  and  urging  us 
to  engage  these  voluntary  recruits,  and  proceed  onwards,  and 
be  outspreading, — the  cold,  freezing,  killing  answer  has  too 
often  been,  that  on  looking  into  the  treasury  at  home,  there 
are  not  means  to  employ  these  disciplined  soldiers,  and  that 
we  must  not  take  them  into  our  service.  In  short,  you  pray 
to  God  for  success  upon  the  labours  of  your  missionaries,  and 
when  that  success  is  granted,  you  heedlessly  or  wantonly  fling 
it  to  the  winds  !  You,  in  effect,  tell  your  missionaries, — You 
have  faithfully  toiled  and  laboured,  and  spent  your  strength  in 


^t.  49.         PROGRESS   THE    LAW    OF    THE    KINGDOM.  3OI 

bringing  souls  to  God,  and  in  training  them  for  the  office  of 
evangelists  ;  but  we  are  resolved  that  your  labour  shall  be  in 
vain,  and  your  strength  shall  have  been  spent  for  nought  ! 
Is  it  not  enough  to  raise  the  feeling  of  moral  indignation  in 
one's  soul,  when  he  is  dealt  with  in  this  manner  ?  I  pray  you 
to  excuse  my  plainness  of  speech.  I  cannot  help  it.  He  must 
bo  a  traitor  to  his  God  and  to  the  souls  of  the  perishing,  who, 
through  cowardice  or  other  similar  motive,  could  be  silent  in 
such  a  case  as  this.  I  again  ask  you,  then,  how  long  is  this 
state  of  things  to  continue  ?  The  missions  abroad  have, 
through  God's  blessing,  wonderfully  prospered.  Converts 
have  been,  and  are  still  raised  on  every  hand ;  and  when  we 
find  them  prepared  to  go  forth  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the 
left,  as  some  have  already  done,  are  we,  instead  of  being 
cheered  and  urged  to  proceed,  to  be  again  chilled  by  the 
warning  that  we  must  not  employ  them, — that  we  must  stand 
still, — and  by  making  no  further  progress  into  the  realms  of 
darkness,  must  exhibit  ourselves  a  spectacle  of  derision  to 
hellish  foes,  and  of  pity  and  lamentation  to  the  hosts  of  light  ? 
"  What,  then,  are  we  to  be  next  told,  that  you  are  tired  with 
success,  since  it  costs  more  money,  and  money  is  not  in  the 
treasury  of  the  Church  ?  When  I  look  abroad  over  Scotland, 
I  ask  myself,  is  there  not  plenty  of  money  there  ?  Yes;  even 
to  overflowing ;  but  it  does  not  find  its  way  into  the  treasury 
of  the  Lord.  Such  being  the  case,  we  must  come  to  the 
question  of  stewardship,  and  we  insist  upon  it  that  every 
farthing  which  God  gives  to  an  individual,  is  a  farthing  for 
which  he  must  account,  as  to  liow  and  why  he  spends  it;  and 
until  that  doctrine  bo  enshrined  in  the  soul  aind  conscience, 
we  need  never  expect  to  liave  fulness  of  means.  But  to  me, 
who  have  had  sore  travailing  and  wandering  through  many 
lands,  it  has  been  a  matter  uttei'ly  overwhelming  to  the  spirit, 
when  I  often  saw  such  redundancy  of  means  in  the  possession 
of  professing  Christians,  and  when  I  have  been  told  in  reply 
to  earnest  pleadings  in  behalf  of  a  perishing  world, — '  Oh  ! 
we  have  nothing  to  spare.*  How  depressing  has  it  been  to 
hear  this  said,  and  then  to  look  at  the  stately  mansions,  the 
gorgeous  lawns,  the  splendid  equipages,  the  extravagant  furni- 
ture, and  the  costly  entertainments,  besides  the  thousands 
which  are  spent  upon  nameless  idle  and  useless  luxuries.  It 
was  as  much  as  to  say  to  God,  the  great  proprietor,  who  has 


302  LIFE    OP    DR.    DUFF.  1S55. 

given  ifc  all, — '  Lord,  pray  excuse  me,  as  I  wish  to  spend  all  tliis 
upon  myself,  and  if  I  have  a  little  driblet  remaining  over,  after 
I  have  satisfied  myself,  I  will  consent  to  give  that  driblet  back 
to  Tliee/  The  exclamation  has  been  on  my  lip,  in  the  hearing 
of  such  men, — Why,  you  are  treating  the  cause  of  Christ  much 
as  the  rich  man  in  the  parable  treated  Lazarus.  You  are 
driving  that  cause  to  the  outer  gate,  and  while  self  is  made 
to  fare  sumptuously  in  the  palace  within,  clothed  in  purple  and 
fine  linen,  you  leave  the  cause  of  Christ  to  starve  outside 
yonder,  or  to  feed  on  the  crumbs  that  fall  from  your  table, 
while  covered  with  the  sores  of  many  a  foul  indignity.  Why 
not  reverse  the  picture  in  the  parable  ?  Why  not  bring  the 
cause  of  Christ  inside  the  palace,  and  array  it  in  royal  attire ; 
while  wretched  self  is  cast  out  to  famish  at  the  door,  rather 
than  by  pampering  it  to  drag  its  possessor  down  to  the  pit  of 
eternal  woe  ?  When  I  talk  in  this  general  way,  don't  suppose 
that  I  am  not  aware  that  there  are  individuals  who  are  making 
sacrifices.  Thank  God,  there  are  many  such  among  you.  I 
know  not  any  Church  where  the  proportional  number  of  such 
is  really  greater  than  in  the  Free  CJhurch  of  Scotland.  But 
it  is  not  for  the  most  part  amongst  the  wealthiest, — although 
there  are  precious  exceptions  there  too, — it  is  chiefly  amongst 
the  middle  and  poorer  classes.  Now  then,  what  is  to  be  done  ? 
What  can  the  committee  do?  What  but  dispense  what  they 
receive  ?  This  is  the  current  doctrine  on  the  subject.  But  it 
is  the  duty  of  such  a  committee  as  ours,  not  merely  to  dispense, 
but  to  create. 

"  I  did  not  go  forth  over  the  length  and  breadth  of  Scotland 
for  money  alone ;  I  repudiated  the  idea ;  I  aimed  at  something 
higher  and  better.  I  felt  in  some  degree  in  my  own  soul,  the 
greatness  and  glory  of  this  enterprise ;  and  my  intense  desire 
was  to  communicate,  if  I  could,  somewhat  of  the  same  impres- 
sion throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  my  native  land — as 
thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  can  testify — to  the  souls  of 
others,  and  to  tell  them  what  was  their  duty  in  this  respect. 
Unless  an  individual  be  born  again,  and  truly  converted  to 
God,  he  can  never  have  any  right  feeling  of  heartfelt  sympathy 
with  the  perishing  heathen ;  and  therefore  I  appealed  to  the 
consciences  of  men  on  the  subject  of  the  personal  regenera- 
tion. 

**  While  I  thank  God  for  the  considerable  response  which  I 


ALt.  49.  "  PLAYING    AT    MISSIONS."  303 

xnet  with  to  my  appeals  from  many  of  our  godly  ministers,  and 
office-bearers,  and  general  membership,  I  must  say,  with 
regard  to  the  Free  Church  as  a  whole,  that  response  is  not 
what  I  would  wish,  or  had  even  reasonably  anticipated.  What 
was  ray  thought,  and  that  of  the  other  missionaries  in  India, 
before  coming  to  this  country?  We  did  not  expect  great 
things  for  India  at  the  very  time  you  were  first  engaged  in 
this  country  in  raising  churches,  manses,  and  schools,  but  we 
did  expect,  when  these  were  to  some  good  extent  finished, 
that  something  mighty  and  woi-thy  of  her  great  name,  and 
noble  contendings  for  the  Redeemer's  Headship,  not  only  over 
the  Church  but  the  nations,  would  be  done  for  the  world  at 
large.  When  you  were,  in  the  providence  of  God,  driven,  as 
it  were,  out  of  the  old  Establishment,  for  adherence  to  great 
Bible  principles,  it  was  not  surely  that  you  might  sustain  and 
perpetuate  the  blessings  you  enjoyed  among  yourselves  alone. 
Was  that  the  only  end  you  had  in  view  ?  If  so,  you  would  be 
resisting  the  progress  of  Christianity,  and  fighting  against  that 
Divine  law  to  which  I  referred  at  the  outset  of  my  address. 
We  certainly  expected  that  when  the  noble  vessel  then  begun 
was  finished  and  launched  upon  the  great  deep,  it  would  be 
found  directing  its  course  to  other  countries,  and  bearing,  in 
proportions  worthy  and  commensurate,  its  rich  treasures  of 
gospel  truth  and  gospel  grace  to  every  region  of  the  earth. 
But,  alas,  we  are  waiting  for  that  day  yet.  When  will  ib 
come  ? — that  is  the  question.  Looking  at  it,  then,  in  this 
light,  there  is,  on  the  one  hand,  much  to  thank  God  for ;  but 
there  is,  on  the  other  hand,  much  to  plead  against.  Oh,  do 
not,  I  solemnly  adjure  you,  in  the  name  of  the  living  God,  do 
not  settle  down  on  your  privileges ;  do  not  settle  down  on  the 
mere  fact  that  you  have  fought  a  great  battle  and  gained  a 
great  victory ;  that  you  have,  as  it  were,  the  ark  of  the 
Covenant,  the  ark  of  the  living  God,  with  its  priceless  Jewel, 
the  Headship  of  the  Redeemer,  in  your  keeping ; — for  if,  in 
the  spirit  of  indolence  or  contracted  selfishness,  you  keep  it 
idly  to  yourselves,  instead  of  proving  your  safety,  it  will  prove 
your  destruction.  I  long,  therefore,  for  the  time  when  the 
Church  shall  rise  up  and  face  the  whole  question,  not  in  the 
light  of  a  paltry  and  wretched  carnalizing  expediency,  but  in 
the  light  of  God's  own  unchanging  truth.  I  believe  that 
neither  this  Church  nor  any  other  Church  has,  as  a  whole,  yet 


304  LIFE    OP    DE.    DUFF.  1855. 

fully  estimated  the  magnitude  of  the  work  to  be  done,  or  the 
force  and  resources  of  the  enemy  to  be  contended  with ;  and 
that  3'ou  and  all  the  rest  have  only  hitherto  been,  as  it  were, 
playing  at  missions  I 

"  Dr.  Duff  then  glanced  at  a  few  things  that  might  be  done, 
— pointing  to  the  necessity  of  fervent  prayer  for  the  effusion 
of  the  Spirit  of  all  grace,  dwelling  on  the  service  which  Chris- 
tian mothers  could  render  to  the  missionary  cause  in  moulding 
the  minds  of  their  children,  and  giving  them  a  bent  in  this 
direction, — how  Christian  instructors,  when  teaching  their 
pupils  geography,  could  fix  their  thoughts  upon  countries 
where  missionary  labour  was  required,  and  could  make  a  great 
impression  upon  their  minds  by  a  few  simple  remarks, — and 
also  the  great  opportunities  enjoyed  by  ministers  in  creating 
an  interest  in  this  department  of  the  Lord's  cause  in  their 
ordinary  pulpit  ministrations  and  in  their  prayers.  He  urged 
the  instituting  of  a  professorship  on  missionary  subjects,  or 
evangelistic  theology,  by  which  means  the  minds  of  the 
young  men  studying  for  the  ministx-y  would  be  imbued  with  a 
missionary  spirit.  ...  If  I  had  a  congregation  in  any 
great  city,  I  would  act  thus :  not  confining  my  home  evan- 
gelistic labours  to  week-days,  or  even  the  mornings  or  even- 
ings of  Sabbath-days,  I  would  from  time  to  time  say  to  my 
people — '  It  is  not  right  that  you  should  be  fed  with  what 
you  reckon  the  highest  seasoned  food  twice  every  Sabbath, 
whilst  there  are  myriads  perishing  without,  at  our  very  doors, 
for  lack  of  all  food.  We  must  cease  to  be  selfish, — you  must 
deny  yourselves,  and  I  must  deny  myself ;  and  therefore  in 
the  afternoon  I  will  get  another  person  to  take  my  place  in 
the  pulpit.  He  may  not  be  so  entirely  to  your  tastes  as  your 
own  pastor,  but  if  not,  he  will  at  least  give  you  wholesome  and 
sound  truth  upon  which  to  feed ;  and  you  are  to  remember 
that  at  the  moment  when  he  is  addi-essing  you,  I  am  down 
yonder  speaking  to  poor  souls  who  have  never  got  any  of  the 
bread  that  came  down  from  heaven ;  and  therefore  in  your 
prayers  remember  them  and  me.'  Ah !  methinks,  were  that 
done  for  a  Sabbath  or  two,  the  minister  might  be  able,  when 
in  his  own  pulpit,  to  set  before  his  flock  intelligence  which 
would  refresh  their  own  souls,  informing  them  that  one  had 
been  born  yonder,  and  another  here.  Then  might  the  gleam 
of  happiness,  not  felt  before,  be  awakened  in  many  a  soul; 


JEt  49.  A    LKSSON    TO    BARREN   ORTHODOXY.  305 

and  it  would  be  felt  that  self-denying  benevolence  was  its  own 
reward.  And,  then,  why  should  this  evangelistic  process  bo 
confined  to  the  ministry  ?  Why  should  not  all  the  godly 
membership  of  the  Church  take  their  share,  according  to  their 
varying  capacities  and  opportunities,  in  this  blessed  work, 
some  in  one  way,  and  some  in  another?  .  .  Surely 
Paganism  itself  can  scarcely  be  so  hateful  to  a  righteous  God, 
as  that  barren  orthodoxy  of  mere  abstract  belief,  and  idle  talk, 
and  uuproduclive  profession.  Ah !  were  this  better  spirit 
to  prevail  more  widely  through  all  Protestant  Churches, — the 
spirit  that  would  prompt  men  to  be  not  receivers  only,  but 
dispensers  also,  of  what  they  had  received, — the  spirit  that 
would  lead  all  ecclesiastical  bodies  to  make  the  doing  of  some 
active  woik  for  the  Lord,  in  His  own  vineyard,  as  indispensable 
a  condition  of  Church  membership  as  the  abstract  soundness 
of  a  creed,  and  the  outward  consistency  of  moi-al  life  and 
conduct,  what  a  strange  and  happy  revolution  would  soon  be 
effected.  How  soon  would  infidelity  and  home  heathenism  be 
cast  down,  what  a  new  spirit  of  ennobling  self-denial  would 
be  evoked,  what  a  spirit  of  largo-heartedness,  which  would 
flow  forth  in  copious  streams  in  behalf  of  a  perishing  world  ! 
Were  this  realized,  we  might  theu  suppose  that  the  dawn  ot 
millennial  glory  was  upon  us.  But,  alas !  alas  !  though  the 
horizon  seemed  already  reddening  with  the  dawn,  the  Churches 
of  Christ  are  still  mostly  drowsy  and  fast  asleep.  Ah  !  it  is 
this  that  saddens  my  own  spirit.  Of  the  cause  of  Chi-ist  I 
have  never  desponded,  and  never  will.  It  will  advance  till 
the  whole  earth  be  filled  with  His  glory.  He  will  accomplish 
it,  too,  through  the  instrumentality  of  Churches  and  individual 
men.  But  He  is  not  dependent  on  any  particular  Church  or 
men.  Yea,  if  any  of  these  prove  slothful  or  negligent,  He 
may  in  sore  judgment  remove  their  candlestick,  or  pluck  the 
stars  out  of  their  ecclesiastical  firmament. 

"  If  it  were  in  my  power,  as  I  once  thought  it  would  have 
been, — but  God  brought  me  low, — it  was  my  intention  to  have 
gone  largely,  not  only  into  these,  but  also  into  many  other 
collateral  themes,  ere  I  left  Scotland.  It  so  happened  that 
originally  the  Lord  in  His  gracious  providence  endowed  me 
with  a  physical  frame  that  fitted  me  to  encounter  almost  any 
amount  of  labour  and  fatigue  with  compai-ative  impunity  ;  but 
from  riding,  as  it  were,  on  the  topmost  waves  of  active  exertion, 

VOL.    II.  X 


306  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1855. 

it  pleased  Him  to  lay  me  low ;  and,  flinging  me  wholly  aside, 
to  address  me  as  it  were  thus,  '  You  must  now  for  a  time  at 
least  retii-e  from  your  work  a  shattered  and  broken  man,  and 
learn  to  bear  your  soul  in  patience  before  the  Lord  alone.  Sit 
still,  away  from  the  world  of  busy  men,  and  learn  the  power  of 
solemn  silence.'  And  although  I  must  confess  that  this  was 
hard  to  bear,  with  hundreds  of  doors  of  usefulness  presenting 
themselves  on  every  side,  and  that  I  convulsively  struggled 
against  the  sentence,  yet  He  soon  made  me  feel  that  I  was  in 
the  grasp  of  an  almighty  and  invisible  power,  that  held  me 
fast,  till  I  was  made  to  learn  the  grace  of  patience  and  silent 
enduiung  submission  to  His  holy  will. 

"  A  few  years  ago,  I  felt  that  God  in  His  providence  called 
me  to  the  discharge  of  a  certain  work  in  Scotland.  So  far  as 
concerns  my  individual  share  in  it,  I  now  feel  that  that  work 
has  been  substantially  accomplished.  The  Foreign  Mission 
Fund, — on  whose  prosperity  all  our  operations  in  India  and 
Africa  must,  for  the  present  depend, — was  in  a  very  dilapidated 
state.  By  God's  blessing,  that  Fund  has  been  rescued  from 
its  tottering  state  of  insecurity,  and  placed  on  a  stable  and 
permanent  foundation  through  the  woiking  of  the  associational 
plan,  with  its  regular  quarterly  subscriptions  and  prayer-meet- 
ings, in  the  great  majority  of  the  influential  congregations  of 
the  Church ;  while  in  amount  it  has  been  doubled  or  trebled  -, 
all  that  is  required  being  the  maintenance  of  the  present 
system  through  proper  agency  and  periodic  visitation,  as  well 
as  the  extension  of  it  to  all  the  remaining  congregations. 
And  as  the  spirit  of  Missions  rises  in  the  Church,  present 
contributions  may  even  be  indefinitely  enlarged.  And  now, 
this  my  home  work  being  for  the  present  finished,  while 
exigencies  of  a  peculiar  kind  appear  to  call  me  back  again  to 
the  Indian  field,  I  cheerfully  obey  the  summons  j  and  despite 
its  manifold  ties  and  attractions,  I  now  feel  as  if,  in  fulness  of 
heart,  I  can  say.  Farewell  to  Scotland." 

Leaving  these  and  many  other  such  words  behind 
him  for  the  quickening  of  the  Churches,  Dr.  DuflP, 
with  his  wife,  set  out  from  Edinburgh  on  the  13th  of 
October  for  India,  for  the  third  time. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

185G.1858. 

THE  MUTINY  AND  THE  NATIVE  CHUECH  OF  INDIA. 

Through  Central  India  to  Calcutta. — The  First  Day  in  the  Free 
Church  and  in  the  Institution. — Sir  Henry  Durand'.s  Account  of  the 
Reunion. — Mutterinjjs  of  the  Storm. — Tlie  Santal  Insurrection 
and  iMissionai'v  Memfjrinlto  Government. — TIicFnfiold  Cartridges. 
— The  Meeriit  and  Dellii  Massacres. — Dr.  Duft's  Twenty-tive 
Letters. — Handling  the  ^lusket. — Confidence  in  the  Lord. — Plots 
and  Panics  in  Calcutta. — The  Centenary  of  Pla.ssey. — The  Massacre 
at  Futtehglmr. — The  Horrors  of  Cawnpore. — Death  of  Sir  Henry 
Lawrence. — Britisli  Troops  in  Cornwallis  Square. — Mercy  and 
the  Gospel. — Fatcal  Optimism  of  the  Calcutta  Authorities. — Fall  of 
Delhi  and  Relief  of  Lucknow. — John  Lawrence  in  the  Punjab 
and  Edwardes  at  Pe.shawur. — Death  of  Sir  Henry  Havelock. — • 
Durand's  Successful  Openitions. — Lord  Canning's  Merits  and 
Defects. — Bishop  Wilson  at  Eiglity. — Dr.  Dutf's  famous  Patriotic 
Sermon. — Christian  Statesmanship  of  John  Lawrence. — Growth 
of  the  Church  of  India. — Its  Roll  of  Martyrs  and  Confessors. — 
Thomas  Hunter  of  Sialkot. — Gopeenatli  Nundi,  his  Wife  and 
Children. — Robert  Tucker's  l^Iartyrdom  at  Futtehpore. — The 
Bencriilee  and  his  Wife  witness  a  good  Confession. — Loyalty  of 
the  Native  Chnrch  of  India. — Duff's  Sympathy  with  the  Educated 
Natives  who  suffered. 

The  one  condition  on  which  the  physicians  allowed 
Dr.  Duff  to  return  to  India  was  that  he  should  still, 
for  six  months,  abstain  from  work  of  all  kinds,  while 
he  sought  the  climate  of  the  Mediterranean  or  of 
Egypt  for  another  winter.  He  reasoned  that  the  dry 
and  bracing  yet  mild  air  of  the  Dekhan,  or  uplands  of 
Central  India,  is  quite  as  invigorating  to  the  invalid, 
while  there  he  could  return  to  his  loved  duties  of 
missionary  overseer.  Setting  out  from  Trieste,  he 
and  Mrs.  Duff  joined  the  mail  steamer  at  Suez,  but 
without  their  baggage.     For  the  first  few  days  in  the 


308  LIFE    OP    DR.    DUFF.  1856. 

Red  Sea,  their  fellow-passengers  were  busied  prepar- 
ins:  a  wardrobe  for  each.  While  Mrs.  Duff  went  on 
by  Ceylon  and  Madras  to  Calcutta,  charged  with  the 
care  of  more  than  one  expectant  bride,  as  is  the 
pleasant  duty  of  Anglo-Indian  matrons,  her  husband 
joined  the  Government  steamer  at  Aden  for  Bombay. 
There,  of  course,  he'  forgot  all  prudence  amid  the 
philanthropic  temptations  of  the  "Western  capital. 
But  "  the  subsequent  journey  through  the  delightful 
region  of  the  Konkan,  and  the  magnificent  mountain 
scenery  of  Mahableshwar  to  Satara,  in  the  edifying 
society  of  my  beloved  friend.  Dr.  Wilson,  soon 
operated  with  a  reviving  effect."  From  Poona  by 
Ahmednuggur,  Aurungabad  and  Jalna,  where  now 
the  Rev.  Narain  Sheshadri  conducts  the  most  vigorous 
native  Mission  in  the  peninsula,  he  reached  Nagpore, 
even  then  remarkable  for  the  labours  of  Stephen 
Hislop,  a  colleague  worthy  of  Dr.  Wilson  and  himself. 
Hence  by  Kampthee,  Jubbulpore  and  Mirzapore  he 
came  to  Benares  and  Calcutta,  having  followed  a  chain 
of  Christian  fortresses  across  the  whole  breadth 
of  Northern  India.  Just  before  the  Sabbath  of 
17th  February  he  entered  his  own  city,  in  time  to  begin 
the  third  and  last  period  of  his  evangelizing  work 
in  India,  by  "  preaching  the  everlasting  gospel  from 
the  pulpit  of  the  Free  Church.  After  a  sublimely 
impressive  prayer  from  my  beloved  friend,  Mr.  Milne, 
the  pastor,  I  endeavoured,  amid  a  mighty  rush  and 
conflict  of  emotions,  to  preach  to  an  overflowing 
audience.  After  sermon  what  a  greeting  with  beloved 
native  converts  and  friends."  Among  the  worshippers 
was  Sir  Henry  Durand,  the  grave  young  lieutenant  of 
the  Lady  Holland^  the  friend  of  Judson,  and  even  then 
among  the  foremost  military  statesmen  of  the  empire. 
From  his  hotel  next  day,  that  officer  thus  addressed 
the  daughter  of  his  old  fellow- voyager  : 


/Et.  so.  DURAND   ON   DR.    DUFF.  309 

"When  Mr.  Milne  walked  up  into  thepulpifc,  and  your  father 
sat  down  in  front  of  it  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  aisle  to  mj- 
self,  the  thought  occurred, — six-and-twenty  years  ago  we  were 
on  Dassen  Island,  spending  our  last  day  there,  and  under  a 
I'oof  of  a  different  kind,  though  gothic  too — for  the  ribs  of 
the  whale  were  then  our  gothic  arches  supporting  a  ship's 
awning.  When  the  service  began,  one  of  the  native  Christians 
beside  ine  found  the  hymn  and  handed  the  book  to  me.  I 
can't  tell  you  how  this  not  little  event  thrilled  and  struck  me. 
A  quarter  of  a  century  ago  who  would  have  foretold  mo  this  ? 
thought  I.  Well,  the  service  went  on,  and,  finally,  your 
father  ascended  the  pulpit.  The  last  time  I  heard  him  preach 
was  on  board  a  ship  in  1830  ;  and  really,  except  for  a  flush 
which  the  excitement  of  the  moment  fully  accounted  for,  there 
was  remarkably  little  dilference  of  ajipearance  in  the  preacher 
of  1830  and  of  1856.  If  it  had  not  been  for  the  place  and  the 
row  of  native  Christians  alongside  of  me,  I  could  have  fancied 
myself  a  quarter  of  a  century  back  in  the  pages  of  time. 
When,  however,  the  discourse  began,  and  your  father  fairly 
plunged  into  his  subject,  the  difference  between  the  preacher 
of  1830  and  of  1856  was  manifest.  Great  as  were  his  powers 
in  1830,  a  quarter  of  a  century  had  developed,  ripened  and 
invigorated  those  powers,  and  the  flow  of  thought,  language 
and  illustration  must  have  struck  every  one  as  it  did  myself. 
But  as  you  were  there,  I  only  advert  to  this  when  thinking 
of  what  he  was  in  1830.  You  will  have  felt  the  discourse  of 
Sunday  last — as  all  who  heard  it  must  have  done — as  often 
■nmrvcUouslij  beautiful  and  powerful,  were  it  not  that  the 
Spirit  of  God  can  breathe  Its  own  force  into  whomsoever  It 
chooses.  All  the  time,  however,  I  felt  that  the  exertion  was 
too  great,  and  I  quite  dreaded  the  tension  of  feeling  and  mind, 
and  determined  to  tell  you  that  you  should  do  what  you  can 
to  keep  Dr.  Duff  from  fi*equent  exertions  of  this  exhaustive 
character.  At  the  end  he  scarce  had  strength  to  read  the 
hymn.  When  leaving  the  church  I  saw  that  there  were  many 
more  native  Christians  present  than  the  row  who  were  under 
the  pulpit ;  and  it  pleased  me  much  to  observe  several  native 
women.  How  different  all  this  from  Dassen  Island,  and  a 
quarter  of  a  century  ago  !  And  who  then  would  have  pre- 
dicted such  things  ?  As  I  drove  away  I  thought, — well,  I  owe 
this  great  treat  to  Mrs.  Watson,  and  I  must  thank  her  for  it. 


3IO  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1856. 

"  Anotlier  was  in  store  for  me.  I  was  sitting  in  my  solitary 
den  in  this  hotel,  when  a  tap  at  the  door  this  morning 
announced  some  one.  It  was  Dr.  Duff.  He  had  very  kindly 
called  to  take  me  with  him  on  the  occasion  of  his  first  visit 
to  the  Free  Church  School  and  College.  It  was  a  very 
striking  sight,  the  assemblage  of  Bengalee  scholars ;  and 
very  gratifying  must  have  been  to  your  father  the  evident 
pleasure  with  which  the  elder  scholars  and  native  teachers 
saw  his  face  again.  His  address  to  them  was  admirable,  as 
you  may  be  sure,  and  occasionally — when,  for  instance,  he 
adverted  to  the  juxtaposition  of  Shiva's  temple  and  the  wires 
of  the  electric  telegraph — there  was  a  laugh  which  spread  like 
wild-fire,  all  the  young  monkeys  who  neither  heard  nor  under- 
stood laughing  out  of  joyous  sympathy;  but  on  the  whole 
your  father  was  too  much  in  earnest  and  under  too  great 
emotion  to  give  them  much  laughing.  He  spoke  to  them  for 
some  time, — longer,  perhaps,  than  was  quite  good  for  him- 
self— but  who  could  be  surprised  at  that,  on  his  first  visit  to 
this  Institution,  his  own  creation,  and  one  in  which  the  hand 
of  God  is,  perhaps,  more  apparent  than  in  any  other  in  India. 
As  I  looked  at  the  lines  of  heads  listening  to  him.  Archdeacon 
Corrie's  lament,  at  the  time  Government  were  founding  the 
Hindoo  College,  recurred  to  me.  '  They  will  raise  only  atheists 
and  deists,  and  inhileliby  and  immorality  will  be  perpetuated 
under  other  forms  than  Hindooism,'  was  Corrie's  prediction  to 
myself  in  1830  of  the  probable  fruit  of  the  Hindoo  College,  then 
lately  commenced.  Little  did  Corrie  think  that  just  at  that 
very  time  a  rival  Institution,  on  very  different  principles,  was 
being  founded ;  and  how  that  good  man  would  have  joyed  to 
witness  what  I  saw  yesterday  and  to-day  !  I  shall  note  this 
day  as  one  of  the  bright  ones  of  my  career  in  India,  and 
yestei'day  too.  We  have  not  quite  stood  still  in  India  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century.  Dr.  Duff  and  his  coadjutors  in  labour 
have,  under  God's  providence,  laid  the  corner-stone  of  an 
edifice  which  must  swell  into  gigantic  proportions  before 
another  quarter  of  a  century  is  over.  I  don't  think  the  new 
building,  large  and  costly  though  it  seem  now,  anything  more 
than  a  mere  nursery.  There  must  be  many  such  before  long, 
and  that  in  different  quarters  of  India ;  but  wherever  they  are 
and  whatever  their  numbers.  Dr.  Duff  and  his  first  five  Hindoo 
pupils,  one  of  whom  I  saw  to-day,  will  be  remembered  as  Gou'a 
chosen  instrument." 


^t.  so-  MUTTERINGS    OF   THE    STORM.  31I 

Lord  Canning,  Durand's  schoolfellow  at  Eton,  took 
the  oaths  and  his  seat  in  Government  House  on  the 
last  day  of  February,  1856.  There  was  many  a  wet 
eye  when,  at  the  historic  Ghaut  a  few  days  after,  the 
great  Marquis  of  Dalhousio  left  the  East  India  Com- 
pany's metropolis.  In  extent,  in  resources  and  in 
political  strength  he  had  developed  its  territories  into 
an  empire  able  to  pass  triumphantly  tln-ough  the  ordeal 
of  mutiny  and  insurrection,  wliich  the  Government  at 
home  had  invited,  in  spite  of  his  protests  against  a 
reduction  of  the  British  garrison  in  inverse  proportion 
to  the  addition  of  a  province  like  anarchic  Oudh. 
For  the  Crimean  War  had  been  succeeded  by  the 
Persian  expedition,  provinces  as  large  as  France  were 
almost  without  an  English  soldier,  and  the  predicted 
extinction  of  the  Company's  raj  on  the  coming  cen- 
tenary of  Plassey  next  year  was  current.  Already 
had  the  emissaries  of  the  titular  King  of  Delhi  and 
the  richl}^  pensioned  descendants  of  Sivajee  and  the 
Maratha  Pesliwa  been  abroad,  the  lions  of  London 
drawing-rooms,  the  keen  observers  of  our  early  blunders 
before  Sebastopol,  envoys  to  the  Shah  of  Persia,  to  the 
great  Khans  of  Central  Asia,  and  to  our  own  feudatory 
kings.  The  twelvemonth  of  1856-57,  during  which 
the  new  Governor-General  was  beginning  his  appren- 
ticeship to  affairs,  was  the  lull  before  the  storm  which 
few  suspected  and  not  one  anticipated  in  the  form  in 
which  it  burst.  Lord  Dalhousie  had  protested  in  vain 
against  the  suicidal  withdrawal  of  so  many  Queen's 
regiments  and  had  urged  reforms  in  the  sepoy  army 
which  the  jealous  Sir  Charles  Napier  resented.  Henry 
Lawrence  had  predicted  a  collapse  of  some  kind  if 
military  reorganization  were  longer  postponed. 

The  missionaries,  as  the  most  permanent  and  disin- 
terested body  of  observers  in  the  country,  had  so  far 
shown   their  uneasiness  as  to  submit  to-  Government 


312  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1857. 

an  elaborate  memorial  on  the  state  of  the  people. 
Military  reform  was  not  within  their  ken.  But  they 
knew  the  people  as  no  one  else  did,  and  they  were 
the  most  valuable  intermediaries  and  interpreters  be- 
tween their  own  foreign  Government  and  their  native 
fellow-subjects,  as  more  than  one  wise  ruler  has  found, 
from  Lord  Wellesley  to  Lord  Northbrook.  The  con- 
dition-of-Bengal  question,  as  it  was  called.  Dr.  Duff 
and  Mr.  Marshman  had  represented  with  effect  before 
the  Parliamentary  committee  on  the  Charter  of  1853, 
but  the  corruption  of  the  police  and  the  courts  and 
the  oppression  of  the  peasantry  could  not  be  prevented 
in  a  few  years.  An  insurrection  of  the  simple  abori- 
gines of  the  Sautal  hills,  some  two  hundred  miles  west 
of  Calcutta,  against  the  exactions  of  their  Bengalee 
usurers,  had  still  further  let  a  lurid  light  into  the 
structure  of  Hindoo  society,  without  education  and 
still  resisting  the  gospel.  The  Muhammadans,  on  the 
other  hand,  had  not  remained  uninfluenced  by  the 
spirit  which,  more  or  less  blindly,  we  encouraged  in 
the  Government  of  their  Sultan,  in  the  still  vain  hope 
that  we  might  change  the  leopard's  spots.  The  "Wahabee 
colony,  in  Patna  and  on  the  Punjab  frontier,  was  busily 
recruiting  co-religionists  from  Eastern  Bengal  to  wage 
on  us  the  intermittent  war  which  continued  from  the 
capture  of  Delhi  in  1857,  to  the  drawn  battle  of 
Umbeyla  in  1864,  and  the  assassination  of  a  Chief 
Justice  and  a  Viceroy  in  1871.  Dimly  doubtful  whether, 
after  all,  Great  Britain  was  not  making  the  mistake 
of  giving  new  life  to  the  cruel  intolerance  of  Islam, 
its  Christian  philanthropists,  headed  by  Sir  Culling 
Eardley,  consulted  Dr.  Duff,  among  others,  as  to  the 
law  and  feeling  of  the  Muhammadans  of  India  regard- 
ing the  death  penalty  for  apostasy.  He  collected  from 
the  best  authorities,  Asiatic  and  Anglo-Indian,  a  body 
of  opinion  which,  while  it  showed  that  Islam  cannot 


^t.  SI.  THE    GREASED    OARTEIDGES.  3 13 

change,  found  a  horrible  commentary  in  the  massacres 
eight  months  after. 

Tiie  leafy  station  of  Dam  Diim,  almost  a  suburb  of 
Calcutta,  and  the  scene  of  Olive's  first  victory  in  Ben- 
gal, was  the  head-quarters  of  the  Artillery  in  the  east, 
as  Meerut  is  still  of  the  same  arm  in  the  nortli-west 
of  India.  At  Duni  Dum  there  is  the  Magazine  for  the 
manufacture  of  ammunition,  and  there,  in  1857,  was  a 
musketry  school  for  practice  with  the  Enfield  rifle, 
then  recently  introduced  but  long  since  superseded. 
One  of  the  Magazine  workmen,  of  low  caste,  having 
been  refused  a  drink  from  the  "  lotah  "  of  a  sepoy, 
who  was  a  Brahman,  revenged  himself  by  the  taunt 
that  all  castes  would  soon  be  alike,  for  cartridges 
smeared  with  the  fat  of  kino  and  the  lard  of  swine 
would  have  to  be  bitten  by  the  whole  army,  Hindoo 
and  Muhammadan.  That  remark  became  the  oppor- 
tunity of  the  political  plotters.  The  horror,  in  a  wildly 
exaggerated  form,  was  whispered  in  every  cantonment 
from  Dum  Dam  to  Peshawur.  In  the  infantry  and 
cavalry  lines  of  Barrackpore,  a  few  miles  farther  up 
the  Ilooghly  and  the  Governor-General's  summer  seat, 
the  alarm  was  only  increased  when  the  General,  who 
knew  the  sepoys  and  their  language  well,  assured 
them  that  not  one  of  the  dreaded  cartridn^es  had  then 
been  issued,  and  that  the  troops  might  lubricate  them 
for  the  Enfield  grooves  with  beeswax.  It  happened 
— a  fact  which  we  now  publish  for  the  first  time — 
that  several  of  them  had  occasionally  lounged  into 
the  famous  manufactory  of  paper  at  Serampore  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  where  the  cartridge 
paper  was  prepared,  and  there  had  witnessed  the  boil- 
ing of  animal  size  for  other  varieties.  The  Barrack- 
pore,  then  the  Berhampore,  then  the  Meerut,  and 
finally  all  the  sepoys  of  the  Bengal  army,  ignorant 
and  pampered  as  spoiled  children,  honestly  believed 


314  LIFE    OP    DE.    DUFF.  1857. 

that  the  Enfield  cartridge  was  meant  to  destroy  their 
caste,  and  that  the  new  Lord  Saheb  had  been  sent  out 
thus  to  make  them  Christians,  for  had  not  his  first 
order  been  that  all  recruits  must  be  enlisted  for  service 
across  the  sea  ? 

Thus  opened  January,  1857.  All  the  evidence  points 
to  the  last  Sabbath  in  May,  when  the  Christians  should 
be  in  church,  as  the  time  fixed  by  the  leaders  for  a 
general  rising,  from  Calcutta  on  to  the  east  to  Maratha 
Satara  on  the  west  and  over  the  whole  land  thence  to 
the  Himalayas.  But  the  cartridge  panic  precipitated 
the  catastrophe,  broke  it  into  detached  attempts,  and 
enabled  the  Christian  civilization  of  a  handful  of  white 
men, — not  forty  thousand  at  the  crisis, — to  save  the 
millions  of  Southern  and  Eastern  Asia.  The  weakness 
with  which  Government  treated  the  attempts  at  Ber- 
hampore  and  Barrackpore  emboldened  eighty-five 
Mussulmans  of  the  3rd  Cavalry  at  Meerut  to  refuse 
even  to  tear  off  the  end  of  the  suspected  cartridges 
with  their  hands.  On  Saturday,  the  9th  May,  they 
were  marched  to  jail  in  fetters  before  the  rest  of  the 
troops;  on  Sabbath  evening  the  sepoys  of  all  arms 
rose,  freed  them  and  all  the  convicts,  and  proceeded 
to  massacre  the  Europeans,  young  and  old,  as  they 
came  out  of  church  or  were  found  in  the  comparatively 
isolated  houses  of  an  Indian  station.  Military  incom- 
petence in  the  north-west  completed  what  the  imbecility 
of  the  Calcutta  authorities  had  begun  under  their  own 
eyes.  General  Hewitt  allowed  the  maddened  sepoys  to 
rage  unchecked,  and  then  to  march  to  Delhi  to  repeat 
the  work  of  blood.  In  spite  of  John  Lawrence's  pro- 
tests. General  Anson,  the  Commander-in-Chief  who 
had  hurried  down  from  the  Capua  of  Simla,  refused  to 
take  possession  of  Delhi  while  it  was  still  possible  to 
do  so.  Old  Bahadoor  Shah,  the  king,  had  his  tem- 
porary revenge  for  the  just  refusal  of  Lord  Canning 


yEt.  51.  HANDLING    HIS    MUSKET.  315 

to  allow  his  son  to  become  his  titular  successor,  and  for 
the  order  which  had  warned  him  to  transfer  his  court 
from  the  fortress  of  the  city  to  a  rural  palace. 

This  much  will  enable  our  readers  to  take  up  the 
sad  yet  heroic  tale  at  the  point  where  Dr.  Duff  became 
the  chronicler,  in  a  series  of  twenty-five  letters  which 
Dr.  Tweedie  published  every  fortnight  in  the  Witness, 
aud  which  afterwards,  in  the  form  of  a  volume,  ran 
through  several  editions.  The  special  value  of  what 
we  shall  quote  lies,  for  the  historian  of  the  future,  in 
the  picture  of  Calcutta  and  the  report  of  contemporary 
opinion  by  a  missionary  whose  personal  courage  was  as 
undoubted  as  his  political  experience  and  discrimination 
were  remarkable.  His  letters  on  The  Indian  Rebellion  ; 
its  Causes  and  Results  not  only  supplement  but  correct 
the  unsatisfactory  narrative  and  speculation  of  Sir  John 
Kaye,  who  had  long  left  India  and  was  unconsciously 
biassed  by  his  official  position  in  Leadenhall  Street. 
The  extracts  we  may  best  introduce  by  the  remini- 
scence of  the  Rev.  James  Long,  whose  home  in  the 
Amherst  Street  enclosure  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  was  not  far  from  Cornwallis  Square. 

"  At  the  period  of  the  Mutiny  we  both  lived  in  the 
native  part  of  the  town,  with  the  smouldering  embers 
of  disaffection  all  around  us.  We  had  a  vigilance  com- 
mittee  of  the  Europeans  of  our  part  of  tlie  suburbs 
which  used  to  meet  in  Dr.  Duff's  house.  I  applied  to 
the  chief  magistrate  for  a  grant  of  arms  for  our  mem- 
bers, but  the  request  was  negatived — that  official,  like 
most  of  those  in  Calcutta,  could  see  no  danger  though 
we  were  at  the  mouth  of  a  volcano.  I  mentioned  the 
case  to  Dr.  Duff,  and  by  his  advice  I  laid  the  request 
before  Lord  Canning.  A  favourable  answer  was 
received  in  a  few  hours,  and  muskets  were  supplied. 
I  shall  never  forget  the  gleam  of  glee  that  lighted  up 
his  face  as  he  handled  his  musket.     He  felt  with  the 


3l6  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1S57. 

men  of  that  day  tliat  necessity  overrides  all  conven- 
tioualifcies." 

Calcutta^  16th  Maij,  1857. — "We  are  at  tliis  moment  in 
a  crisis  of  jeopardy  such  as  has  not  occurred  since  the  awful 
catastrophe  of  the  Black  Hole  of  Calcutta.  It  is  now  certain 
that  we  narrowly  escaped  a  general  massacre  in  Calcutta  itself. 
There  was  a  deep-la,id  plot  or  conspiracy — for  which  some 
have  undergone  the  penalty  of  death — to  seize  on  Fort  William, 
and  massacre  all  the  Europeans.  The  night  chosen  for  the 
desperate  attempt  was  that  on  which  the  Maharaja  of  Gwalior, 
when  here,  had  invited  the  whole  European  community  to  an 
exhibition  of  fireworks,  across  the  river,  at  the  Botanic  Gar- 
dens. On  that  evening,  however,  as  if  by  a  gracious  interposi- 
tion of  Providence,  we  were  visited  with  a  heavy  storm  of 
thunder,  lightning,  and  rain,  so  that  the  grand  entertainment 
of  the  Maharaja  had  to  be  postponed.  The  European  officers, 
therefoi'e,  had  not  left  the  Fort;  and  the  object  of  the  con- 
spirators being  thus  defeated,  was  soon  afterwards  brought  to 
light,  to  the  horror  of  all,  and  the  abounding  thankfulness  of 
such  as  acknowledge  the  loving-kindness  of  the  Lord.  From 
all  the  chief  stations  in  the  North- West,  intelligence  of  a  mu- 
tinous spirit  manifesting  itself  in  divers  ways  has  been  drop- 
ping in  upon  us  for  several  weeks  past.  But  at  this  moment 
all  interest  is  absorbed  by  the  two  most  prominent  cases,  at 
Meerut  and  Delhi.  Such  a  blow  to  the  prestige  of  British 
power  and  supremacy  has  not  yet  been  struck  in  the  whole 
history  of  British  India.  All  Calcutta  may  be  said  to  be  in 
sackcloth.  The  three  or  four  days'  panic  during  the  crisis  of 
the  Sikh  War  was  nothing  to  this.  Nearly  half  the  native  army 
is  in  a  state  of  secret  or  open  mutiny;  and  the  other  half 
known  to  be  disaffected.  But  this  is  not  all ;  the  populace 
generally  is  known  to  be  more  or  less  disaffected.  You  see, 
then,  how  very  serious  is  the  crisis.  Nothing,  nothing  but 
some  gracious  and  signal  interposition  of  the  God  of  Providence 
seems  competent  now  to  save  our  empire  in  India.  And  if 
there  be  a  general  rising — as  any  day  may  be — the  probability 
is,  that  not  a  European  life  will  anywhere  escape  the  universal 
and  indiscriminate  massacre.  But  ray  own  hope  is  in  the  God 
of  Providence.  I  have  a  secret,  confident  persuasion  that, 
though  this  crisis  has  been  permitted  to  humble  and  warn  us. 


yEt.  51.  CALCUTrA   DUUING   THE   MUTINY.  317 

our  work  in  Imlia  lias  uot  yet  bpeti  accoinpllslieclj — and  thafe 
until  it  be  accoinplislioJ,  our  tenure  of  empire,  however  brittle, 
is  secure. 

"  Here  it  is  seriously  proposed,  or  suggested,  that  all  the 
Europeans  in  Calcutta  should  be  iramediatcly  constituted  into 
a  local  militia,  lor  the  defence  of  life  and  property  in  Calcutta 
and  neighbourhood.  Already  it  is  known  that  the  Muhara- 
madans  have  had  several  night  meetings  ;  and  when  the  procla- 
mation of  the  newly  mutiueer-iustalled  Emperor  of  Dellii  comes 
to  be  generally  known,  no  one  can  calculate  on  the  result.  But 
never  before  did  I  realize  as  now  tlie  literality  and  sweetness 
of  the  Psalmist's  assurance, — 'I  laid  me  down  and  slept;  I 
awaked :  for  the  Lord  sustained  me.  I  will  not  be  afraid  of 
ten  thousands  of  people,  that  have  set  themselves  against  me 
round  about.  Arise,  O  Lord  ;  save  me,  0  my  God  ! '  Our 
son  Alexander,  poor  fellow,  is  at  Meerut,  the  very  centre  aud 
focus  of  mutiny, — and  where  already  Europeans  have  been 
massacred,  though  no  names  have  yet  reached  us.  You  may 
therefore  imagine  in  what  a  horrible  state  of  suspense  and 
anxiety  Mrs.  DufF  and  myself  now  are.  May  the  Lord  have 
mercy  on  him  and  us  ! 

"  Benares,  where  your  son  is,  has  as  yet  been  free  from  actual 
mutiny ;  though,  doubtless,  disaffection  is  as  rife  there  as  else- 
where. Humanly  speaking,  and  under  God,  everything  will 
depend  on  our  Government  being  able  promptly  to  re-take  the 
fort  of  Dellii,  and  inflict  summary  chastisement  on  the  mu- 
tineer-murderers there.  The  Governor  of  Agra  is  much  trusted 
in,  from  his  firmness  and  good  sense  ;  and  he  reports  that  Agra 
is  safe.  Oudh,  happily,  is  under  Sir  Henry  Lawrence,  the 
most  pi'ompt  and  energetic  officer,  perhaps,  in  the  Company's 
service.  He  has  already  quashed  mutiny  there  in  a  style  which 
if  our  Government  had  only  imitated  months  ago,  there  would 
have  been  an  end  of  the  whole  matter  now. 

3nZ  Jane. — "  Though  the  Mission  House  be  absolutely  un- 
protected, in  the  very  heart  of  the  native  city,  far  away  from 
the  European  quarters,  I  never  dreamt  of  leaving  it. 
Our  Mission  work  in  all  its  branches,  alike  in  Calcutta  and  the 
country  stations,  continues  to  go  on  without  any  interruption, 
though  there  is  a  wild  excitement  abroad  among  all  classes  of 
natives,  which  tends  mightily  to  distract  and  unsettle  their 
minds. 


31^  LIFE    OF    Dll.    DUFF.  1S57. 

16th  Jane. — "  Calcutta  lias  J)een  in  a  state  of  alarm  far  ex- 
ceeding anjtliing  that  had  gone  before.  .  .  Our  great 
infantry  station,  Barrackpore,  lies  about  twelve  miles  to  the 
north  of  Calcutta,  and  on  the  same  side  of  the  river ;  our  artil- 
lery station,  Dum  Dum,  about  four  or  five  miles  to  the  north- 
east. To  the  south  is  Fort  William,  and  beyond  it  the  great 
Allipore  jail,  with  its  thousands  of  imprisoned  desperadoes, 
guarded  by  a  regiment  of  native  militia;  not  far  from  Aliporo 
is  Garden  Reach,  where  the  ex-king  of  Oadh  has  been  residing 
with  about  a  thousand  armed  retainers,  the  Mussulman  popula- 
tion, generally  armed  also,  breathing  fanatical  vengeance  on 
the  'infidels,^  and  praying  in  their  mosques  for  the  success  of 
the  Delhi  rebels,  Calcutta,  being  guarded  by  native  police 
only,  in.  whom  not  a  particle  of  confidence  can  any  longer  be 
reposed,  seemed  to  be  exposed  on  all  sides  to  imminent  perils, 
as  most  of  the  European  soldiers  had  been  sent  to  the  North- 
West.  In  this  extremity,  and  in  the  midst  of  indescribable 
panic  and  alarm,  the  Government  began  to  enrol  the  European 
and  East  Indian  residents  as  volunteers,  to  patrol  the  streets 
at  night,  etc.  Happily  the  78th  Highlanders  arrived  during 
the  week,  and  their  presence  helped  to  act  so  far  as  a  sedative. 
Still,  while  the  city  was  filled  with  armed  citizens,  and  sur- 
rounded on  all  sides  with  armed  soldiers,  all  known  to  be  dis- 
affected to  the  very  core,  and  waiting  only  for  the  signal  to 
burst  upon  the  European  population  in  a  tempest  of  massacre 
and  blood,  the  feeling  of  uneasiness  and  insecurity  was  intense. 
Many,  unable  to  withstand  the  pressure  any  longer,  went  to 
pass  the  night  in  central  places  of  rendezvous;  numbers  went 
into  the  fort ;  and  numbers  more  actually  went  on  board  the 
ships  and  steamers  in  the  river. 

"  On  Sabbath  (14th)  the  feeling  of  anxiety  rose  to  a  perfect 
paroxysm.  On  Saturday  night  the  Brigadier  at  Barrackpore 
sent  an  express  to  Government  House  to  notify  that,  from  cei'- 
tain  information  which  he  had  obtained,  there  was  to  be  a 
general  rising  of  the  sepoys  on  Sabbath.  Accordingly,  before 
the  Sabbath  dawned,  all  manner  of  vehicles  were  in  requisition 
to  convey  all  the  available  European  forces  to  Barrackpore  and 
Dum  Dum.  Those  which  had  been  sent  to  the  north  by  rail- 
way on  Saturday  were  recalled  by  a  telegraphic  message 
through  the  night.  But  the  public  generally  had  not  any  dis- 
tinct intelligence  as  to  the  varied  movements;  and  even  if  they- 


/]:t.  51.  PANIC    SUNDAY    IN    CALCUPTA.  319 

liarl,  tlioro  wonkl  be  tlie  uttermost  uncertainty  as  to  the  result. 
Accordingly,  tlirougliout  the  whole  Sabbath-d:iy  the  wildest 
and  most  fearful  rumours  were  circulating  in  rapid  succes- 
sion. 

"  The  great  roads  from  Barrackpore  and  Dum  Dnm  unite  a 
little  beyond  Cornwallis  Square,  and  then  pass  through  it.     If 
there  were  a  rush  of  murderous  ruffians  from  these  military 
stations,  the  European  residents  in  that  square  would  have  to 
encounter  the  first  burst  of  tlieir  diabolical  fury.     It  so  hap- 
pened, therefore,  that  some  kind  friends,  interested  in  our  wol  - 
fare,  wrote  to  us  at  daybreak   on   Sabbath,  pointing  out  the 
danger,  and   urging  the  necessity   of  our  leaving  the   square. 
And  before  breakfast,  some  friends  called  in  person  to  urge 
the  propriety  of  this  course.     Still,  I  did  not  feel  it  to   be  my 
duty  to  yield  to  their  expostulations.     There   were  others  in 
the  square   besides  my  partner  and  myself.     Near  us  is  the 
Central  Female  School  of  the  Church  of  England,  with  several 
lady  teachers,  and  some  twenty  or  thirty  boarders;  the  Chris- 
tian converts'  house,  with  upwai-ds  of  a  dozen  inmates;  our  old 
Mission  home,  with  its   present  occupants  of  the  Established 
Church;  in  another  house  an  English   clergyman,  with  some 
native  Christians ;  and  in  another  still,  the  Lady   Superinten- 
dent of  the  Bethuue   Government  School,  and  her  assistants. 
If  one  must  leave  the  square,  all  ought  to  do  so ;  and  I  did  not 
consider  the  ahirming  intelligence  sufficiently  substantiated  to 
warrant  me  to  propose  to  ray  neighbours  a  universal  abandon- 
ment of  the  square.     So  I  went  on  with  all  my  ordinary  Sab- 
bath duties,  altogether  in  the  ordinary  way.     Almost  all  the 
ministers  in  Calcutta  had  expostulatory  letters  sent  them,  dis- 
suading them  from  preaching  iu  the  forenoon,  and  protesting 
against  their  attempting  to  do  so  in  the  evening.    And  though, 
to  their  credit,  no  one,  so  far  as   I  have  heard,  yielded  to    the 
pressure,  the  churches  in  the  forenoon  were  half  empty,  and  in 
the  evening  nearly  empty  altogether. 

•'  On  Sunday,  at  five  p.m.,  the  authorities,  backed  by  the 
presence  of  British  troops,  proceeded  to  disarm  the  sepoys  at 
Barrackpore,  Dum  Diini,  and  elsewhere.  Through  God's  great 
mercy  the  attempt  proved  successful.  This,  however,  was  only 
known  to  a  few  connected  with  Government  House  and  their 
friends,  so  that  the  panic  throughout  Sunday  night  rose  to  an 
incouceivable  height.     With  the  exception  of  another  couple. 


320  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1857 

Mrs.  Duff  and  myself  were  tlie  only  British  residents  in  Corn- 
■wallis  Square  on  that  night.  Faith  in  Jehovah  as  our  refuge 
and  strength  led  us  to  cling  to  our  post;  and  we  laid  us  down 
to  sleep  as  usual;  and  on  Monday  morning  my  remark  was, 
*  Well,  I  have  not  enjoyed  such  a  soft,  sweet,  refreshing  rest 
for  weeks  past.'  Oh,  how  our  hearts  rose  in  adoring  gratitude 
to  Him  Who  is  the  Keeper  of  Israel,  and  Who  slumbers  not  nor 
sleeps !  Then  we  soon  learnt  the  glad  tidings  that  all  the 
ai'med  sepoys  had  everywhere  been  successfully  disarmed  ;  and 
that,  during  the  night,  the  ex-king  of  Oudh,  and  his  treason- 
able courtiers,  were  quietly  ai'rested,  and  lodged  as  prisoners 
of  state  in  Fort  William. 

Calcutta,  24:th  June,  1857. — ''The  centenary  day  of  the 
battle  of  Plassey  (23rd  instant)  which  laid  the  foundation  of 
our  Indian  empire,  and  which  native  hopes  and  wishes,  and 
astrological  predictions,  had  long  ago  fixed  on  as  the  last  of 
British  sway,  has  passed  by ;  and  through  God^s  overruling 
providence,  Calcutta  is  still  the  metropolis  of  British  India. 
But,  alas  !  throughout  the  whole  of  the  North-West  Provinces, 
all  government  is  at  present  at  an  end.  The  apparently  settled 
peace  and  profound  tranquillity  which  were  wont  to  reign 
throughout  British  India  in  former  years,  once  called  forth 
from  an  intelligent  French  traveller  the  somewhat  irreverent 
but  striking  remai'k,  that  the  Government  of  India  was  '  like 
the  good  Deity  :  one  does  not  see  it,  but  it  is  everywhere.' 
So  calm,  serene  and  ubiquitous  did  the  power  of  British  rule 
then  appear  to  be!  How  changed  the  aspect  of  things  now  ! 
Throughout  the  whole  of  the  North-West,  Government,  instead 
of  being  in  its  regulating  power  and  influence  everywhere,  is, 
at  this  moment,  literally  'nowhere.'  Instead  of  peace  and 
tranquillity,  security  of  life  and  pi'operty,  under  its  sovereign 
and  benign  sway,  universal  anarchy,  turbulence,  and  ruin  ! — 
the  military  stations  in  possession  of  armed  and  bloodthirsty 
mutineers, — the  public  treasures  rifled, — the  habitations  of  the 
British  residents  plundered  and  reduced  to  ashes, — numbers  of 
British  officers,  with  judges,  magistrates,  women,  and  children, 
butchered  with  revolting  cruelties, — the  remanent  portions  of 
the  British  that  have  yet  escaped,  cooped  up  in  isolated  spots, 
and  closely  hemmed  in  by  myriads  that  are  thirsting  for  their 
blood,  while  bands  of  ai-med  ruffians  are  scouring  over  the 
country,  bent  on    ravage,  plunder,  and  murder,  striking  ter- 


^t.  51  THE    CENTENARY   OF   PLASSEY.  321 

ror  and  consternation  into  the  minds  of  millions  of  the  peace- 
fully disposed  ! 

'*  Almost  the  only  incident  that  has  yet  been  brought  to 
light,  amid  these  scenes  of  dark  and  unbroken  horror,  is  the 
fact  that  a  poor  wailing  British  child,  found  exposed  on  the 
banks  of  the  Jumna,  beyond  Delhi,  by  a  faqneer  or  religious 
devotee,  was  taken  up  by  him,  and  brought  to  Kurnal,  after 
being  carefully  nursed  and  cherished  for  several  days.  The 
parents  of  the  poor  infant  were  unknown,  having  in  all  pro- 
bability been  murdered  in  their  attempted  flight.  But  once 
safely  lodged  in  Kurnal,  through  the  tender  care  of  a  dark 
heathen  devotee,  in  whose  bosom  the  spark  of  natural  humanity 
still  glowed,  the  child  was  soon  caught  up  within  the  circle  of 
British  and  Christian  sympathy,  whose  special  concern  is  for 
the  poor,  the  needy,  and  the  destitute. 

"  The  day — the  last  and  fatal  day  to  British  power  in  India, 
if  the  vaticinations  so  long  current  among  all  classes  of  natives 
were  to  be  trusted — was  ushered  in  amid  ten  thousand  anxieties 
despite  all  the  preparations  that  had  been  made  to  meet  it. 
What  helped  to  heighten  these  anxieties  was,  that,  by  a  singu- 
lar coincidence,  that  happened  also  to  be  the  great  day  of  the 
annual  Hindoo  festival  of  the  Ruth  Jattra,  or  pulling  of  the 
cars  of  Jugganath.  Of  these  cars  numbers  of  all  sizes  have 
been  wont  to  be  pulled  along  the  streets  of  Calcutta  and  sub- 
urbs. On  these  occasions  the  entire  latent  fanaticism  of  the 
Hindoo  community  has  been  usually  elicited,  when  the  Brahmans 
and  attendant  throngs  raise  and  re-echo  the  loud  shouts  of 
'  Victory  to  Jugganath  ;  victory  to  the  great  Jugganath.'  The 
day  and  night,  however,  have  now  passed  away  without  any 
violent  outrage  anywhere  within  the  bounds  of  the  city ;  and 
we  are  still  in  the  land  of  the  living  this  morning,  to  celebrate 
anew  Jehovah's  goodness.  Doubtless  the  knowledge  of  the 
vast  preparations  that  were  made  promptly  to  put  down  any 
insurrection  tended,  under  God,  to  prevent  any,  by  paralysing 
the  hosts  of  conspirators  under  a  conviction  of  the  utter  hope- 
lessness of  success.  Moreover,  I  cannot  but  note  the  fact,  that 
our  rainy  season,  which  has  been  somewhat  later  in  com- 
mencing this  year,  began  to  set  in  on  Sunday,  21st  inst.,  with 
a  violent  thunderstorm,  since  which  very  heavy  showers  have 
continued  to  fall  in  rapid  succession,  accompanied  with  violent 
gusts  of  wind.     These  gusty  tropical  showers  rendered  it  par- 

VOL.    11.  Y 


322  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1857. 

ticniarly  disagreeable  for  any  one  to  be  out  on  our  niufldy  and 
half-flooded  sti'eets.  The  very  elements  thus  seemed  to  con- 
spirCj  along  with  the  preparations  on  the  part  of  man,  to  defeat 
the  counsels  and  purposes  of  the  wicked,  by  confining  them  to 
their  own  secret  haunts  of  treason,  sedition  and  meditated 
massacre. 

"  The  only  disturbance  in  the  neighbourhood  took  place  at 
Agarparah,  about  half-way  between  this  and  Barrackpore.  On 
the  afternoon  of  Tuesday  (23rd)  a  body  of  between  two  and  three 
hundred  Mussulmans  rushed  into  the  Government  and  Mission- 
ary schools,  shouting  that  the  Company's  raj  (or  reign)  was 
now  at  an  end,  and  ordering  the  teachers,  on  pain  of  death, 
to  destroy  their  English  books,  and  teach  no  more  English  in 
the  schools,  but  only  the  Koran.  A  violent  aflfray  with  sticks, 
bamboos  and  bricks  was  the  result ;  but  though  a  great  many 
heads  were  broken,  no  lives  were  lost.  This  was  a  fair  indi- 
cation of  the  spirit  and  determination  of  Muhammadanisni 
generally ;  and  clearly  proves  how  little  not  only  Christianity, 
but  even  western  civilization,  has  to  expect  from  its  intolerance, 
were  it  once  to  acquire  the  ascendancy  in  this  land. 

29th  Jjiine. — "  Still  no  cessation  of  heavy  tidings  from  the 
North-West.  In  one  of  our  journals  to-day  appears  the  letter 
of  a  correspondent  at  Allahabad,  who,  after  stating  that  the 
destruction  of  property  there  was  total,  thus  proceeds  :^-'  Did 
the  report  reach  you  of  the  massacre  of  the  Futtebghur  fugi- 
tives ?  It  passed  in  atrocity  all  that  has  hitherto  been  perpe- 
trated. A  large  body  of  Europeans,  men,  women,  and  children, 
in  several  boats,  left  Futtehghur  for  this ;  they  were  all  the 
non-military  residents  of  the  place.  On  arrival  at  Bithoor 
(near  Cawnpore),  the  Nana  Saheb  fired  on  them  with  the 
artillery  the  Government  allowed  him  to   keep.      One  round 

shot  struck  poor  Mrs. ,  and  killed  her  on  the  spot.     The 

boats  were  then  boarded,  and  the  inmates  landed  and  dragged 
to  the  parade-ground  at  Cawnpore,  where  they  were  first  fired 
at,  and  then  literally  haclied  to  pieces  with  tulwars,'  or  axe-like 
swords. 

Calcutta,  7th  July,  1857. — "Alas,  alas  !  the  work  of  savage 
butchery  still  progresses  in  this  distracted  land.  Not  a  day 
passes  without  some  addition,  from  one  quarter  or  another,  to 
the  black  catalogue  of  treachery  and  murder.  This  very  day 
Government  have    received  intelligence  of  one  of  the  foulest 


ALt  51.  TOE    OAWXrORE    MAFiSAPRE.  32^ 

tragedies  connected  with  this  awfnl  rebellion.  At  Cawnpore, 
one  of  the  largest  military  stations  in  Northern  India,  a 
mutinous  spirit  had  early  manifested  itself  among  the  native 
soldiery,  and  there  were  no  European  troops  whatever  to  keep 
it  in  cbeck,  except  about  fifty  men  who  had  latterly  been  sent 
by  Sir  Henry  Lawrence  from  Lucknow.  l^ut  there  was  one 
man  there  whose  spirit,  energy,  and  fertility  of  resource  were 
equal  to  a  number  of  ordinary  regiments — the  brave  and  skilful 
veteran,  Sir  Hugh  Wheeler.  By  his  astonishing  vigour  and 
promptitude  of  action,  he  succeeded  in  keeping  in  abeyance 
the  mutinous  spirit  of  three  or  four  thousand  armed  men.  At 
the  same  time,  with  the  forecasting  prudence  of  a  wise  general, 
he  began  to  prepare  timeously  for  the  worst,  by  forming  a 
small  entrenched  camp,  to  which  ladies,  children,  and  otlier 
helpless  persons,  with  provisions,  were  removed,  while  most  of 
the  British  officers  took  up  their  abode  either  in  or  near  it.  At 
last  the  long-expected  rising  took  place.  The  mutineers  went 
deliberately  to  work,  according  to  the  prescribed  plan  followed 
in  other  quarters.  They  broke  open  the  jail  and  liberated  the 
prisoners ;  they  plundered  the  public  treasury ;  they  pillaged 
and  set  fire  to  the  bungalows  of  the  officers  and  other  British 
residents,  killing  all  indiscriminately  who  had  not  effected 
their  escape  to  the  entrenched  camp. 

"  There  Sir  Hugh  and  his  small  handful  with  undaunted 
courage  held  their  position  against  the  most  tremendous  odds, 
repelling  every  attack  of  the  thousands  by  whom  they  were 
surrounded,  with  heavy  loss  to  the  rebels.  These  were  at  last 
joined  by  thousands  more  of  the  mutineers  from  Sultanpore, 
SeetapTore,  and  other  places  in  Oudh,  with  guns.  The  conflict 
now  became  terrific, — exemplifying,  on  the  part  of  the  British, 
the  very  spirit  and  determination  of  old  Greece  at  Thermo- 
pylae. The  soul  of  the  brave  old  chief,  in  particular,  only 
rose,  by  the  accumulating  pressure  of  difficulty,  into  grander 
heroism.  To  the  last  he  maintained  a  hearty  cheerfulness,  de- 
claring that  he  could  hold  out  for  two  or  three  weeks  against 
any  numbers.  With  the  fall  of  the  chief  and  some  of  hia 
right-hand  men,  the  remainder  of  the  little  band  seem  to  have 
been  smitten  with  a  sens^  of  the  utter  hopelessness  of  pro- 
longed resistance.  They  did  not,  they  could  not,  know  that 
relief  was  so  near  at  hand, — that  the  gallant  Colonel  Neil,  who 
had  already  saved  Benares  and  the  fortress    of  Allahabad  with 


324  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF,  1857. 

liis  Madras  Fusiliers,  was  within  two  or  three  days*  inarch  of 
them.  Had  this  been  known  to  them,  they  would  doubtless 
have  striven  to  hold  out  during  these  two  or  three  days ;  and, 
to  all  human  appeai'ance,  with  success.  But,  ignorant  of  the 
approaching  relief,  and  assailed  by  the  cries  and  tears  of  help- 
less women  and  children,  they  were  induced,  in  an  evil  hour, 
to  entertain  the  overtures  made  to  them  by  a  man  who  had 
already  been  guilty  of  treachery  and  murder. 

"  This  man  was  Nana  Saheb,  the  adopted  son  of  the  late 
Bajee  Row,  the  ex-Peshwa,  or  last  head  of  the  Mai*atha  confed- 
eracy, who,  for  the  long  period  of  nearly  forty  years,  resided  at 
Benares,  enjoying  the  munificent  pension  of  £80,000  a-year. 
This  Nana  Saheb  was  allowed,  by  the  bounty  of  the  British 
Government,  to  occupy  a  small  fort  at  Bithoor,  not  far  from 
Cawnpore.  Till  within  the  last  few  months  this  man  was  wont 
to  profess  the  greatest  delight  in  European  society, — to  go  out 
with  British  officers  on  shooting  excursions,  and  to  invite  them 
to  fetes  at  his  residence.  And  yet,  the  moment  that  fortune 
seems  to  frown  on  British  interests,  he  turns  round,  and,  with 
Asiatic  treachery,  deliberately  plans  the  destruction  of  the  very 
men  whom  he  had  so  often,  in  the  spirit  of  apparently  cordial 
friendship,  feted  anel  feasted.  On  Sunday,  the  28th  June,  this 
man,  with  consummate  hypocrisy,  of  his  own  accord  sent  over- 
tures to  our  beleaguered  countrymen, — then  bereft  of  their 
heroic  chieftain, —  swearing, '  upon  the  water  of  the  Ganges, 
and  all  the  oaths  most  binding  on  a  Hindoo,  that  if  the  gan-ison 
would,  trust  to  him  and  surrender,  the  lives  of  all  would  be 
spared,  and  they  should  be  put  into  boats,  and  sent  down  to 
Allahabad.*  Under  the  influence  of  some  infatuating  blind- 
ness, that  garrison  that  might  have  possibly  held  out  till  relief 
ai-rived  was  induced  to  trust  in  these  oily  professions,  and  sur- 
render. Agreeably  to  the  terms  of  the  treaty,  they  were  put 
into  boats,  with  provisions,  and  other  necessaries  and  comforts. 
But  mai-k  the  conduct  of  the  perfidious  fiend  in  human  form : 
No  sooner  had  the  boats  reached  the  middle  of  the  river  than 
their  sworn  protector  himself  gave  a  preconcerted  signal,  and 
guns,  which  had  been  laid  for  the  purpose,  were  opened  upon 
them  from  the  Cawnpore  bank  !  yea,  and  when  our  poor  wretched 
countrymen  tried  to  escape,  by  crossing  to  the  Oudh  side  of 
the  river,  they  found  that  arrangements  had  been  made  there 
too  for    their  reception;  for  thero,  such  of  them  as   were  en; 


^t.  51.  DEATH    OP    SIR   HENRY   LAWRENCE.  325 

abled  to  l:ind  were  instantaneously  cut  to  pieces  by  cavalry 
that  had  been  sent  across  for  the  purpose.  In  this  way  nearly 
the  whole  party,  according  to  the  Government  report,— con- 
sisting of  several  hundreds,  mostly  helpless  women  and 
children, — were  destroyed  !  such  of  the  women  and  children 
as  were  not  killed  being  reserved  probably  as  hostages. 

20th  July. — "  Heavier  and  heavier  tidings  of  woe  !  About 
a  week  ago  it  was  known  that  Sir  Henry  Lawrence — whoso 
defence  of  Lucknow  with  a  mere  handful,  amid  the  rage  of  hos- 
tile myriads,  has  been  the  admiration  of  all  India — had  gone 
out  to  attack  a  vast  body  of  armed  rebels;  that  his  native  ^ovce, 
with  characteristic  treachery,  had  turned  round  upon  him  at  the 
commencement  of  the  fight — and  that,  with  his  two  hundred 
Europeans,  he  had  to  cub  his  way  back,  with  Spartan  daring, 
to  the  llesidency.  It  was  also  known  that,  on  that  occasion, 
the  brave  leader  was  sevei'oly  wounded ;  and  two  days  ago 
intelligence  reached  us,  which,  alas  !  has  since  been  confirmed, 
that  on  the  4th  instant  he  sunk  under  the  effects  of  his  pounds. 
What  shall  I  say  ?  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  express  the 
grief  of  heart  which  I  feel  in  thus  recording  the  death  of  Sir 
Henry  Lawrence.  In  his  character  were  singulaidy  blendcid 
the  heroic  chivalry  of  the  old  Greek  and  the  inflexible  stern- 
ness of  the  old  Koman,  in  happy  combiuaiiou  with  the  tender- 
ness of  a  patriarch,  and  the  benevolence  of  the  Christian 
philanthropist.  In  him  the  native  army,  through  whose  mur- 
derous treachery  he  prematurely  fell,  has  lost  its  greatest 
beneftictor;  while  the  giils'  and  boys'  schools,  founded  by  his 
munificence  on  the  heights  of  the  Himalaya,  of  Mount  Aboo, 
and  of  the  Neelgherris,  must  testify  through  coming  ages  to 
the  depth  and  liveliness  of  his  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the 
British  soLlier's  family  in  this  burning  foreign  clime.  I  mourn 
over  him  as  a  personal  friend, — one  whose  friendship  re- 
sembled more  what  we  sometimes  meet  with  in  romance  rather 
than  in  actual  everyday  life.  I  mourn  over  him  as  one  of  the 
truest,  sincerest,  and  most  liberal  supporters  of  our  Calcutta 
Mission.  I  mourn  over  him  as  the  heaviest  loss  which  British 
India  could  possibly  sustain  in  the  very  midst  of  the  most 
terrible  crisis  of  her  history. 

■ith  Aiujast. — "Meanwhile  we  cannot  be  too  grateful  to  God 
for  our  exemption  in  Calcutta  from  actual  outbreak.  There  has 
been  no  end  of  alarm  and  panic.     For  some  time  the  authorities 


326  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1857. 

looked  on  witb  sometliing  like  infatuated  blindness  and  indif- 
ference. At  last  tliey  have  been  fairly  aronsed.  The  discovery 
of  plot  after  plot,  for  a  general  rise  of  the  natives  and  massacre 
of  the  Europeans, — the  recently  detected  design  of  sixty  sworn 
desperadoes  to  enter  Fort  William  by  scaling  ladders  in  the 
night,  murder  the  guards,  and  rescue  the  ex-king  of  Oudh, — ^^ 
the  ascertained  fact  that,  within  the  last  two  months,  tens  of 
thousands  of  muskets  and  other  arms  have  been  sold  to  Mu- 
hammadans  and  other  natives, — the  presentment  of  the  Grand 
Jury,  and  a  memorial  from  the  Christian  inhabitants  imploring 
the  Government  to  disarm  the  native  population, — these  and 
many  other  circumstances  combined,  at  last  roused  our  autho- 
rities to  action.  And  as  on  Saturday  last  commenced  the 
Muhammadan  festival  of  the  Bukra  Bed,  to  last  for  three  days, 
strong  parties  of  British  troops,  with  picquets  of  volunteers, 
were  posted  all  over  the  town.  We  had  forty  British  soldiers 
in  Cornwallis  Square,  who  found  quarters  in  our  old  Institution, 
while  the  officer  in  command  was  our  guest.  '  In  the  Muham- 
madan quarter  some  cannon  were  also  planted.  The  prepara- 
tions were  so  complete,  that  any  attempt  at  a  successful  rise 
was  felt  to  be  impracticable ;  and  so,  by  God's  great  goodness, 
the  festival  has  passed  over  without  disturbance  or  bloodshed. 
The  Mohurrum  is  appi'oaching;  and  to  it  all  are  looking  with 
gloomiest  appi-ehensions.  But  our  trust  is  in  the  Lord,  Who 
hitherto  has  so  wonderfully  interposed  for  our  deliverance. 

"  Amid  our  personal  sorrows  and  horror  at  the  barbarities  of 
the  misguided  sepoys  and  their  allies,  we,  as  Christians,  have 
much  need  to  watch  our  own  spirits,  lest  the  longing  for  re- 
tribution may  swallow  up  the  feeling  of  mercy.  Already  we 
begin  to  perceive  here  a  recoil  and  I'eaction  against  the  natives 
generally.  But,  as  Christians,  ought  we  not  to  lay  it  to  heart, 
that  the  men  who  have  been  guilty  of  such  outrages  against 
humanity  have  been  so  jtist  because  they  never,  never  came 
under  the  regenerating,  softening,  mellowing  influences  of  the 
gospel  of  grace  and  salvation  ?  And  their  diabolical  conduct, 
instead  of  being  an  argument  against  further  labour  and  liberal- 
ity in  attempting  to  evangelize  this  land,  ought  to  furnish  one 
of  the  most  powerful  arguments  in  favour  of  enhanced  labour 
and  liberality. 

bth  September. — "  The  British  people  should  be  jealously  on 
their  guard  against  the  fair-weather  representations  of  men  high 


^t.  51.  THE    DUTY    OP    GREAT    BEITAIN.  327 

in  office, — men  wlio  from  personal  intercourse  know  notliing 
of  native  sentiment  beyond  the  glozing  lies  of  a  few  H^wnin;^ 
sycophants, — men  who,  from  motives  of  political  partisansliip 
and  personal  self-interest,  are  sorely  tempted  to  mistake  the 
apparent  calm  on  the  upper  surface  for  peace,  contentment,  and 
loyalty.  It  is  but  riylit  that  the  British  people,  to  whom  the 
God  of  Providence  has  so  mysteriously  entrusted  the  sovereignty 
of  this  vast  Indian  empire,  should  know  the  real  state  of  native 
feeling  towards  us  and  our  power,  that  they  may  insist  on  a 
searching  scrutiny  into  the  causes  which  may  have  superin- 
duced it,  and,  detecting  the  causes,  may  demand,  as  with  a 
voice  of  thunder,  some  commensurate  remedy.  Their  own 
character,  their  reputation  for  philanthropy  and  justice  among 
the  nations,  and,  above  all,  their  own  sense  of  stewardship  and 
accountability  to  the  great  God  for  the  amazing  trust  committed 
to  them,  all  challenge  them  to  a  speedy  and  authoritative  in- 
terposition in  this  terrific  crisis  of  their  paramount  power  in 
Asia.  If  they  refrain,  the  certainty  is,  that  though  our  gallant 
soldiers  may,  at  the  cost  of  torrents  of  human  blood,  effect  and 
enforce  an  apparent  pacification,  there  will  not  be  introduced 
the  elements  of  a  permanent  peace.  Measures  will  be  devised 
which,  by  their  inadequacy  and  unadaptedness — 

"  Can  only  skin  and  film  the  ulcerons  part. 
While  rank  corriiplion,  mining  all  within, 
Infects  unseen." 

Railways,  and  telegraphs,  and  irrigating  canals,  and  other  ma- 
terial improvements,  alone  will  not  do.  Mere  secular  education, 
sharpening  the  intellect,  and  leaving  the  heart  a  prey  to  all  the 
foulest  passions  and  most  wayward  impulses,  will  not  do.  Mere 
legislation,  which,  in  humanely  prohibiting  cruel  rites  and  bar- 
barous usages,  goes  greatly  ahead  of  the  darkened  intelligence 
of  the  people,  will  not  do.  New  settlements  of  the  revenue, 
and  landed  tenures,  however  equitable  in  themselves,  alone  will 
not  do.  Ameliorations  in  the  present  monstrous  system  of 
police  and  corrupting  machinery  of  law  courts,  however  advan- 
tageous, alone  will  not  suffice,  A  radical  organic  change  in 
the  structure  of  government,  such  as  would  transi'er  it  exclu- 
sively to  the  Crown,  would  not,  could  not,  of  itself  furnish  an 
adequate  cure  for  our  deep-seated  maladies.  No,  no  !  Perhaps 
the  present  earthquake  shock  which  has  passed  over  Indian 


328  LIEE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1857. 

society,  uplieaving  and  tearing  to  shreds  some  of  the  noblest 
monuments  of  material  civilization,  as  well  as  the  most  im- 
proved expedients  of  legislative  and  administrative  vsfisdom, 
has  been  permitted  to  prove  that  all  merely  human  plans  and 
systems  whatsoever,  that  exclude  the  life-awakening,  elevating, 
purifying  doctrines  of  gospel  grace  and  salvation,  have  impo- 
tence and  failure  stamped  on  their  wrinkled  brows.  Let,  then, 
the  Christian  people  of  the  highly  favoured  British  Isles,  in 
their  heaven-conferred  pi'erogative,  rise  up,  and,  resistless  as 
the  ocean  in  its  mighty  swell,  let  them  decree,  in  the  name  of 
Him  that  liveth  for  ever  and  ever,  that  henceforward  those 
commissioned  by  them  to  rule  over  and  administer  justice  to 
the  millions  of  this  land  shall  not  dare,  in  their  public  acts  and 
proclamations,  practically  to  ignore  or  scornfully  repudiate  the 
very  name  and  faith  of  Jesus,  while  they  foster  and  honour  the 
deo^radinof  supei'stitions  of  Brahma  and  Muhammad.     Let  the 

o  o  It 

British  Churches,  at  the  same  time,  arise  and  resolve,  at  what- 
ever cost  of  self-denial,  to  grapple  in  right  earnest,  as  they  have 
never  yet  done,  with  the  stupendous  work  of  supplanting  the 
three  thousand  yeai-s'  consolidated  empire  of  Satan  in  these 
vast  realms,  by  the  establishment  of  Messiah's  reign.  Then, 
instead  of  the  fiendish  howl,  with  its  attendant  rapine,  and  con- 
flagration, and  massacre,  we  shall  have  millennial  songs  of 
gratitude  and  praise  from  the  hearts  and  lips  of  ransomed 
myriads.  Who  can  tell  but  that  He  who  '  rides  in  the  whirl- 
wind and  directs  the  storm '  may  graciously  overrule  our  present 
terrible  calamities  for  the  hastening  on  of  this  glorious  con- 
summation ? — '  Amen,*  let  us  respond,  '  Yea,  and  Amen.' 

\st  October. — "To-day  the  consummating  message  has 
reached  Government  by  telegraph  from  Caw n pore,  in  these 
curt  but  emphatic  terms  :  '  Delhi  is  entirely  ours.  God  save 
the  Queen  !  Strong  column  in  pursuit.''  This  brief  but  sig- 
nificant message,  together  with  the  previous  ones,  must,  as  you 
may  readily  suppose,  have  thrown  strangely  conflicting  cur- 
rents of  joy  and  sadness  into  the  heart  of  a  community  already 
painfully  agitated  by  the  doubtful  fate  of  Luckuow,  and  the 
disastrous  rumours  from  other  quarters, — joy,  at  the  final 
re-capture  of  the  great  stronghold  of  the  rebels,  the  con- 
tinued possession  of  which  threw  a  halo  of  glory  and  triumph 
over  their  cause  in  the  eyes  of  the  millions  of  India, — sadness, 
at  the  uncertain  fate  of  hundreds  of  beloved   relatives   and 


^t.  51.  JOHN  LAWRENCE  AND  EDWAKDES  IN  THE  PUNJAB.  329 

fricntis  who  may  be  found  timong  the  slain.  Verily,  it  is  a 
time  for  joining  'trembling  with  our  mirth.'  It  is  a  time  in 
which  we  have  to  sing  of  '  mercy  and  of  judgment.'  Jehovah's 
right  arm,  with  its  glittering  sword  of  justice,  has  swiftly  de- 
scended upon  us  ;  but  in  His  great  goodness  we  have  not  been 
wholly  consumed.  And  in  the  midst  of  deserved  wrath  He 
is  remembering  undeserved  mercy  this  day. 

2nd  Oduher. — "To-day  a  brief  telegraphic  message  from 
Cawnpore  has  announced  at  last  the  relief  of  the  Lucknow 
garrison  by  General  Havelock's  force.  There  must,  however, 
have  been  desperate  fighting,  as  the  message  reports  four 
hundred  killed  and  wounded,  and  among  the  former  General 
Neil,  the  brave  Madras  officer  who  saved  Benares  and  the 
fortress  of  Allahabad.  He  had,  by  his  own  deeds  since  he 
arrived  amongst  us, — deeds  indicative  of  soldierly  qualities  of 
the  very  highest  order, — become  a  universal  favourite.  x\nd 
this  day,  I  verily  believe  that  his  death  will  be  mourned  over 
by  the  whole  of  our  Calcutta  community,  like  that  of  a  per- 
sonal friend. 

Qth  October. — "  The  case  of  Peshawur,  the  I'emotest  and  most 
critically  situated  of  all  the  Punjab  stations,  is  most  remark- 
able and  instructive.  The  Muhammadan  population  of  that 
city  is  siugularly  fanatical.  The  city  is  encompassed  with  hill 
tribes  as  dariug  as  they  are  fanatical.  The  first  British  Politi- 
cal Resident  there,  after  the  conquest  of  the  Punjab,  full  of 
antiquated  autichristian  fears,  declared  that  so  long  as  he  lived 
there  should  not  be  a  Christian  mission  beyond  the  Indus. 
Subsequently,  the  Resident  was  assassinated  by  a  Muhamma- 
dan fanatic.  His  successor  was  the  famous  Major  Edwardes, 
of  Mooltan  celebrity, — a  man  who,  happily,  fears  God  and  loves 
the  Saviour  and  His  cause.  When  it  was  proposed  to  establish 
a  mission  at  Peshawur,  he  at  once  fearlessly  headed  it,  and 
openly  declared,  in  substance,  that  the  Christianization  of  India 
ought  to  be  regarded  as  the  ultimate  end  of  our  continued 
possession  of  it.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  great  rebellion,  nearly 
the  whole  of  the  native  regiments  (eight  in  number)  at  the 
station  showed  symptoms  of  disaffection  and  mutiny.  Most  of 
them  had  to  be  disarmed ;  and  one  of  them  has  since  been  cut 
to  pieces.  In  the  midst  of  these  fiightful  internal  troubles, 
and  surrounded  on  all  sides  with  a  fiercely  fanatical  people, 
what  were  the  missionaries  to  do  ?     If  they  were  even  called  on 


330  LIFE    OF   DR.    UUFF.  1857. 

by  the  autlioritios  to  pause  for  a  season,  no  one  could  have  been 
much  surprised.  But  no;  Sir  John  Lawrence,  the  Chief  Com- 
missioner, and  Mr.  Montgomery,  the  Judicial  Commissioner, 
of  the  Punjab,  in  reference  to  them,  in  substance  replied,  '  Let 
the  preaching  and  other  missionary  operations  by  no  means  be 
suspended.'  Oh,  how  true  the  saying,  '  Them  that  honour  Me 
I  will  honour !  *  At  Peshawui*,  amidst  almost  unparalleled 
difficulties,  the  British  have  been  able  to  hold  their  own ;  the 
Punjab  has  been  preserved  in  tranquillity ;  and  not  only  so, 
but  has  been  able  to  furnish  nearly  all  the  troops  that  have 
now  so  triumphantly  recaptured  Delhi !  Are  not  these  sug- 
gestive facts  ?  Indeed  it  is  scarcely  too  much  to  say,  that  it  is 
the  Punjab  which  has  mainly  saved  our  Indian  empire. 

8^/i  December. — "  The  relief  of  Lucknow  and  the  victory  of 
Cawnpore  are,  in  themselves,  joyous  events.  But  the  former 
was  accomplished  at  the  cost  of  scores  of  officers  and  hundreds 
of  men,  killed  and  wounded, — bringing  sorrow  and  bereave- 
ment into  the  bosom  of  many  a  family  circle.  And  amongst 
the  killed  we  have  now  to  reckon  one  whose  death  will  be  felt 
as  a  national  loss.  At  the  close  of  my  last  letter,  I  found  my- 
self writing  under  an  uncontrollable  impulse  of  sadness,  at  the 
bare  thought  of  the  friends  or  acquaintances  (then  unknown) 
who  might  or  must  have  fallen  amid  the  terrific  conflicts  at 
Lucknow.  At  the  very  time  I  was  writing,  another  of  our 
immortal  leaders.  General  Havelock,  was  expiiiug  of  fatigue 
and  wounds,  in  the  midst  of  those  whom  his  own  intrepid 
bravery  had  relieved.  I  knew  him  personally,  having  been, 
privileged  to  make  his  acquaintance  many  years  ago,  under  the 
hospitable  roof  of  the  late  revered  Dr.  Marshman,  of  Seram- 
pore,  whose  son-in-law  he  was.  Somewhat  stern  and  reserved 
he  was  in  manner,  yet  you  could  not  be  long  in  his  presence 
without  finding  that  he  was  a  man  who  feared  God, — and  that, 
fearing  God,  he  feared  nought  else  besides.  It  was  this  holy 
reverential  fear  of  God  that  was  the  real  source  of  his  un- 
daunted courage  in  the  discharge  of  duty,  at  whatever  peril  to 
life  or  fortune.  His,  in  this  respect,  was  the  genuine  spirit  of 
the  old  English  Puritan, — the  very  spirit  of  Oliver  Cromwell 
and  his  compeers.  And  the  tendency  was  to  turn  the  British 
soldiers,  under  his  exclusive  moulding,  into  a  phalanx  ot' 
modern  Ironsides.  He  was  the  first  of  our  Generals  who  dis- 
tinctly recognised  the  hand  of  God  in  his  surprising  victories 


yEt.  51.         DEATH    OF    IIAVKLOCK.       LORD    CANNING.  33 1 

over  tlie  mighty  liost  of  rebol  mutineers.  "  By  the  blessing  of 
God  I  have  captured  Cawnpore,"  wore  the  first  words  of  his 
memorable  telegraphic  despatch  from  that  scene  of  one  of  tho 
strangest  and  bloodiest  tragedies  ever  enacted  on  the  stage  of 
time.  Faithful  as  a  patriot  warrior  to  his  earthly  sovereign, 
he  lived  to  receive  from  her  gracious  Mtijcsty  a  first  instal- 
ment of  honour  and  reward,  and  to  licnr  how  a  grateful  country 
had  hailed  his  great  services- with  unbounded  admiration  and 
applause.  But  faithful  also  as  a  soldier  of  the  Cross  to  his 
Sovereign  in  the  slcies,  he  has  now  gone  to  receive  a  far  greater 
honour,  and  inherit  a  vastly  nobler  recompence  of  reward.  lie 
has  gone,  ripe  in  grace,  to  fructify  in  glory  !  What  a  ti-au- 
s^'tion  !  From  the  confused  noise  of  battle,  to  the  hallelujahs 
ot  angels  !  From  garments  rolled  in  blood,  to  the  pure  white 
robes  of  the  redeemed  in  ImmanueFs  laud. 

24//i  Dt'ceinher. — "  This  mail  will  convey  further  accounts  of 
successes  gained  over  the  rebels  in  different  parts  of  India. 
As  to  the  vastness  of  the  field,  one  has  only  to  cast  one's  eye 
over  a  good  map,  and  note  the  scenes  of  Colonel  Durand's  re- 
cent successful  operations  at  Mhow,  Dhar,  and  Mundesor,  to  the 
west  and  north  of  ludore,  in  the  great  province  of  Malwa,  Central 
India;  then,  at  the  scenes  of  Brigadier  Showers'  equally  suc- 
cessful operations  at  Kurnal,  and  other  places  to  the  west  and 
north  of  Delhi;  then  at  the  great  heart  of  all  our  troubles, 
Oadh,  with  its  adjacent  provinces,  where  our  brave  Comman- 
dei'-in-Chief  has  of  late  been  adding  to  his  immortal  laurels; 
and  lastly,  run  along  Jubbulpore,  Sanger,  and  other  stations 
in  the  Nerbudda  territories,  where  our  countrymen  are  still 
helplessly  hemmed  in  on  all  sides  ;  or  around  the  western, 
northern,  and  eastern  frontiers  of  Bengal,  where  bands  of 
mutineei's  and  rebels  are  scouring  tho  country,  plundering  the 
villages,  and  perpetuating  a  clu'onic  state  of  consternation  and 
panic, — one  has  only  calmly  to  survey  all  this,  to  be  impressed 
with  a  deep  sense  of  the  greatness  of  the  work  that  is  before 
us,  ere  we  can  look  for  the  complete  restoration  of  tranquillity 
and  order. 

"As  regards  individuals,  I  have  on  principle  abstained  from 
naming  any,  except  when  I  have  had  something  good  to  say  of 
them.  Of  the  present  head  of  tho  Government  I  have  written 
in  strong  terms,  where  his  measui'es  were  such  that  I  could 
conscientiously  do  so.       This  I  cau  truly  say,  that  I  believe  no 


332  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1857. 

Governor-General  ever  came  to  India  with  a  more  sincerely 
honest  desire  to  do  what  he  could  towards  the  matei'ial  im- 
provement of  the  country,  and  the  intellectual  and  social 
advancement  of  the  people.  His  conduct  relative  to  the  ad- 
mission of  the  evidences  of  revealed  religion  into  the  examina- 
tions for  degrees  in  our  Indian  Universities,  was  altogether 
admirable.  In  the  subject  of  native  female  education,  and 
the  re-marriage  of  HinJa  widows,  thousands  of  whom  are  mere 
children,  he  took  the  profoundest  interest.  For  months  before 
the  outbi-eak  of  the  mutinies,  he  was  labouring  to  secure  full 
and  accurate  information  relative  to  the  exposure  of  the  sick 
on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges,  and  the  monstrous  system  of 
Koolin  polygamy,  with  a  prospective  view  to  possible  legisla- 
tive measures.  His  manly  bearing  and  prompt  energy,  after 
tidino-s  had  reached  of  the  awful  massacres  at  Meerut  and 
Delhi,  gained  him  at  the  time  general  admiration.  And  if,  in 
the  subsequent  course  and  progress  of  the  great  rebellion, 
measures  have  been  proposed  and  adopted,  with  at  least  his 
sanction, — measures  which,  to  most  of  the  non-government 
British  residents  here  appeared  incommensurate  with  the  re- 
quirements of  the  terrible  exigency,  still,  I  could  not  join  in 
the  hue  and  cry  raised  against  him, — could  be  no  party  to  the 
memorial  for  his  recall,  because  I  felt  that  sufficient  allow- 
ance had  not  been  made  for  the  unexpected  novelty  and  extra- 
ordinary difficulties  of  his  position, — difficulties  more  than 
enough  to  try  the  nerves  of  a  Olive  or  Warren  Hastings.  Had 
not  all  incipient  projects  of  an  ameliorative  character  been 
suddenly  arrested  by  the  volcanic  eruption  which  has  upheaved 
the  very  foundations  of  the  long  established  order  of  things, 
my  decided  impression  was,  and  still  is,  that  he  would  have 
proved  one  of  the  most  useful  and  successful  peace-governors 
whom  India  ever  had.  And  in  a  crisis  so  very  peculiiir,  if  not 
unprecedented,  it  is  undoubtedly  easier  to  find  fault  with  the 
doings  of  one  man,  than  to  point  unerringly  to  another  who 
would  have  steered  the  vessel  of  state  with  less  damage 
through  the  breakers. 

"  But  whilst  the  proceedings  of  individuals,  especially  in 
situations  of  great  and  complicated  embarrassment,  ought  to  be 
treated  with  the  utmost  possible  leniency  and  forbearance,  little 
favour  need  be  shown  to  persistence  in  a  \vrong  or  mistaken 
policy.     Now,  it  is  the  old  'traditional  policy^  of  the   Homo 


A^A.  51.  A   WEAK    POLICY.  333 

and  Forcigu  Indian  Government,  and  the  system  of  action 
whicli  has  naturally  sprung  out  of  it,  under  which  wo  have 
been  really  groaning.  Perhaps  the  most  distinguishing  quality 
of  'the  policy'  has  been  its  shrinking  dread,  if  not  actual 
repudiation,  of  Christianity,  and  its  co-relative  pandering  to 
heathenish  prejudices;  while  the  unworthy  system  of  which 
it  is  the  parent  has  been  partly  nurtured  and  consolidated  by 
the  past  exclusiveness  and  high  predominance  of  the  civil  ser- 
vice, with  the  peculiar  airs  and  habitudes  of  thought,  feeling, 
and  action,  which  such  exclusiveness  and  predominance  could 
not  fail  to  generate.  But  such  a  representation  of  the  policy 
and  the  system  does  not  in  any  way  impeach  the  personal 
honour  or  integrity  of  the  men  who  are  its  chief  hereditary 
upholders.  Far  from  it.  On  every  fitting  occasion  have  I  cor- 
dially tcstiGed  to  the  undisputed  claim  of  the  civil  service,  as 
a  class,  to  the  possession  of  these  qualities.  There  have,  too, 
at  all  times  been  individual  members  of  the  service  pre- 
eminently noted  for  meekness,  gentleness,  and  amiablenoss  of 
disposition, — men  who  have  nobly  risen  above  its  caste-con- 
ventionalities, distinctive  usages,  and  mai-ked  tendencies  to 
overweening  conceit  and  overbearing  arrogance.  Still,  the 
system,  as  a  whole,  both  as  regards  its  own  intrinsic  nature 
and  extrinsic  working  and  development,  is  generally  felt  out 
here  to  be  very  much  what  1  so  freely  and  bluntly  character- 
ized it  in  a  pi-evious  communication.  And  it  is  from  the 
shackles  of  this  system  that  all  independent  minds  for  the 
sake  of  India  and  the  cause  of  truth  and  righteousness,  are 
sighing  for  deliverance." 

The  time  came  when,  delivered  from  the  purely 
bureaucratic  influences  of  councillors  who  knew 
nothing  of  the  people  of  India  outside  of  Lower 
Bengal,  and  planted  at  Allahabad  to  superintend  the 
tardy  process  of  the  reconstruction  of  the  adminis- 
trative machine,  Lord  Canning  himself  confessed  to 
Sir  William  Muir  that  he  would  have  done  things  very 
differently  if  he  had  known  the  facts.  His  terrible 
failure  to  disarm  the  sepoys  at  Diuaporo,  in  spite  of 
the   example   and    the   entreaty   of    John   Lawrence, 


334  ^^^^  ^^  ^^-  DUFF.  1857. 

directly  permitted,  if  it  did  not  invite,  all  the  sub- 
sequent horrors,  from  Benares  and  Allahabad  to 
Cawnpore  and  Lucknow,  by  delaying  or  detaining  the 
precious  British  troops  which  would  otherwise  have 
been  at  once  hurried  on  from  the  Raneegunge  railway 
station  to  Cawnpore,  as  John  Lawrence  sent  his  to 
Delhi.  For  this  the  system  of  party  politics  which 
sends  out  an  inexperienced  Viceroy  every  five  or  six 
years  to  rule,  autocratically  in  the  last  resort,  an  empire 
of  the  magnitude  and  variety  of  Europe,  is  largely  re- 
sponsible. If  the  Mutiny  had  come  at  the  close  instead 
of  at  the  beginning  of  Lord  Canning's  too  brief  term  of 
office,  how  differently  would  he  have  met  it.  If,  to  go 
a  step  farther  back,  the  repeated  military  minutes  sent 
home  by  Lord  Dalhousie,  in  the  ripeness  of  his  experi- 
ence, had  been  attended  to,  there  would  have  been  no 
opportunity  for  all  the  anarchic  elements,  which  our 
civilization  keeps  in  check  till  Christianity  can  remove 
them,  to  have  burst  forth. 

Not  only  were  Christian  men  profoundly  moved  by 
what  seemed  to  some  to  be  the  death-throes  of  an 
empire.  Many  an  Anglo-Indian  found  in  1857  that 
life  had  a  new  meaning  for  them  because  Christ  had 
a  new  power.  As  in  a  shipwreck,  the  upheaving  of 
government,  of  society,  of  the  unknown  gulf  of  Asiatic 
passions,  revealed  most  men  and  women  to  themselves. 
From  many  such  a  cry  went  up  for  a  day  of  national 
prayer  and  humiliation.  Daniel  Wilson  was  still 
Metropolitan,  and  Archdeacon  Pratt  was  at  his  side. 
In  his  letter  of  the  19th  October,  1857,  Dr.  Duff  wrote 
of  the  bishop  as  "  a  man  on  whom  age  has  conferred 
the  spiritual  sagacity  of  a  seer,  in  blessed  union  with 
the  mellow  piety  of  a  ripened  saint, — a  man  in  whose 
character  a  noble  lion-like  fortitude  in  the  advocacy 
of  pure  evangelical  truth  is  now  beautifully  blended 
and   harmoiiiS'':'d   Avith   a  lamb-like  demeanour  in  the 


^t.  51.    BISHOP  WILf^ON's  APPEAL  TO  THE   GOViiUNMENT.      335 

wliole  of  his  personal  conduct.  From  the  very  first 
he  exerted  his  great  influence  with  all  classes  in  ex- 
citing them  to  a  spirit  of  humiliation  and  prayer  before 
God.  He  held  two  public  services  on  week-days  in 
his  own  cathedral,  on  both  whicli  occasions  he  preached, 
though  now  in  his  eightieth  year,  two  vigorous  and 
appropriate  sermons,  which  have  since  been  published. 
He  invited  to  social  prayer  and  supplication,  in  his 
own  house,  the  ministers  of  all  churches  and  de- 
nominations— himself  presiding,  patriarch-like,  and 
asking  others  to  share  with  him  in  the  devotional 
exercises.  He  made  repeated  private  personal  appli- 
cations to  the  Governor-General,  entreating  him  to 
appoint  a  special  day  for  humiliation  and  prayer  before 
God,  but,  with  sorrow  I  have  to  add,  altogether  in 
vain.  At  last  a  public  meeting  of  Christian  inliabitaiits 
was  held,  and  a  memorial  on  the  subject,  addressed  to 
Lord  Canning,  agreed  to  and  numerously  and  respect- 
ably signed.  The  response  to  this  memorial  was  the 
issue  of  a  proclamation  by  the  Governor-General  in 
Council,  which  sadly  disappointed  all  God-fearing 
people,  .and  added  another  to  the  many  recent  acts 
of  our  higher  authorities  which  have  tended,  un- 
happily, to  lower  them  in  the  estimation  of  the  general 
Christian  community  of  this  place.  The  appointment 
of  a  week-day  was  declined,  though  the  same  papers 
which  published  this  proclamation  announced  the 
closing  of  all  Government  offices  for  about  ten  days 
in  honour  of  the  most  celebrated  of  our  idolatrous 
festivals, — the  Doorga  Pooja.  13 ut  this  was  not  the 
worst  feature  of  it.  As  if  afraid  or  ashamed  to  allude 
to  the  existence  of  the  only  true  religion, — that  on 
whose  origination,  and  maintenance,  and  outspreading, 
the  energies  of  the  Godhead  are  embarked, — no  re- 
ference whatever  was  made  in  it  to  Christ,  or  Chris- 
tianity, or  Christians." 


33^  LIFE   OP  DR.   DUFF.  1857. 

The  Free  Clmrcli  Presbytery  fixed  Sunday,  tlie 
25tli  October,  as  the  day  for  a  special  service,  which 
they  appointed  Dr.  Duff  to  conduct.  Members  of  the 
Government  were  present  in  the  crowd  of  worshippers. 
With  the  intensity  of  his  whole  nature  strung  to  an 
even  higher  pitch  than  usual,  Dr.  DufF  seems  to  have 
come  forth  as  a  rapt  prophet.  The  Government 
which  would  not  disarm  the  Dinapore  brigade  had 
gagged  even  the  loyal  English  press,  but  speech  was 
free.  The  Friend  of  India  had  been  "  warned,"  be- 
cause its  temporary  editor  had  dared,  in  an  article 
published  on  the  Centenary  of  Plassey,  to'  express  the 
hope  that  when  the  next  centenary  came  round  the 
princes  of  India  might  be  Christian.  On  his  return 
the  responsible  editor,  Mr.  Meredith  Townsend,  spoke, 
also  in  the  Free  Church  of  Calcutta,  what  the  Press 
Act  might  have  prevented  him  from  publishing.  But 
although  the  newspapers  wrote  thus,  when  lamenting 
the  absence  of  a  report  of  Dr.  Duff's  sermon,  we  may 
be  sure  that  he  lifted  up  his  subject  from  the  platform 
of  politics  and  even  history  to  the  lofty  level  of  seer 
and  of  psalmist.    This  was  the  Eiirkdru's  comment : 

"  Those  who  heard  it,  will  not  easily  forget  Dr.  Duff^s  elo- 
quent discourse  on  Sunday  morning,  Oct,  25th.  If  we  have 
refrained  up  to  the  present  moment  from  commenting  upon  it, 
it  was  because  we  indulged  the  hope  that,  like  the  sermons  on 
the  present  crisis  preached  by  the  Bishop  and  Mr.  Pratt,  this 
too  might  be  published.  We  should  be  sorry  indeed  if  such 
an  able  analysis,  such  a  searching  and  scathing  expose  of  our 
position,  and  of  the  causes  which  have  mainly  led  to  it,  should 
be  kept  back  from  the  light.  It  is  true  that  the  times  are  not 
favourable  to  such  publications,  more  especially  to  that  class 
in  which  the  affairs  of  the  Government  are  touched  upon;  but 
we  should  be  sorry  to  think  that  an  exposition  of  gospel  truth 
the  application  of  the  Bible  to  the  present  state  of  affairs,  could 
be  brought  within  the  meaning  of  Act  XV,  In  expressing, 
then,  an  earnest  desire  that  the  sermon  may  yet  be  published. 


^t.  51.  HIS    SERMON    ON   THE    MUTINY.  ^T,J 

we  record^  we  feel  assured;  tho  sentiments  of  all  who  heard 
it  preached.  It  was  impossible  not  to  observe  the  audlcuco, 
their  attention  firmly  riveted  on  tho  eloquent  preacher  as  he 
poured  forth  in  fervid  and  impassioned  sentences  all  the  fire 
of  his  soul:  it  was  impossible  to  behold  hitn,  tho  impersonifi- 
cation  of  intellect,  excited  and  animated  beyond  its  ordinary 
phase,  without  recalling  the  days  of  the  Reformation  and  tho 
Covenanters.  As  Dr.  Duff  appeared  on  Sunday  last,  such  was 
John  Knox,  dealing  out  his  iron-fii.sted  blows  :  such  were  those 
old  Fathers  of  the  Scottish  faith  who  bound  themselves  by  solemn 
covenant  to  resist  the  encroachments  of  popish  and  prelatic 
domination.  It  was  impossible  for  any  one  read  in  history  to 
resist  the  apt  association.  We  say  nothing  of  the  words  of 
the  preacher,  full  of  the  force  of  truth,  of  the  grandest  elo- 
quence ;  we  say  nothing  of  his  doctrines,  clear  and  convincing 
as  they  appeared  to  us  :  our  eyes  were  on  the  man  himself,  on 
that  fragile  body  not  only  supported,  but  borne  on  to  such 
unusual  exertion,  by  the  power  of  the  light  within.  Seldom 
have  we  seen  so  great  a  victory  of  mind  over  matter.  It  was 
to  us  a  grand  intellectual  display,  exerted  for  the  noblest 
ends,  with  a  success  which  could  not  have  been  surpassed. 
May  we  not  hope,  then,  that  those  burning  sentences  and  those 
impassioned  arguments  will  yet  be  recorded?  " 

The  cono^resfation  contributed  some  two  thousand 
rupees  to  the  Patriotic  Fund  which  the  whole  British 
Empire  raised  for  the  surviving  families  of  the  mas- 
sacred and  the  Avounded.  It  is  desirable  that  the 
accounts  of  that  Fund,  as  it  still  exists,  should  be 
submitted  to  the  nation.*  Other  practical  forais  of 
benevolence  which  the  crisis  called  fortli  from  Di*. 
Duff,  were  a  statement  on  the  relation  of  Grovernment 
to  caste,  adopted  by  the  Calcutta  Missionary  Confer- 
ence ;  counsel  and  assistance  to  the  American  Epis- 
copal Methodist  Mission,  which,  recently  established  at 

*  Every  year  sees  a  diminution  in  the  number  of  annuitants  and 
pensioners  on  the  Fund.  In  1871  there  were  6G9,  in  187-1  they 
were  3o5.  The  call  on  the  capital  is  becoming  so  reduced  that  the 
time  has  come  to  provide  publicly  for  its  application. 

VOL.    TT. 


33^  uWj  of  dr.  duff.  1857. 

Bareilly,  he  urged  to  take  possession  of  Oudh ;  and 
aid  to  such  other  new  missions,  like  the  Christian  Yer- 
nacular  Education  Society,  as  the  quickened  conscience 
of  England  and  Scotland  called  into  existence.  While 
he  preached  and  published  in  Calcutta,  statesmen  like 
Sir  John  Lawrence,  Sir  Donald  M'Leod,  Sir  Robert 
Montgomery  and  Sir  Herbert  Edwardes  were  submit- 
ting to  Lord  Canning  the  most  masterly  state  papers* 
on  the  same  subject  of  what  they  called  "  the  elimin- 
ation of  all  unchristian  principle  from  the  Government 
of  India." 

For  months  had  mutiny  and  massacre  swept  over 
Hindostan,  the  land  between  the  Vindhyas  and  the 
\  Himalayas  :  how  did  the  fiery  trial  affect  the  Church  of 
India  ?  For  by  1857  there  was  a  Native  Church,  pas- 
tors and  flocks,  in  the  great  cities  and  scattered  among 
the  villages,  not  unlike  that  which,  in  very  different 
circumstances,  Diocletian  thought  to  wipe  out  of  the 
Roman  Empire.  Few,  save  the  missionaries  who  had 
been  blessed  to  bring  it  to  the  birth,  and  officials  of 
the  Lawrence  stamp  who  fostered  its  growth,  knew  of 
what  stuff  its  members  were  made.  Few  believed  that 
the  converts,  despised  by  a  world  which  knew  them 
not  because  so  little  familiar  with  their  Master,  would 
pass  through  the  fiery  trial  to  the  confessor's  crown 
and  the  martyr's  palm.  The  Mutiny  did  not  seek 
Christians  particularly,  any  more  than  it  Lad  been 
specially  excited  by  Christian  progress.  In  Madras, 
where  the  Native  Church  was  oldest  and  strongest,  and 
in  Bombay,  where  the  five  causes  of  insurrection 
alleged  by  the  antichristian  party  of  politicians  had 

*  See  («)  Sir  John  Lawrence's  Mutiny  Despatch,  of  1858 ;  (b) 
the  most  famous  of  all  his  minutes,  that  of  21st  April,  1858,  with 
the  papers  of  Sir  Donald  M'Leod  and  Herbert  Edwardes  ;  and  (c) 
Sir  R.  Montgomery's  Order  on  the  appointment  of  Native  Chris- 
ti;ais  to  public  offices. 


j^.i.  51.  GROWTH    OF    THE    UHVJUCH    UF   INDIA.  33Q 

]»cen  most  active,  tlicro  wu3  uo  rautiDy.  Native  Chris- 
tians were  simplj  identiliied  by  the  rebels  with  the 
governing  class,  but  were  generally  offered  their  lives 
at  the  price  of  denying  their  Lord.  Missionaries  and 
converts  were  sacrificed  or  hunted,  because  they  were 
in  exposed  places  or  had  the  courage  to  remain  at  the 
post  of  duty,  but  the  number  who  perished  was  not  out 
of  proportion  to  other  classes  of  victims.  Of  the  fifteen 
hundred  white  Christians  believed  to  have  been  butclw 
ered  by  the  sepoys  and  their  rabble  agents,  240  were 
military  officers  out  of  the  4,000  in  the  Bengal  army, 
and  37  were  missionaries,  chaplains  and  their  families, 
out  of  a  body  of  300,  probably,  over  the  same  area. 

When  Dr.  Duff  founded  his  system  in  Calcutta,  in 
1830,  there  were  not  more  than  27,000  native  Chris- 
tians, Protestants,  in  the  whole  peninsula  and  the 
adjoining  lands  of  Ceylon  and  Burma.  This  was  the 
result  of  a  century's  evangelizing  on  the  old  method  in 
South  India.*  By  1840,  this  number  had  risen  to 
only  57,000  ;  but  by  1850  a  census  shows  that  it  had 
become  127,000.  When  the  anarchy  of  Islam  and 
Brahmanism  was  let  loose  in  1857,  there  cannot  have 
been  more  than  150,000.  Then  was  realized  the  old 
experience  of  the  Apostolic  and  Reformed  Churches, 
the  truth  of  the  saying  of  Tertullian,  that  the  blood  of 
the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  Church.  Since  the 
Mutiny  and  because  of  the  Mutiny,  the  Church  of 
India,  now  indigenous  and  self-developing  as  well 
as  fostered  by  foreign  overseers,  has  become  half  a 
million  strong.  The  last  census  showed  318,363 
Protestant  natives  at  the  end  of  1871,  and  an  increase 
annually  of  6ro  per  cent  by  births  and  accretions.  The 
next  will  be  taken  at  the  end  of  1881.     This  is  exclusive 

*  According  to  tlio  late  Eov.  Dr.  IMullens  and  Rev.  M.  A.  Slier- 
ring,  LL.B.,  the  able  and  cautious  statists  of  India  Missions. 


i 


340 


LIPE    OF   DE.    DUFF. 


1857. 


of  an  alleged  three-quarters  of  a  million  of  Roman 
Catliolic  natives,  as  returned  by  their  priests  on  a  con- 
fessedly loose  system. 

How,  then,  did  the  Native  Church  of  1857,  some 
150,000  strong,  pass  through  the  year  of  blood  and 
persecution?  Mr.  Shorring  compiled  an  authentic 
narrative  of  the  facts,  which,  as  published  in  1859,  was 
admitted  by  friend  and  foe  to  be  within  the  truth. 
This  is  the  first  martyr  roll  of  the  Church  of  India. 


Missionaries  and  Chaplains. 

Rev.  M.  J.  Jennings,  Clmplain  of 
Delhi,  and  Miss  Jennings.  Both 
killed  in  tlieii-  own  house  on  the 
gate  of  the  palace. 

Eev.  A.  E.  HubbaT'd,  of  the  Pi-o- 
pagation  of  the  Gospel  Society, 
Delhi.  Killed  by  the  mutineers 
in  the  Delhi  Bank. 

Rev.  John  Mackay,  of  the  Baptist 
Missionary  Society,  Delhi.  De- 
fended himself  with  several 
friends  in  Col.  Skinner's  house 
for  three  or  four  days,  when  the 
roof  of  the  cellar  in  which  they 
had  taken  shelter  was  dug  up 
by  order  of  the  king,  and  they 
were  all  killed. 

Ml-.  David  Corrie  Sandys,  of  the 
Propagation  Society,  Delhi,  and 
son  of  the  Rev.  T.  Sandys,  of 
the  Church  Society,  Calcutta. 
Killed  by  the  mutineers  near 
the  magazine,  iu  ai  tempting  to 
return  from  the  Mission-school 
to  his  own  house. 

Mr.  Cocks  and  Mr.  Louis  Koch, 
both  of  the  Propagation  Society. 
Killed  by  the  mutineers  in  the 
Delhi  Bank. 

Mr.«.  Thompson,  widow  of  the 
Rev.  J.  T.  Thompson,  formerly 
Baptist  Missionary  in  Delhi,  and 
her  two  adult  daughters.  All 
three  killed  in  their  own  house 
in  Delhi. 

Eev.  Tliomas  Hunter,  Missionary 
of  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
Siiilkot,  Mrs.  Hunter,  and  their 
inl'ant  child.      Killed  iu  their 


Native  CnRisTiANs. 

Wilayat  Ali,  Catechist  of  the  Bap- 
tist Mission,  Delhi.  Killed  by 
a  party  of  Muhammadaus  in  the 
streets  of  D^lhi,  at  the  time  of 
the  outbreak. 

Thakoor,  Catechist  of  the  Propa- 
gation Society's  Mission,  Delhi. 
Killed  by  troopers  in  the  streets 
of  Delhi. 

Dhokul  Parshad,  head-teacher  of 
the  Futtehghur  Mission-schools, 
bis  wife,  and  four  children.  All 
killed  in  company  with  the 
Europeans  on  the  parade  at 
Futtehghur.  The  sepoys  first 
fired  grape  on  the  party,-  and 
then  despatched  the  survivors 
with  their  swords. 

Pai'amanand,  Catechist  of  the 
Baptist  Mission,  Muttra.  Killed 
by  the  rebels. 


/Et.  51.      MARTYR    ROLL   OF    THE    CIIIJUCII    OP    INDIA.  34 1 


bnjrgy,  •wliile  flc^inj;  to  the  forti. 
A  ball  pissing  tliiough  tlie  face 
ot  Mr.  iiiiiitcr,  eiitcifil  the  neck 
of  his  wil'e;  a  gaol  warder 
completed  the  miir>ler  with  a 
sword,  killmijj  the  child  also. 
Ecv.  John  M'CiilIuin,  Olliciating 
Chaplain  of  Shahjchanpore. 
Rusliing  from  the  church, 
where  the  residents  had  assem- 
bled for  Divine  worship,  on  its 
being  surrounded  by  the  nuitin- 
ous  sepoys,  he  escaped  with  the 
loss  of  one  of  hiss  hands  ;  but  iu 
the  evening  of  the  same  day,  he 
was  attacked  by  labourers  in  a 
jBeid,  and  wustinally  decapilated 
by  a  Pathan. 

Rev.  J.  E.  Freeman  and  Mrs. 
Freeman;  Rev.  D.  E.  Ciimpbell, 
Mrs.  Campbell,  and  their  two 
children;  Rev.  A.  O.  Johnson, 
and  Mrs.  Johnson;  Rev.  R. 
M'Muilen  and  Mrs.  M'Mullen, 
of  the  American  Presbyterian 
Board  of  Missions,  Futtehghur. 
All  killed  by  the  Nana  at 
Bithoor. 

Rev.  F.  Fisher,  Chaplain  of  Fut- 
tehghur, Mrs.  Fisher  and  their 
infant  child.  Escaping  from 
Futtehghur  in  boats,  they  were 
attacked  by  sepoys,  and  on 
jumping  into  the  river,  Mr. 
Fisher  swam  wiili  his  wile  and 
child  towards  the  bank,  but;  they 
were  both  drowned  iu  Ids  arms 
on  the  way.  Mr.  Fisher  was 
afterwards  captured  by  the 
Nana's  party,  and  slain  at  or 
near  Cawnpore. 

Rev.  E.  T.  R.  Moncrieff,  Chaplain 
of  Cawnpore,  Mrs.  Moncrielf, 
and  their  child.  Mr.  Moncrieff 
was  killed  in  the  intrenchnients 
on  tlie  ninth  dav  of  the  siege. 

Rev.  W.  H.  Haycock,  of  the  Pro- 
pagation Society,  Cawnpore,  and 
Mrs.  Haycock,  his  mother. 
Both  killed  at  Cawnpore.  Ltr. 
Haycock  was  shot  just  as  he 
was  entering  the  iutrenchmenta. 

Rev.  H.  E.  Cockey,  of  the  Pro- 
pagation Society,  Cawnpore. 
Wounded  in  the  thigli  by  a 
musket-ball,  and  afterwards  shot 
ou  the  parade-ground  at  Cuwn- 


Solomon,  Catechisb  of  the  Propa- 
gation Society's  Mission,  Cawn- 
pore. Cruelly  put  to  death  by 
the  Hindoos  during  the  occupa- 
tion of  Cawnpore  by  the  Gwalior 
Contingent. 

Ram  Chandra  Mitter,  Head-master 
of  the  American  Presbyterian 
Mission-school,  Futtehpore. 
Supposed  to  have  been  mui'dcrcd 
at  or  near  Futtehpore. 

Jiwan  Masih,  Catechist.  Supposed 
to  have  been  killed  near  Dela- 
mow 

Sri  Nath  Bhose,  formerly  Catechisti 
and  Teacher,  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren. All  supposed  to  have 
been  murdered  in  Oudh. 

Raphael,  Catechist  of  the  Church 
Mission,  Goruckpoi-e.  Died 
from  wounds  inflicted  by  the 
rebels,  and  from  anxiety  and 
sickness,  during  the  troubles  in 
Goruckpore. 

There  is  a  name  left,  which  should 
live  in  the  memories  of  God's 
people.  Chaman  Lai,  Sub-As- 
sistant-Surgeon of  Delhi ;  was 
massacred  by  the  mutineers  in 
his  own  house  in  Delhi.  He  was 
a  man  of  exemplary  piety,  and 
was  thoroughly  iu  earnest  in  hia 


342 


LIFE   OF   DLL    DUFF. 


1857. 


Christian  life  and  piofession. 
The  Native  Church  lias  lost  in 
him  one  of  its  brightest  orna- 
ments. 

To  these  must  be  added  the  namep, 
as  confessors,  of  others  such  as 
the  Rev.  Gopeenath  Nundi,  his 
wife  and  children,  at  Allahabad. 


pore,  together  with  other  Euro- 
peans, in  the  presence  of  the 
Nana. 

Rev.  G.  W.  Coopland,  Chaplain  of 
Gwalior.  Killed  on  occasion  of 
the  mutiny  of  the  Gwalior  Con- 
tingent. 

Rev.  H.  I.  Polehampfcon,  Chaplain 
of  Lucknow.  Shot  by  a  mus- 
ket-ball, while  attending  on  the 
sick  in  one  of  the  hospitals  in 
the  Residency  ;  but  partially  re- 
covering from  his  wound,  eventu- 
ally sank  from  an  attack  of 
cholera. 

R;ev.  W.  Glen,  Agra,  son  of  the 
late  Dr.  Glen,  of  Persia,  and 
formerly  Missionary  of  the 
London  Missionary  Society, 
Mirzapore,  and  his  infant  child. 
Both  died  in  the  fort  of  Agra 
from  privations. 

Mrs.  Buyers,  wife  of  the  Rev.  W. 
Buyers,  Missionary  of  the  Lon- 
don Missionary  Society,  Benares. 
Died  from  dysentery,  brought 
on  chiefly  by  anxiety  of  mind 
induced  by  the  disturbances  in 
Benares. 


The  names  in  these  two  lists  of  very  special  interest 
to  Dr.  Duff  were  those  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hunter,  of 
the  Established  Church  of  Scotland ;  and  of  his  own 
third  convert,  Gopeenath  Nundi.  The  former,  apart 
from  their  worth  and  their  work  in  founding  a  Mission 
which  he  had  urged  on  the  Church  at  the  Disruption, 
had  been  inspired  by  Dr.  Duff  when  at  Aberdeen,  and 
the  Rev.  R.  Hunter,  of  the  Free  Church  Mission  at 
Nagpore,  was  their  elder  brother.  Eam  Chandra 
Mitter,  who  perished  at  Futtehpore,  was  described  by 
Gopeenath  as  "a  zealous  Christian,  educated  in  the 
General  Assembly's  Institution,  Calcutta."  Fortun- 
ately we  have  the  personal  narrative  of  Gopeenath, 
confirmed  by  that  of  the  late  Dr.  Owen,  and  forming 
not  the  least  pathetic  and  instructive  of  the  Indian 
Acta  Martyrum  Sincera. 

Soon  after  his  baptism   at   the  end  of   1832,  which 


^t.  51.  THE    MASSACRE    AT    FUTTHlll'ORE.  343 

was  preceded  by  imprison raeiit  and  persecution  on  tlie 
parfc  of  his  caste-fellows,  Gopeenatli  Nuudi  was  sent 
by  Dr.  Duff  to  open  a  mission  school  established  by 
the  surt»;oon  and  other  Britisli  residents  in  Futtehpore. 
After  founding  and  working  that  under  the  Church 
Missionary  Society,  he  was  ordained  by  the  American 
Presbyterians  to  open  a  mission  in  Futtehghur.  Hav- 
ing for  sixteen  years  built  up  the  native  church  there, 
he  returned  in  1853  to  take  charge  of  the  Presby- 
terian mission  in  his  old  station  of  Futtehpore.  There 
he  preached  to  Europeans  and  natives  alike,  in  the 
absence  of  a  chaplain,  and  there  he  was  assisted  by 
Mr.  Robert  Tucker,  the  judge  of  the  county.  In  no 
part  of  India,  where  all  Christians  are  catholic,  did 
those  who  named  the  name  of  Christ,  of  every  sect 
and  colour,  meet  and  work  together  with  greater  har- 
mony and  zeal,  and  the  Bengalee  convert  of  Dr.  Duff 
was  their  minister.  This  roused  the  hate  of  the 
Muhammadan  community,  at  whose  head  was  the 
deputy,  Hikmut  Oollah  Khan.  He  found  his  oppor- 
tunity when  the  news  reached  the  town  that,  on  tlie 
7th  June,  the  sepoys  had  risen  in  Allahabad,  seventy- 
eight  miles  nearer  Calcutta,  and  had  massacred  their 
officers,  wounding  the  few  who,  like  Ensign  Cheke, 
managed  to  escape.  The  Christian  residents  of  Fut- 
tehpore were  driven  to  flight,  by  the  rise  of  the  rabble 
and  the  burning  of  their  houses.  Tucker  alone  would 
not  move.  He  believed  in  tlie  police,  of  whom  he  said, 
"  I  am  going  to  put  myself  at  the  head  of  my  brave 
legionaries"  and  he  sent  for  Hikmut  Oollah  Khan  to 
concert  measures  for  the  preservation  of  the  Govern- 
ment property.  "  Tell  the  Saheb,"  was  the  response, 
"  to  make  himself  happy,  and  when  I  come  in  the 
evening  I  will  give  him  eternal  rest."  The  godly 
judge,  the  brave  official,  had  his  eyes  opened,  but  he 
would  not  leave  the  post  of  duty.      Having  read  the 


344  ^^^^   0^   ^^'   DUFF.  1857. 

comfortable  words  of  Scripture  and  commended  him- 
self to  God,  he  brought  out  all  the  arms  he  had  and 
prepared  to  defend  his  life.  Sunset  saw  the  "brave 
legionaries"  under  Hikmut  Oollah  Khan,  with  the  green 
flag  of  Islam,  enter  his  park.  Summoned  to  abjure 
Christ  and  accept  Muhammad,  he  resolutely  refused. 
As  the  police  guard  advanced  he  shot  fourteen  or 
sixteen  of  them — the  accounts  vary — before  he  fell 
confessing  Christ.  Robert  Tucker  is  the  glory  of  the 
Bengal  civil  service,  and  he  was  not  alone  in  his 
heroism  or  in  his  confession. 

By  the  magistrate's  orders  the  Rev.  Gopeenath 
Niindi  had  left  for  Allahabad,  a  few  days  earlier,  in 
charge  of  all  the  Christian  women  of  the  station,  only 
to  find  that  they  had  run  into  greater  danger.  The 
Avomen  returned  to  their  husbands,  while  he,  his  wife 
and  children  set  off  to  the  missionary  station  of  Mirza- 
pore.  After  the  first  day's  march  of  fourteen  miles 
in  the  heat  of  June,  they  found  shelter  in  the  village 
of  a  Brahman,  who  sought  only  to  kill  them  for  what 
they  possessed.  The  scenes  of  horror  witnessed  there 
— for  the  armed  villagers  butchered  all  travellers  whom 
they  could  not  easily  rob — may  be  imagiafd  from  this 
instance.  A  Hindoo  leather-worker,  of  low  caste, 
returning  from  Cawnpore,  saw  his  wife  stripped  of 
every  rag  and  their  infant  swung  by  the  feet  till  its 
brains  were  dashed  out  upon  a  stone,  wLile  he  himself 
was  driven  off  naked.  Determined  to  return  to  Alla- 
habad, Gopeenath  gave  up  all  he  possessed  ;  "  they  did 
not  leave  us  the  single  Bible  we  had;  our  shoes  also 
were  taken."  While  the  Brahmans  quarrelled  over 
the  booty  the  Christian  family  fled. 

"  We  went  up  to  a  well,  and  the  people  gave  us  water  to 
ilrink.  We  then  came  to  a  potter's  house,  ai^d  begged  him  to 
give  us  a  ghurra  (pot),  which  he   did.     I  filled  it  with  water, 


/Pa.  51.  GOPEENATH    NUNDIS    NARRATIVE.  345 

that  we  miglit  have  a  supply;  for  water  in  that  part  of  the 
country,  especially  in  tho  months  of  May  and  June,  is  veiy 
scarce  and  only  found  in  deep  wells.  We  travelled  till  nine 
a.m. J  when  both  ourselves  and  our  dear  children  (two  of  them 
six  years  and  the  baby  one  year  old)  felt  fatigued  and  tired, 
and  sat  down  under  tho  shade  of  a  tree.  The  poor  children 
cried  most  bitterly  from  hunger,  but  we  had  nothing  to  give 
them.  We  laid  our  petition  before  that  God  who  fed  Hia 
people,  the  Jews,  with  manna  in  the  wilderness;  and  indeed  He 
heard  our  prayer.  Wo  saw  from  a  distance  a  marriage  proces- 
sion coming  towards  us  j  I  went  up  to  them,  and  they  gave  us 
five  pice,  which  enabled  me  to  buy  suttoo  (flour  of  gi-ain)  and 
goor  (coarse  sugar).  With  this  we  fed  the  children,  and 
resumed  our  journey.  We  travelled  till  eleven  a.m.,  when  we 
found  that  our  three  children,  having  been  struck  by  the  sun, 
were  on  the  point  of  death;  for  the  sun  was  very  powerful,  and 
the  hot  wind  blew  most  fearfully.  Seeing  no  village  near  (and 
indeed,  if  there  had  been  any,  we  should  not  have  gone  to  it, 
for  fear  of  losing  our  lives),  we  took  shelter  under  a  bridge, 
and  having  gathered  some  sand,  made  our  poor  children  lio 
down.  But  they  seemed  dying,  and  we  had  no  medicine  to 
give  them.  We  raised  our  hearts  in  prayer  to  our  great 
Physician,  who  is  always  more  ready  to  hear  than  we  are  to 
apply  to  Ilim.  He  heard  our  supplications.  We  saw  a  small 
green  mango  hanging  on  a  tree,  though  the  season  was  nearly 
over.  I  brought  it  down,  and  having  procured  a  little  fire 
from^T  gang  of  robbers  who  were  proceeding  to  Allahabad  to 
plunder,  I  roasted  it  and  made  some  sherbet,  and  gave  it  to 
the  children  to  drink.  People  of  the  poorer  classes,  when 
struck  by  the  sun,  always  administer  this  as  a  medicine.  It 
acted  hke  a  charm,  and  revived  the  children.  From  inability 
to  proceed  any  farther,  we  made  up  our  minds  to  remain  there 
till  next  morning;  but  towards  sunset  the  zemindar  of  the 
nearest  village,  a  Hindoo  by  caste,  came  with  the  assurance 
that  no  injury  should  be  done  us,  took  us  to  his  house,  and 
comfortably  kept  us  through  the.  night,  supplying  all  our 
urgent  wants.  We  partook  of  his  hospitality,  and  slept  very 
soundly,  as  we  had  been  deprived  of  rest  for  three  days  and 
three  nights. 

"  Early  on   the  following  morning   we  left  our  kind  host's 
house,  and  started  for  Allahabad,  which  was  only  iliree  miles 


34<^  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1857. 

off.  We  arrived  at  the  gLaut  about  nine  a.m. ;  and,  while 
crossing  the  river  Jumna,  we  saw,  with  heartfelt  sorrow,  that 
the  mission  bungalow  was  burnt  to  ashes,  and  the  beautiful 
church  totally  disfigured.  On  our  arrival  swarms  of  Muham- 
madans  fell  upon  us ;  but  our  gracious  Father  again  saved  us, 
by  raising  up  a  friend  from  amongst  the  foes.  This  was  a 
goldsmith,  a  Hindoo  by  caste,  who  took  us  into  his  house, 
and  kept  us  safe  through  the  day.  At  sunset,  when  we  left 
his  protection,  we  fell  into  the  Lands  of  some  other  Muham- 
madans,  who  were  roaming  about  like  ferocious  animals,  thirst- 
ing after  blood.  When  we  saw  there  was  no  way  to  escape, 
and  the  villains  ready  to  kill  us,  we  begged  them  hard  to  take 
us  to  their  head,  the  Moulvie,  who  for  some  days  usurped  the 
supreme  authority  there.  With  great  difficulty  we  induced 
them  to  comply  with  our  wishes.  When  we  were  brought 
before  him,  we  found  him  seated  on  a  chair,  surrounded  by 
men  with  drawn  swords.  We  made  our  salaams  ;  upon  which 
he  ordered  us  to  sit  down,  and  put  to  us  the  following  ques- 
tions :  '  Who  are  you  t'  '  Christians.'  '  What  place  do  you 
come  from?'  *  Futtehpore.'  'What  was  your  occupation?' 
'  Preaching  and  teaching  the  Christian  religion.'  '  Are  you  a 
padre  ?'  '  Yes,  sir.'  '  Was  it  not  you  who  used  to  go  about 
reading  and  distributing  tracts  in  the  streets  and  villages  ? ' 
*  Yes,  sir ;  it  was  I  and  my  catechists.'  '  How  many  Christians 
have  you  made  ?'  'I  did  not  make  any  Christians,  for  no 
human  being  can  change  the  heart  of  another ;  but  God, 
through  my  instrumentality,  brought  to  the  belief  of  His  true 
religion  about  a  couple  of  dozens.'  On  this  the  man  exclaimed, 
in  a  great  rage,  and  said,  '  Tauba  !  tauba  !  (repent).  What 
downright  blasphemy  !  God  never  makes  any  one  a  Chris- 
tian ;  but  you  Kaffirs  pervert  the  people.  He  always  makes 
people  Mussulmans ;  for  the  religion  which  we  follow  is  the 
only  true  one.  How  many  Muhammadans  have  you  perverted 
to  your  religion  ?'  'I  have  not  perverted  any  one,  but,  by 
the  grace  of  God,  ten  were  turned  from  darkness  to  the  glorious 
light  of  the  gospel.'  Hearing  this,  the  man's  countenance 
became  as  red  as  fire ;  and  he  exclaimed,  '  You  are  a  great 
"  hararazadah  "  (traitor  to  your  salt)  !  you  have  renounced  your 
forefathers'  faith,  and  become  a  child  of  Satan,  and  now  use 
your  every  effort  to  bring  others  into  the  same  road  of  de- 
struction.    You  deserve  a  cruel  death.     Your  nose,  ears  and 


.^■t.  51.  WITNESSING   A    GOOD    CONFESSION.  347 

liands  should  be  cut  off  at  clifTerent  times,  so  as  to  make  yonr 
fiufterings  continue  for  some  time;  and  your  children  ought 
to  be  taken  into  slavery.'  Upon  this,  Mrs.  Nundi,  folding 
lier  hands,  said  to  the  Moulvie,  '  You  will  confer  a  very  great 
favour  by  ordering  us  all  to  be  killed  at  once,  and  not  to  bo 
tortured  by  a  lingering  death.'  After  keeping  silent  for  a 
while,  he  exclaimed,  '  Subhan  Allah,  you  appear  to  be  a  re- 
spectable man.  I  pity  you  and  your  family;  and,  as  a  friend, 
I  advise  you  to  become  Muhammadans  :  by  doing  so,  you  will 
not  only  save  your  lives,  but  will  be  raised  to  a  high  rank.* 
My  answer  was,  '  We  prefer  death  to  any  inducement  you  can 
hold  out.'  The  man  then  appealed  to  my  wife,  and  asked  her 
what  she  would  do  ?  Her  answer  was,  thank  God,  as  firm  as 
mine.  She  said,  she  was  ready  to  submit  to  any  punishment 
he  could  inflict,  but  she  would  not  renounce  her  faith.  The 
Moulvie  then  asked  if  I  had  read  the  Koran.  My  answer  was, 
*  Yes,  sir.'  He  then  said,  '  You  could  not  have  read  it  with  a 
view  to  be  profited,  but  simply  to  pick  out  passages  in  order 
to  argue  with  Muhammadans.'  Moreover  he  said,  '  I  will 
allow  you  three  days  to  consider,  and  then  I  will  send  for  you 
and  read  a  portion  of  the  Koran  to  you.  If  you  believe,  and 
become  Muhammadans,  well  and  good;  but  if  not,  your  noses 
shall  be  cut  off,'  We  again  begged  and  said  to  him,  that  what 
he  intended  to  do  had  better  be  done  at  once,  for  as  long  as 
God  continued  His  grace  we  would  never  change  our  faith. 
He  then  ordered  his  men  to  take  us  into  custody.  While  on 
the  way  to  the  prison,  I  raised  my  heart  in  praise  and  adora- 
tion to  the  Lord  Jesus,  for  giving  us  grace  to  stand  firm,  and 
to  acknowledge  Him  before  the  world.  When  we  reached  the 
place  of  our  imprisonment,  which  was  a  part  of  the  Serai, 
where  travellers  put  up  for  the  night,  and  where  his  soldiers 
were  quartei'ed,  we  found  there  a  European  family  and  some 
native  Christiiins.  We  felt  extremely  sorry  at  seeing  them  in 
the  same  difficulty  with  ourselves.  After  conversing  together, 
and  relating  each  other's  distress,  I  asked  them  to  join  us  in 
prayer,  to  which  they  readily  consented.  While  we  knelt  down 
and  prayed,  one  of  the  guai'ds  came,  and,  giving  me  a  kick  on 
the  back,  ordered  me  either  to  pray  after  the  Muhammadan 
forno,  or  to  hold  my  tongue. 

"  The  next  day.  Ensign  Cheke,  an  officer  of  the  late  Gth  N.  I., 
was  brought  in  as  a  prisoner.      He  was  so  severely  wounded. 


348  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1857. 

that  lie  was  scarcely  able  to  stand  on  his  legs^  but  was  on  the 
point  of  fainting.  I  made  some  gruel  of  the  suttoo  and  goor 
which  we  brought  with  us,  and  some  of  which  was  still  left, 
and  gave  him  to  drink ;  also  a  pot  full  of  water.  Drinking 
this,  he  felt  refreshed,  and  opened  his  eyes.  Seeing  me,  a 
fellow-prisoner  and  minister  of  the  gospel,  he  related  the 
history  of  his  sufferings,  and  asked  me,  if  I  escaped  in  safety, 
to  write  to  his  mother  in  England,  and  to  his  aunt  at  Ban- 
coorah;  which  I  have  since  done.  As  the  poor  man  was 
unable  to  lie  down  on  the  bare  hard  ground,  for  that  was  all 
that  was  allotted  to  us,  I  begged  the  darogah  to  give  him  a 
charpoy.  AVith  great  difficulty  he  consented  to  supply  one; 
and  that  was  a  broken  one.  Finding  me  so  kindly  disposed  to 
poor  Choke,  the  darogah  fastened  my  feet  in  the  stocks,  and 
thus  caused  a  separation,  not  only  from  him,  but  also  from  my 
poor  family.  While  this  was  going  on,  a  large  body  of  armed 
men  fell  upon  me,  holding  forth  the  promise  of  immediate 
release  if  I  became  a  Muharamadan.  At  that  time  Ensign 
Cheke  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  and  said,  '  Padre,  padre,  be 
firm  ;  do  not  give  way.'  My  poor  wife,  not  willing  to  be 
separated,  was  dragged  away  by  her  hair,  and  received  a 
severe  wound  in  her  forehead.  The  third  day,  the  day  ap- 
pointed for  our  final  execution,  now  came,  and  we  expected 
every  moment  to  be  sent  for  to  finish  our  earthly  course ;  but 
the  Moulvie  did  not  do  so.  Every  ten  or  fifteen  minutes,  some 
one  of  his  people  would  come  and  try  to  convert  us,  threaten- 
ing, in  case  of  refusal,  to  cut  off  our  noses.  It  appeared  that 
the  cutting  off  of  noses  was  a  favourite  pastime  with  them. 

"  On  the  sixth  day  the  Moulvie  himself  came  over  into  the 
prison,  and  inquired  where  the  padre  prisoner  was.  When  I 
was  pointed  out,  he  asked  me  if  I  was  comfortable.  My 
answer  was,  '  How  can  I  be  comfortable,  whilst  my  feet  are 
fastened  in  the  stocks  ?  howevei',  I  am  not  sorry,  because  such 
has  been  the  will  of  my  heavenly  Father.'  I  then  asked  him, 
*  How  he  could  be  so  cruel  as  not  to  allow  a  drop  of  milk  to  a 
poor  innocent  baby?'  for  our  little  one  lived  principally  upon 
water  those  six  days.  The  same  day,  the  European  and  Sikh 
soldiers  came  out  under  Lieutenant  Brasyer,  and  after  a 
desperate  fight,  completely  I'outed  the  enemy.  Several  dead 
and  wounded  were  brought  where  we  were,  as  that  was  hia 
head-quarters.      The   sight  of  these    convinced    us   that    the 


/Et.  SI.  BENGALEE    CHRISTIAN    CONFESSOES.  349 

enemies  would  take  to  their  liecls.  They  gradually  began  to 
disperse,  and  by  the  following  morning  not  one  remained. 
We  then  broke  the  stocks,  liberated  ourselves,  and  came  into 
the  fort  to  our  friends,  who  were  rejoiced  to  see  us  once  more 
in  the  land  of  the  living.  Ensign  Cheke  died  the  same  day, 
after  reaching  the  fort.  His  wounds  were  so  severe  and  so 
numerous,  that  it  was  a  wonder  how  he  lived  so  many  days, 
without  any  food  or  even  a  sufficient  quantity  of  water  to 
quench  his  burning  thirst.  It  must  be  a  great  consolation  to 
his  friends  to  hear  that  he  died  in  the  fort  and  received 
Christian  burial.  I  had  not  sufficient  conversation  with  him 
to  know  the  real  state  of  his  mind  ;  but  the  few  words  he  ex- 
pressed, at  the  time  when  the  villains  fastened  my  feet  in  the 
stocks,  led  me  to  believe  that  he  died  a  Christian,  and  is  now 
in  the  enjoyment  of  everlasting  rest  in  heaven. 

"  Other  dear  English  and  native  Christians  were  in  similar 
dangers  and  trials,  but  many  if  not  all  were  massacred  ;  yet 
we  are  still  in  the  land  of  the  living.  The  manifestation  of 
God's  grace  to  us  at  the  time  we  needed  it  most,  was  infinite. 
It  was  nothing  but  His  grace  alone  that  kept  us  firm.  The 
enemy  tried  liis  utmost  to  throw  us  down.  He  put  forth,  on  the 
one  hand,  all  the  worldly  inducements  a  person  can  conceive,  if 
we  renounced  our  faith  ;  on  the  other  hand,  he  brought  before 
us  a  sure  death,  with  all  the  cruelties  a  barbarous  man  could 
think  of,  if  we  did  not  become  Muhammadans.  But,  thank 
God,  we  chose  the  latter.  The  sweet  words  of  our  blessed 
Saviour,  which  are  recorded  in  the  18th,  19th,  and  20th  verses 
of  the  10th  chapter  of  St.  Matthew,  were  strikingly  fulfilled 
in  our  case  :  '  And  ye  shall  be  brought  before  governors  and 
kings  for  My  sake,  for  a  testimony  against  them  and  the 
Gentiles.  But  when  they  deliver  you  up,  take  no  thought  how 
or  what  ye  shall  speak  :  for  it  shall  be  given  you  in  that  same 
hour  what  ye  shall  speak.  For  it  is  not  ye  that  speak,  but 
the  Spirit  of  your  Father  which  speaketh  in  you.''  When  the 
Moulvie  failed  by  arguments,  threats,  etc.,  in  bringing  me  to 
renounce  my  faith,  he  appealed  to  my  wife;  but  she  too,  thank 
God,  was  ready  to  give  up  her  life  rather  than  become  a 
follower  of  the  false  prophet.  When  she  saw  the  Moulvie  was 
in  a  great  rage,  and  was  ready  to  order  us  to  be  tortured,  by 
taking  off  our  noses  or  ears,  she  began  to  instruct  the  twin 
■boys — 'You,  my  children,  will  be   taken  and  kept  as   slaves, 


350  Ll™    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1857. 

while  we  shall  be  killed ;  but  remember  my  last  words,  do  not 
forget  to  say  your  prayers  both  morning  and  evening,  and  as 
Boon  as  you  see  the  English  power  re-established,  which  will 
be  before  long,  fly  over  to  them,  and  relate  to  them  everything 
that  has  befallen  us.*  '  For  He  said,  Surely  they  are  My 
people,  children  that  will  not  lie  :  so  He  was  their  Saviour. 
In  all  their  affliction  He  was  afflicted,  and  the  angel  of  His 
presence  saved  them  :  in  His  love  and  in  His  pity  He  redeemed 
them'  (Isa.  Ixiii.  8,  9).'' 

Gopeenatli  Nundi  and  his  wife  lived,  after  tlius  wit- 
nessing a  good  confession,  to  reorganize  the  Church 
of  Futtehpore,  but  they  soon  after  entered  into  the 
blessedness  promised  by  the  King  :  "  Rejoice  and  be 
exceeding  glad,  for  great  is  your  reward  in  heaven." 
Thus  did  Dr.  Duff  see  his  Mission  at  once  tried  and 
consecrated  anew.  The  Church  of  India  undoubtedly 
had  a  few  cases  corresponding  to  the  libellatici  of  that  of 
the  Roman  Empire.  Did  not  Europeans  and  Eurasians 
also  in  some  instances  fail  in  the  hour  of  fiery  temp- 
tation ?  Repeat  the  Kalima,  or  creed  of  Islam,  was 
the  ordinary  test,  but  in  the  native  Christian  woman's 
case  tlie  threat  of  the  loss  of  honour  was  added  to  that 
of  death  ;  yet  the  apostates  were  generally  the  ignorant 
drummer-boys,  the  only  Christians  admitted  by  a  short- 
sighted Government  into  the  Bengal  army,  from  which 
every  baptized  sepoy  was  expelled. 

While  the  missionaries  themselves  were  surprised  by 
the  steadfastness  and  the  faith  of  converts  whose 
physique  was  generally  weak  and  their  prag- Christian 
associations  demoralizing,  the  Government,  led  by  the 
great  Punjabee  heroes,  began  to  see  that  Christianity 
meant  active  loyalty.  Native  Christians,  among  them 
Mr.  S.  C.  Mookerjea,  of  Dr.  Duff's  College,  manned  the 
guns  in  Agra  Fort.  Within  a  fortnight  of  the  receipt 
of  the  Meerut  massacre  the  Krishnaghur  Christians — 
weak  Bengalees — vainly  offered  "  to  aid  the  Govern- 


ALt   51.        ACTIVE    LOYALTY    OF    NATIVE    CURISTLVNS.  35 1 

mcnt  to  tlie  utmost  of  our  power,  both  by  bullock- 
gharries  and  men,  or  in  any  other  way  in  which  our 
services  may  be  required,  and  that  cheerfully  without 
wajres  or  remuneration."  Those  of  Benares  under 
Mr.  Leupolt,  formed  a  band  which  defended  the  mis- 
sion till  Neil  arrived,  and  they  joined  the  new  military 
police  till  the  Calcutta  authorities  forbade  them.  Not 
a  few,  even  then,  served  as  men  and  officers  with  the 
police  levy  which  saved  Mirzapore,  and  in  Mr.  Hodg- 
son Pratt's  corps  which  gave  peace  to  Hooghly.  The 
German  missionaries  in  Chota  Nagpore  offered  the 
blinded  Government  of  Bengal  a  force  of  ten  thousand 
Christian  Kols ;  and  the  American  Dr.  Mason  volun- 
teered to  send  a  battalion  of  Christian  Karens  from 
Burma.  Even  the  Christians  of  South  India  pressed 
their  services  on  the  Madras  Governor.  But  in 
every  case  the  fear  of  an  "  invidious  distinction  "  was 
assigned  by  the  Bengal  authorities,  to  the  scorn  of 
Dr.  Duff,  as  a  reason  for  refusing  such  aid.  Yet  there 
had  always  been  Christians  and  even  Jews  in  the  Madras 
and  Bombay  armies,  and  there  were  not  a  few,  Protes- 
tant and  Romanist  in  the  17th  M.  N.  I.,  which  was 
fighting  in  Hindostan  against  the  rebels.  When  it 
■was  too  late;  and  all  Behar  was  threatened,  the 
Bengal  Government  eagerly  sent  to  the  missionaries, 
who  had  been  by  that  time  forced  to  flee  for  their 
lives,  accepting  the  magnanimous  offer. 

Dr.  Duff  did  not  confine  his  sympathies  and  aid  to 
native  Clu'istians  only.  He  wrote  thus  on  the  6th 
October,  1857  : 

"  To  prevent  all  misconception  with  reference  to 
missionaries,  it  ought  to  be  emphatically  noted,  that 
nowhere  has  any  special  enmity  or  hostility  boon  mani- 
fested towards  them  by  the  mutineers.  Far  from  it. 
Buch  of  them  as  fell  in  the  way  of  the  rebels  were 
simply   dealt  with   precisely  in  the  same  way  as  all 


352  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1857. 

otlier  Europeans  were  dealt  with.  They  belonged  to 
the  governing  class,  and,  as  such,  must  be  destroyed, 
to  make  way  for  the  re-establishment  of  the  old  native 
Muhammadan  dynasty.  The  same  actuating  motive 
led  to  the  destruction  of  native  Christians,  and  all 
others  who  were  friendly,  or  supposed  to  be  friendly, 
to  the  British  Government.  In  this  way  it  is  known 
that  many  of  the  natives  of  Bengal,  who,  from  their 
superior  English  education,  were  employed  in  Govern- 
ment offices  in  the  North- West,  and  were  believed  to 
be  favourable  to  the  continuance  of  our  rule,  were  made 
to  suffer  severely  both  in  life  and  property.  Some  of 
them  were  sadly  mutilated  after  the  approved  Muham- 
madan fashion,  by  having  their  noses  slit  up  and  ears 
cut  off ;  while  others,  amid  exposures  and  sufferings, 
had  to  eifect  the  same  hair-breadth  escapes  as  the 
Europeans.  In  short,  I  feel  more  than  ever  persuaded 
of  the  reality  of  the  conviction  which  I  entertained 
from  the  very  first,  that  this  monster  rebellion  has 
beeii  mainly  of  a  political,  and  but  very  subordinately 
of  a  religious  character ;  and  that  the  grand  proximate 
agency  in  exciting  it  was  a  treasonable  Muhammadan 
influence  brought  skilfully  to  bear  on  a  soil  prepared 
for  its  action  by  many  concurring  antecedent  causes 
of  disaffection  and  discontent.  Brahmanical  and  other 
influences  had  doubtless  their  share  in  it;  but  the 
preponderant  central  element  has  been  of  Muham- 
madan origin,  directed  to  the  realization  of  the  long- 
cherished  dynastic  designs  of  Muhammadan  ambition. 
"  By  the  natives  generally  no  special  animosity  has 
been  exhibited  towards  the  missionaries  or  their 
doings.  The  very  contrary  is  the  fact.  On  this  sub- 
ject the  editor  of  the  Calcutta  Christian  Intelligencer, 
a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England,  has  been  en- 
abled to  bear  emphatic  testimony.  *If  any  European,' 
says  he,  '  is  respected   and  trusted  by  the  natives  at 


Alt.  51.  THE    MISSIONAETES   AND   THE    MUTINY.  353 

present,  it  is  the  missionary.  All  the  influence  of 
public  officers  and  their  agents  at  Benares  could  not 
succeed  in  procuring  supplies  for  the  troops  and  others 
from  the  country  round ;  but  a  missionary  well  known 
to  the  people  is  now  going  round  the  villages  and 
getting  in  supplies  for  the  public  service.  The  mis- 
sionaries and  their  families  are  living,  at  that  and 
some  other  stations,  at  some  distance  from  the  other 
residents  and  from  the  means  of  defence,  and  are  sur- 
rounded by  the  people  on  every  side.  How  remarkable 
is  this  state  of  things !  The  Government,  who  have 
always  fondled  and  favoured  superstition  and  idolatry, 
are  accused  of  an  underhand  design  to  cheat  the  peo- 
ple into  Christianity;  and  the  missionaries,  who  have 
always  openly  and  boldly,  but  still  kindly  and  affec- 
tionately, denounced  all  idolatrous  abominations,  and 
invited  their  deluded  votaries  to  embrace  the  gospel  of 
Christ  for  their  salvation — they  are  understood  by  the 
people;  and,  if  any  Europeans  are  trusted,  the  mis- 
sionaries are  at  present.' " 

One  of  Dr.  Duff's  inquirers  of  1830-1834  was  Duk- 
shina  Runjun  Mookerjea,  a  Koolin  Brahman  who  edited 
the  Bengalee  newspaper  Gyananesliiui,  or  "  Inquirer," 
which  was  of  such  service  to  the  good  cause.  He  had 
not  joined  the  Christian  Church,  but  had  always  dis- 
tinguished himself  by  promoting  reforms  among  his 
countrymen,  notably  that  of  female  education,  in  which 
he  was  the  Honourable  Drinkwator  Bcthune's  friend. 
When  the  time  came  to  reward  actively  loyal  natives. 
Dr.  Duff  submitted  his  claims  to  Lord  Canning.  The 
result  of  his  services  in  the  Mutiny  was  that  the 
Bengalee  Baboo  found  himself  a  Raja,  and  Talookdar 
of  Oudh,  having  a  confiscated  estate  conferred  on  him. 
When  in  Lucknow  he  did  much  to  found  the  Canning 
College,  on  the  educational  basis  of  the  familiar  General 
Assembly's    Institution.      There  he  enjoyed  the  fre- 

VOL.    II.  A.   A 


354  1^1^'^  Of  ^^-  DUJP^.  1858. 

quent  counsels  of  Dr.  DufP,  as  to  his  duties  as  the 
feudal  lord  of  thousands  of  ignorant  tenants.  And 
there  his  earliest  act  was  to  create  a  model  village 
bearing  for  ever  the  name  of  his  honoured  counsellor 
and  benefactor,  the  Christian  missionary,  who  thus 
acknowledged  the  beautifully  oriental  compliment : 
"  A  village  reclaimed  from  the  jungle  of  a  rebel  is 
a  singularly  happy  type  of  the  building  of  living 
souls,  whom  I  would  fain  reclaim  from  the  jungle 
of  ignorance  and  error.  And  if  through  your  gen- 
erous impulse  the  village  of  Duffpore  is  destined  to 
become  a  reality,  how  would  my  heart  swell  with  grati- 
tude to  God  of  heaven,  were  I  privileged  to  see  with 
my  own  eyes  its  instructed,  happy  and  prosperous 
occupants." 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

1858-1863. 

LAST  YEARS  IN  INDIA. 

Some  Fi'uits  of  Duff's  Earlier  Labours. — Arlminisfcrative  Progress. 
— Giowth  of  the  Berii^al  Mission. — Siiviia,  Dirikm*  Rao  and 
Major  S.  C.  Macphep.soM. — Native  Female  Education. — Dr.  T. 
Smith,  Rev.  J.  Fonlyce,  and  Mis.  Mullens. — Zanana  Instruc- 
tion.— Duff's  Caste  Girls'  Day  School. — Death  of  Lacroix. — 
Missionary  Methods  and  Christian  Unity. — Deaths  of  Dr.  Ewart 
and  Gopeenath  Nundi. — Revival  Meetings  and  Ardent  Lnnginjjs. 
— Conference  in  Edinburgh  on  Free  Church  Missions. — Mr. 
Bhattacharjya  and  the  Mahanad  Rural  ]\Ii,ssiou. — A  Competi- 
tion-Wall;i's  Picture  of  Duff's  Spiritual  Work. — The  Condition 
of  the  Peasantry  of  Bengal. — Fluctuating  Tenure,  Rising  Laud- 
Tax  and  Rack-Renting. — The  Indigo  Riots  in  Nuddea. — Dr. 
Duff's  Letter  to  the  Commission  of  Inquiry. — Rev.  J.  Long  and 
the  "  Neel  Durpun." — The  Educational  DL-stitution  of  Bengal. — 
Mr.  Drinkwater  Bethune  and  the  Bc-tliune  Society. — The  Mis- 
sionary-President and  his  Woik. — A  Founder  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Calcutta. — Departure  from  the  Principles  of  the  Charter 
of  Education  since  Duff's  time.' — Trevelyan's  Proposal  that  he  bo 
Vice-Chancellor. — Repeated  Illness  ends  in  Dysentery  again. — 
Voyage  to  China. — Sliut  up  to  accept  the  General  Assembly's 
Invitation  to  become  Foreign  Missions  Superintendent. — All 
Classes  and  Creeds  unite  to  Honour  the  departing  Missionary. — 
Reply  to  the  Educated  Hindoos  and  Muhammadans  of  Benc^al. — 
Estimates  of  his  Indian  Career. — Sir  Henry  S.  Maine  and  Bishop 
Cotton. 

In  the  eiglit  years  ending  1863,  which  formed  the 
third  and  last  of  Dr.  Duff's  periods  of  personal 
service  in  India,  he  enjoyed  a  foretaste,  at  least,  of 
that  which  is  generally  denied  to  the  pioneers  of  phil- 
anthropy in  its  highest  forms.  *'  One  soweth  and 
another  reapeth,"  is  the  law  of  the  divine  kingdom. 
The  five  years  from  1830  to  1835  had  been  a  time 


35^  LIFE    OF    DB.    DUFF.  1858. 

empliaticallj  of  sowing  the  seeds  of  a  new  system, 
but  that  had  borne  early  and  yet  ripe  fruit  in  the  first 
four  converts.  The  eleven  years  which  closed  in  1850 
had  been  a  time  of  laying  the  foundation  of  a  second 
organization  and  of  consolidating  the  infant  Church. 
But,  thereafter,  educated  and  representative  converts, 
Hindoo  and  also  Muhammadan,  flowed  into  it.  One 
year  saw  so  many  as  twenty,  while  catechumens  became 
catechists,  these  were  licensed  as  preachers,  and  these 
ordained  as  missionaries,  themselves  privileged  to  at- 
tract and  baptize  converts  from  among  all  castes  and 
classes  of  their  countrymen.  At  one  time  Dr.  Duff 
found  himself  alone  in  the  Bengal  Mission,  with  his 
earlier  converts  become  his  colleagues  and  only  Mr.  Fyfe 
at  his  side.  At  another  he  rejoiced  in  reinforcements 
of  young  missionaries  from  Scotland.  All  around  he 
saw  the  indirect  results  of  his  whole  work  since  1830, 
in  native  opinion,  British  administration,  and  Anglo- 
Indian  society,  the  progress  of  which,  having  reached 
an  almost  brilliant  position  under  Lord  Dalhousie,  was 
not  only  not  checked,  but  received  a  new  impetus  in  the 
Mutiny  under  Lord  Canning.  He  saw  the  beneficial 
results  of  the  Charter  of  1853,  he  dehghted  in  the 
perhaps  too  radical  and  rapid  changes  introduced  by 
the  Crown  in  1858.  For  no  one  then  realized  that 
every  reform  in  India,  and  even  every  material  im- 
provement to  be  carried  out  by  the  Public  Works 
Department  means  money  at  last,  increased  taxation  of 
the  poor,  diminished  power  on  the  part  of  the  people 
to  withstand  natural  calamities,  increasing  debt  and  the 
risk  of  dangerous  political  discontent.  Up  to  1863, 
at  least,  not  only  was  nothing  of  this  apparent,  in  spite 
of  the  cost  of  trampling  out  the  Mutiny,  but  the 
opposite  seemed  likely  to  be  the  case.  For  Lord 
Canning,  led  by  Colonel  Baird  Smith's  report,  on 
the  famine  of  1860-61,  had  given  a  political  bottom  to 


JEt  52.  ADi[INISTRATIVE    CHANGES.  357 

financial  reorganization,  in  his  adoption  of  the  prin- 
ciple of  tixity  in  the  land-tax  and  permanence  of  tonuro, 
as  sanctioned  by  the  Crown  under  Lord  Halifax  and 
the  Duke  of  Argyll  subsequently,  but  rashly  upset  by 
their  successors.  And  Mr.  James  Wilson,  followed  by 
Mr.  S.  Laing,  had  established  the  corresponding  prin- 
ciple of  direct  taxation  of  the  trading,  manufacturing, 
capitalist,  and  official  classes,  at  once  as  the  comple- 
ment of  such  fixity  and  the  corrective  of  tlie  unequal 
incidence  of  the  public  burdens  on  the  land  and  its 
poor  cultivators.  Tliis  too  was  departed  from,  after 
1863,  by  their  doctrinaire  successors,  with  conse- 
quences which  every  year  shows  to  be  more  alarming 
and  incurable  save  by  a  return  to  the  Canning-Wilson 
policy. 

Dr.  Duff's  Bengal  Mission  went  on  growing.  It 
had  never  been  so  prosperous,  spiritually  and  educa- 
tionally, as  in  the  Mutiny  year.  Then  it  entered  on 
the  new  college  buildings  in  Neemtolla  Street,  for 
which  he  had  raised  £15,000  in  Scotland,  England  and 
the  United  States.  The  first  visitor  was  Sindia,  the 
Maharaja  of  Gwalior,  descendant  of  the  Maratha  who 
fought  Arthur  Wellesley  at  Assye.  At  that  time  the 
chief  was  only  twenty-seven  years  of  age,  but  he  had 
given  promise  of  the  same  vigour  of  character  as  well 
as  loyalty  to  the  paramount  power,  which  were  to  save 
him  in  the  Mutiny  and  advance  him  to  ever  greater 
honour  under  almost  every  Viceroy  to  the  present 
day.  He  was  especially  fortunate  in  the  guidance, 
as  political  agent,  of  Major  S.  Charters  Macpherson, 
and,  as  prime  minister,  of  tlie  Raja  Dinkur  Rao.  The 
former  was  well-known  to  Dr.  Duff,  who  had  written 
at  length,  in  the  Calcutta  Review,  on  his  remarkable 
success  in  suppressing  human  sacrifices  among  the 
indigenous  tribes  of  Orissa.  The  latter  was  after- 
wards selected  by  Lord  Canning  himself  as  the  native 


35^  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1858. 

statesman  most  competent  to  sit  in  tlie  imperial  legis- 
lature in  Calcutta,  and  his  memorandum  on  tlie  govern- 
ment of  Asiatics  is  still  of  curious  authority.  The 
two  "  politicals,"  the  Scottish  son  of  the  manse  and 
the  Maratha  Brahman,  had  combined  to  make  the 
Maharaja  a  sovereign  wise  for  the  good  of  the  people 
and  of  himself.  His  Highness  had  come  to  Calcutta 
to  be  further  influenced  by  the  Governor-General.  He 
inspected  Dr.  Duff's  college  and  school,  from  the  lowest 
to  the  highest  class,  as  models  to  be  reproduced  in 
Gwalior. 

"The.  number  of  boys — about  twelve  hundred — 
appeared  greatly  to  surprise  him ;  and  he  was  still 
more  surprised  when  informed  that  they  all  came  to 
us  voluntarily,  and  that,  with  very  few  exceptions, 
we  did  not  know  their  parents  or  guardians.  They 
came  spontaneously,  and  received  freely  at  our  hands 
combined  instruction  in  literature,  science  and  the 
Christian  rehgion.  And  when  he  realized  the  fact  that 
ours  was  not  a  Government  institution,  but  one  sup- 
ported wholly  by  private  Christian  benevolence,  he 
seemed  lost  in  wonder.  One  inference  which  his  wise 
Dewan  very  adroitly  drew  was  this, — that  if  private 
beneficence  could  erect  such  an  edifice,  and  sustain  its 
living  educational  machinery,  it  would  never  do  for  the 
Maharaja  of  Gwalior  to  aim  at  the  ultimate  realiza- 
tion of  anything  inferior  in  the  capital  of  his  dominions. 
That  the  impressions  produced  on  the  whole  party 
were  not  transient  merely,  will  appear  from  this  note 
which  reached  me  from  Major  Macpherson:  *  The 
Dewan  (prime  minister)  is  exceedingly  anxious  to 
have  an  interview  with  you,  to  consult  you  about  his 
measures  of  education.  You  cannot  think  how  highly 
delighted  His  Highness's  ministers,  and  all  the  rest 
are  with  your  Institution.  Nothing  could  exceed  their 
admiration;  and  the  Dewan  thinks  it  the  great  work  of 


ALt.  52.  THE    MAHARAJAS    SINDIA    AND    HOLKAE.  359 

Calcutta.  He  would  go  to  you  at  any  hour  and  any 
place.'  This  morning  the  Dewan  called  at  my  house,  and 
is  to  come  again  on  Monday.  The  euliglitened  intelli- 
gence of  this  man  is  truly  surprising.  His  measures  of 
education  for  the  Gwalior  state  will  doubtless,  according 
to  our  estimate,  be  defective  in  some  vital  points.  But 
they  will  be  instrumental  in  awakening  multitudes, 
in  a  certain  way,  from  the  sleep  and  slumber  of  ages  ; 
and,  under  a  gracious  Providence,  may  be  overruled  as 
preparing  the  way  for  more  decidedly  evangelizing 
measures  hereafter.  A  visit  like  that  now  intimated 
seems  also  to  prove  how  important  it  is  to  maintain  an 
Institution  such  as  ours,  in  the  metropolis  of  India,  in 
a  state  of  efficiency,  and  of  a  scale  of  magnitude  fitted 
to  attract  strangers  to  it.  The  sight  of  it  in  active 
operation  has  heretofore  stimulated  not  a  few  to  go 
away  resolved  to  attempt  something  of  the  kind  in 
their  own  neie^hbourhoods.  To  others  it  has  suoforested 
improvements  in  the  routine  of  existing  seminaries. 
And  now  it  bids  fair  to  exert  an  important  influence 
on  the  education  of  myriads  in  Central  India.  It  is  a 
city  set  on  a  hill ;  and  any  abatement  in  its  efficiency 
would  be  regarded  not  merely  as  a  loss  to  the  many 
hundreds  taught  in  it,  but  as,  in  some  sort,  a  national 
calamity." 

Thus  was  reproduced  on  a  larger  scale  the  experience 
of  a  quarter  of  a  century  before.  Then  Bengal  zemin- 
dars, other  missionaries,  and  the  Government  of  India 
itself,  had  copied  the  model.  Now  it  was  studied  by 
tributary  sovereigns  for  reproduction  in  distant  native 
states.  But,  up  to  this  year,  no  Christian  mission  has 
been  established  in  Gwalior,  though  the  way  has  ever 
since  been  open.  Under  the  less  tolerant  Maharaja 
Holkar,  the  other  Maratha  capital  of  Indore  has  for 
some  time  been  evangelized ;  while  in  Jeypore  and 
other  Rajpoot  states  the  United   Presbyterian  Church 


3^0  LIFE    OF   DE.    LUFF.  1858. 

of  Scotland  has  proclaimed  the  glad  tidings  ever  since 
the  Mutiny  and  massacres  pricked  the  national  con- 
science. 

In  the  instruction  and  Christian  education  of  Hin- 
doo ladies  this  period  witnessed  a  movement  which  is 
working  a  silent  revolution  in  native  society.  We  have 
seen  the  wisdom  with  which,  for  Calcutta  and  Bengal 
at  least,  Dr.  Duff  had  determined  to  confine  himself, 
at  the  outset  of  his  career,  to  the  education  of  boys 
and  young  men,  not  only  for  their  own  sake,  but  at 
once  to  create  a  demand  for  instruction  in,  and  to  ob- 
tain an  entrance  into,  the  jealously  guarded  zanana,  or 
female  apartments.  Up  to  1854  nothing  had  been 
done  in  this  direction  which  had  not  failed  as  prema- 
ture. Poor  girls  under  the  marriageable  age  of  puberty 
at  ten  or  eleven,  had  been  attracted  to  day-schools. 
There  aged  pundits  taught  elementary  Bengalee  to  a 
few  dozen  children,  conducted  to  and  from  the  place 
by  old  widows,  and  paid  a  farthing  each  for  daily  at- 
tendance. This  was  all  that  was  possible  in  the  con- 
dition of  Hindoo  society  at  that  time ;  and  the  Chris- 
tian ladies  are  to  be  honoured  who  toiled  on  amid  such 
discouragements.  Even  1850  was  the  day  of  small 
things  in  girls'  as  1830  had  been  in  boys'  education  in 
Bengal.  But  the  fathers  of  1850  had  been  the  boys  of 
1830,  and  the  time  was  ripe  for  advance.  When  still 
a  youthful  colleague  of  Dr.  Duff,  in  1840,  Dr.  Thomas 
Smith  had  published  an  article  urging  an  attempt  to 
send  Christian  ladies  into  the  zananas.  In  1854  the 
attempt  succeeded.  The  Rev.  John  Fordyce,  whom, 
with  his  wife.  Dr.  Duff  had  with  true  foresight  sent 
out  to  the  Bengalee  orphanage,  grasped  the  oppor- 
tunity. Aided  by  Dr.  T.  Smith,  he  established  the 
Zanana  Mission,  which  the  genius  of  Lacroix's  daugh- 
ter, Mrs.  Mullens,  so  developed,  and  Government  has 
so  encouraofed,  that  it  has  become  the  most  eff-ictual 


yEt.  52.  THE    ZANANA    SCTTOOL    SYSTEM.  56 1, 

means  for  educating  the  women  of  India.  Mr.  For- 
dyce  secured  the  promise  of  two  or  three  Hindoo  gen- 
tlemen to  open  their  houses  to,  and  to  pay  for,  the 
instructions  of  his  ablest  teacher,  a  European  gover- 
ness who  knew  Bengalee  perfectly.  All  that  was 
wanted  was  a  modest  carriage,  a  vernacular  primer, 
and  the  Bengalee  Bible.  In  the  quarter  of  a  century 
since  that  day,  zanana  instruction  has  become  a  part 
of  the  work  of  almost  every  mission  station,  and 
Government  has  appointed  lady  inspectors  to  test  the 
results  for  grants-in-aid.  Many  a  despised  widow, 
yet  never  a  wife,  seeking  peace  at  distant  idol  shrines 
has  thus  found  Him  Who  is  our  Peace.  Not  a  few 
wives  have  thus  come  to  Christ  with  their  husbands, 
or  have  brouirht  their  husbands  with  them.  Even  the 
aged  head  of  the  household,  the  grandmother  or  great- 
grandmother,  next  to  the  Brahman  the  stronghold  of 
India's  superstition,  may  be  seen  sitting  at  the  feet  of 
Jesus  with  the  little  children.  The  process  is  slow; 
but,  as  it  co-operates  with  that  begun  in  1830,  and 
propagates  itself,  fed  ever  more  largely  by  the  love 
and  the  truth  of  English  and  American  ladies,  it  will 
change  the  family  life  and  all  society.  Is  it  not  thus 
that  nations  are  born  ? 

But  zanana  instruction  is  only  half  the  machinery. 
It  supplies  a  training  as  expensive  and  necessarily 
partial  as  education  by  governesses  alone  in  English 
homes.  As  notldng  can  satisfactorily  take  the  place 
of  family  influence  on  the  whole  character  of  the 
young,  so  there  is  no  good  substitute  for  the  well- 
conducted  school  in  their  daily  education.  Mr.  Drink- 
water  Bethune  had  prematurely  built  his  school  for 
high-caste  girls,  who  were  conveyed  to  and  from  the 
place  in  covered  carriages,  and  were  there  carefully 
submitted  to  zanana  precautions,  those  against  Chris- 
tianity   included.     Even    under  Christian   ladies,  and 


362  LIFE    OP    DR.    DDFP.  1858. 

when  personally  supported  by  Lord  Dalhousie,  the 
school  has  dragged  on  a  sickly  existence,  because  this 
sort  of  neutrality  is  fatal  to  life  of  any  kind.  By  1857 
Dr.  Duff  saw  that  some  of  the  families  of  his  old  and 
present  students  were  ready  to  send  their  ladies  to  a 
day-school  where  Christianity  should  no  more  be  the 
only  form  of  truth  "  tabooed  "  than  it  was  in  the  col- 
lege. One  Brahman,  whose  house  adjoined  the  college, 
was  found  courageous  enough  to  supply  the  rooms  for 
the  school.  Mr.  Fordyce's  zanana  governess,  having 
successfully  established  that  system,  now  took  charge 
of  this  new  experiment,  along  with  a  venerable  but 
efficient  pundit.  Carriages  were  supplied  for  the  girls 
at  a  distance,  as  the  popularity  of  the  school  filled  its 
benches,  but  fees  were  paid.  Under  the  widow  of  one 
of  the  native  missionaries.  Dr.  Duff's  female  school  has 
gone  on  prospering.  Five  years  ago  we  witnessed,  in 
all  India,  no  more  suggestive  sight  than  that  school 
presented  in  its  daily  routine.  Its  founder's  account 
of  the  first  year's  experiment  was  this : 

"  Calcutta,  1  7th  May,  1858. 
"My  Dear  Dr.  TweediEj — It  is  now  a  twelvemonth  since, 
amid  endless  uncertainties,  I  was  led  to  commence  the  experi- 
ment of  a  native  feniale  daj'-school  from  among  the  better 
castes  and  classes  of  native  society.  Beginning  with  a  mei'e 
handful,  the  number  gradually  increased  in  spite  of  much  open 
and  secret  insidious  opposition.  Miss  Toogood  has  been  indefa- 
tigable in  her  exertions ;  and  so  has  the  learned  pundit,  who  is 
one  of  the  masters  in  our  Institution.  Other  native  gentlemen 
have,  in  many  ways,  quietly  lent  their  aid  and  valuable  encour- 
agement. The  girls  have  been  remarkably  steady  in  their 
attendance,  through  the  varied  good  influences  brought  to  bear 
upon  them.  The  intelligence  which  many  of  them  exhibit,  as 
well  as  capacity  for  learning,  must  be  regarded  as  remarkable. 
Their  liveliness  and  docility  make  it  a  perl'ect  pleasure  to  be 
engaged  in  instructing  them.  I  have  made  a  rule  of  visiting 
them  almost  regularly  once  a  day  on  my  way  home  from  oar 


^t.  52.  HIS    HIGH-CLASS    GIRLs'    SCHOOL.  363 

TnstitntioTij  so  that,  in  my  own  mind,  I  have  a  perfect  map  of 
the  progress  of  tho  whole  of  them  in  their  varied  studies  from 
the  beginning. 

"  At  the  end  of  our  first  year  it  was  thought  desirable  to 
hold  a  public  examination,  to  which  a  select  number  of  native 
gentlemen,  as  well  as  European  gentlemen  and  ladies  might  be 
invited.  When  this  intention  became  known,  the  youthful 
heirs  of  the  late  millionnaire,  Ashutosh  De — a  name  univer- 
sally known  in  European  and  native  society — sent  to  inform  me 
that  they  and  the  female  members  of  their  family  would  bo 
delighted  if  we  held  the  intended  examination  in  their  house, 
one  of  the  largest  and  most  striking  edifices  in  the  native  city. 
I  thought  this  too  good  an  oiler  to  hesitate  for  a  moment  in 
accepting  it.  Other  native  gentlemen  also  testified  their  ap- 
probation, not  in  words  only,  but  by  more  substantial  signs. 
A  Koolin  Brahman,  who  had  from  the  first  sent  his  grand- 
daughter to  the  school,  came  to  me  with  seventy-two  rupees, 
suggesting  that,  as  a  means  of  raising  the  moral  tone  of  native 
female  society,  a  few  scholarships,  varying  from  one  to  two 
rupees  a  month,  might  be  awarded  to  the  best  of  the  senior 
pupils,  and  thus  encourage  the  girls  themselves,  as  well  as 
their  parents,  to  prolong  their  attendance;  wliilo  the  small 
sum  thus  bestowed  would  no  longer  be  regarded  as  of  an  elee- 
mosynary description,  and  therefore  degrading  to  the  feelings, 
but  as  the  properly  earned  reward  of  superior  diligence,  atten- 
tion and  merit.  I  thought  the  idea  a  good  one,  and  resolved 
to  appropriate  the  donation  to  a  new  experiment  in  this  untried 
direction.  With  the  same  object  in  view  another  native  gentle- 
man from  the  North- West,  who  lately  called  on  me,  a  nepliew 
of  the  great  government  contractor  Lalla  Persad,  sent  me 
seventy-five  rupees.  Another  native  gentleman  sent  a  nice 
clock  for  the  benefit  of  the  school,  when  it  re-opened.  The 
native  ladies  of  the  family  of  Ashutosh  De  sent  two  handsome 
silver  medals.  Several  other  native  parties  sent  ten  rupees 
and  five  rupees,  for  prizes  or  presents,  expressive  of  approba- 
tion. All  of  this  was  indicative  of  an  interest  in  the  very 
quarter  whence  it  was  most  desirable  that  interest  should  be 
awakened,  so  that  I  felt  more  than  rewarded  for  all  the  trials 
and  troubles  of  the  past — thanked  God  and  took  courage. 

"Here,  at  eleven,  there  were  actually  assembled  of  the  native 
girls  the  following: — 1st  class,  7;  2ud  class,   11  j    3rd   class. 


364  LIFE    OP   DR.    DUFF.  1859. 

15;  4tli  clasSj  12;  5tli  class,  17, — in  all,  62;  and  this  for 
many  inontlis  past  has  been  the  average  daily  attendance.  As 
the  whole  examination  was  in  BeDgalee,  I  need  say  no  more 
than  that  all  the  native  gentlemen  present,  who  understood  it, 
expressed  themselves  more  than  satisfied.  Indeed,  that  within 
a  twelvemonth,  the  elder  girls  who  have  been  there  all  along, 
should  have  made  such  marked  progress,  can  only  be  attributed 
to  their  own  natural  quickness,  and  the  excellence  of  the 
tuition  under  Miss  Toogood  and  the  pundit  Their  sewing  is 
very  neat ;  with  the  elements  of  arithmetic,  the  general  map 
of  the  world  and  of  India,  they  are  already  familiar ;  while 
many  things  connected  with  remarkable  places  are  told  to  them 
orally.  They  read  very  distinctly,  and  write  their  own  lan- 
guage with  great  accuracy  in  the  formation  of  the  letters  and 
in  spelling.  For  months  past  they  have  been  reading  Genesis 
with  explanations  by  Miss  Toogood,  who  orally  conveys  to 
them  religious  knowledge  suited  to  their  capacity.  Whatever, 
therefore,  may  be  the  fate  of  the  school  in  future,  it  has  as- 
suredly started  more  auspiciously  than  the  most  sanguine 
would  have  anticipated.  The  first  remark  to  me  to-day  of  the 
junior  magistrate  of  Calcutta — the  first  native  gentleman  who 
ever  attained  to  that  high  office,  a  very  liberal  and  enlight- 
ened Hindoo — was,  '  Well,  when  you  came  to  India,  such  a 
spectacle  as  this  was  an  impossibility.^  The  saying  is  true. 
That  it  has  become  a  possibility  now,  is  surely  a  proof  how 
true  it  is  that  some  progress  has  been  made." 

The  year  1859-60  was  a  time  of  trial  for  tbe  Missiou 
staff.  "  Know  ye  not  that  there  is  a  prince  and  a 
great  man  fallen  this  day  in  Israel  ?  "  were  the  words 
from  which  Dr.  Duff,  on  the  24th  July,  1859,  preached 
a  discourse  on  the  life  and  the  death  of  the  great- 
hearted Swiss  missionary  Lacroix.  The  acquaintance 
begun  on  the  first  night  of  Duff's  arrival  in  Calcutta, 
the  27th  May,  1830,  had  ripened  into  what  the  sermon 
described  as  "a  close  and  endearing  friendship,  severed 
only  by  death."  The  two  men,  both  Presbyterians 
though  of  different  churches  and  missionary  methods, 
had    much    in    common.       Both    were    highlanders. 


^t.  53.  THE    SWISS    MISSIONARY,    LACROIX.  365 

"Young  Lacroix  was  unconsciously  trained  on  the 
mountains  of  Switzerland  to  become  one  of  the  most 
effective  of  missionaries  on  the  plains  of  Bengal.  How 
did  that  iron  frame,  the  product  of  mountain  nurture, 
fit  him  to  endure  the  fatigues  and  rough  exposure  of 
constant  itineracies  in  this  exhausting  tropical  atmo- 
sphere !  How  did  the  endlessly  varied  and  striking 
imagery  with  which  his  mind  was  so  amply  stored 
amid  Alpine  scenery,  fib  him  for  conveying  Divine 
truth  under  the  apposite  and  impressive  forms  of 
figure,  trope,  and  graphic  picturing,  to  the  metaphor- 
loving  people  of  these  orient  climes  !  How  did  the 
enthusiastic  love  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  infused 
by  the  heart-thrilling  tales  of  his  country's  double 
thraldom  and  double  deliverance,  fit  him  to  sympathise 
with  the  millions  of  our  practically  enslaved  rural 
population — groaning,  as  tbey  have  been  for  ages,  and 
still  are,  under  the  ghostly  domination  of  a  Brahraan- 
ical  priesthood,  the  galling  exactions  of  lordly  zemin- 
dars, and  the  unendurable  tyrannies  of  the  myrmidons 
of  ill-administered  law  and  justice." 

To  that  passage  Dr.  Duff  appended  this  note  in  the 
published  sermon : 

"  As  a  native  of  the  Scottish  Grampians  and  a  de- 
voted admirer  of  the  heroic  struggles  of  Wallace  and 
Bruce,  Knox  and  Melville,  in  achieving  the  civil  and 
religious  liberties  of  Scotland,  he  felt  himself  possessed 
of  a  key  to  the  interpretation  of  much  in  the  character 
of  his  lamented  friend  that  appeared  singular  or  unin- 
telligible to  others.  Indeed,  in  congenial  themes  such 
as  those  above  alluded  to,  both  were  led  to  discover  a 
mutual  chord  of  sympathy  that  vibrated  responsively 
in  each  other's  breast,  and  served  to  knit  them  more 
closely  together  in  the  bonds  of  a  sacred  brotherhood.'* 

In  another  note  the  apostle  of  the  teaching  thus 
wrote  of  the  apostle  of  the  purely  preaching  method 


366  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF. 


1-59. 


of  Cliri.jtian  Missions :  "  Thou2:li  he  laboured  far 
more  and  far  longer  than  any  other  man  in  the  direct 
preaching  of  the  gospel  to  myriads  in  their  own  ver- 
nacular tongue,  and  though  no  foreigner,  in  this  part 
of  India,  ever  equalled  him  in  his  power  of  arresting 
and  commanding  the  attention  of  a  Bengalee-speaking 
audience,  yet  the  success  vouchsafed  to  his  faithful, 
acceptable  and  untiring  labours  in  the  way  of  the 
conversion  of  souls  to  God,  for  which  he  intensely 
longed  and  prayed,  was  comparatively  very  small ! 
But  notwithstanding  this  comparative  want  of  success, 
over  which  at  times  he  mourned,  he  never  once  lost 
heart.  On  the  contrary,  with  unabated  cheerfulness 
and  elasticity  of  spirit,  he  perseveringly  continued  to 
labour  on  to  the  very  end,  in  the  assured  confidence 
that  not  one  of  the  '  exceeding  great  and  precious 
promises  '  would  fail;  and  that,  sooner  or  later,  India, 
yea,  and  all  the  world,  would  be  the  Lord's.  He  con- 
stantly delighted  in  saying,  that  the  Christian's  busi- 
ness was  to  labour,  and  labour  on — to  plant  and  water, 
and  water  and  plant,  without  wearying  and  without 
fainting — leaving  all  results  to  God  !  From  love  to 
Christ,  and  in  obedience  to  His  command,  he  intensely 
felt  it  was  his  duty  to  work,  and  work  on,  in  faith, 
whether  privileged  to  witness  any  success  or  not. 
The  work  of  sowing  was  his;  the  blessing  of  'increase' 
was  God's.  And  thus,  with  the  exception  of  two 
years'  absence  in  Europe,  did  he  labour  on  for  thirty- 
eight  years,  seeing  little  fruit  of  his  labours,  and  yet 
labouring  to  the  very  end  as  cheerfully  and  ener- 
getically as  if  he  were  reaping  a  glorious  harvest.  '  It 
will  come,  it  will  come,  after  I  am  dead  and  gone,' 
was  his  prevailing  thought,  '  for  the  good  Lord  hath 
said  it ;  and  it  is  not  for  me  to  scan  His  ways,  or 
to  know  the  times  and  the  seasons  which  He  hath 
appointed.'     Thus,  like  the  ancient  patriarchs,  did  he 


^t.  53.  DEATH    OF    MISSIONARIES.  367 

live,  and  labour,  and  die  in  faith,  not  having  received 
the  fulfihiient  of  the  promises,  but  assured  that  the 
fulfilment  would  come,  when  they  that  have  sown  in 
tears  and  they  that  reap  in  joy  shall  both  exult  over 
the  product  of  their  united  labours,  safely  gathered 
into  the  garner  of  immortality." 

In  his  daughter  Mrs.  Mullens,  and  his  son-in-law 
Dr.  Mullens,  now  a  missionary  martyr  in  Central 
Africa,  Lacroix  gave  to  the  Church  successors  of  his 
own  spirit.  DufTs  funeral  eloge  is  redolent  of  the 
spirit  of  David's  over  Jonathan. 

Death  did  not  stop  there.  In  a  few  months,  and 
in  one  afternoon,  fell  cholera  carried  off  Dr.  Ewart, 
emphatically  "  a  pillar "  of  the  Mission  and  Duff's 
student  friend.  And  when,  in  March  1861,  he  was 
rejoicing  over  the  induction  of  the  Hev.  Lai  Behari 
Day,  called  by  the  Bengalee  congregation  to  be  their 
minister,  there  passed  away  to  the  confessor's  reward 
the  spirit  of  the  Rev.  Gopeenath  Nundi  at  Futtehpore. 

"  Little  did  I  dream  when  parting  with  him  then, 
that  it  was  the  last  time  I  was  to  gaze  on  that  mild 
but  earnest  countenance  !  Little  did  I  dream  when 
we  knelt  down  together,  hand-in-hand,  in  my  study, 
to  commend  each  other  to  the  Father  of  spirits,  it  was 
the  last  time  we  should  meet  till  we  hail  each  other 
before  the  throne  on  high,  as  redeemed  by  the  blood 
of  the  Lamb  !  But  so  it  has  proved  !  I  mourn  over 
him  as  I  would  over  an  only  son,  till,  at  times,  my 
eyes  are  sore  with  weeping.  It  is  not  the  sorrow  of 
repining  at  the  dispensation  of  a  gracious  God  and 
loving  Father  1  Oh  no  ;  but  the  outburst  and  overflow 
of  affectionate  grief  for  one  whom  I  loved  as  my  own 
soul.  But  he  has  gone  to  his  rest ;  ay,  and  to  his 
glorious  reward !  His  works  do  follow  him.  There 
are  spiritual  children  in  Northern  India,  not  a  few,  to 
mourn    over   his   loss.      The   American  Presbyterian 


o 


68  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1861. 


Mission,  which  lie  so  faitlifallj  served,  will  sorely  feel 
his  loss.  Oh,  when  shall  we  have  scores  and  hundreds 
clothed  with  his  mantle  and  imbued  with  his  spirit? 
Will  any  of  our  young  ministers,  animated  by  like 
faith  and  hope,  at  once  come  out  and  fill  up  the  gap— 
or,  if  they  will  not,  will  they  at  least  pray  that  native 
men  may  be  raised  up  here  in  greater  numbers,  both 
able  and  willing  to  mount  the  breach  ?  Some  day 
the  Lord  will  take  the  work  into  His  own  hands,  and 
then  rebuke  the  laggard  zeal  of  those  who  will  not 
come  forward  now  to  His  help  against  the  mighty. 
*  This  kind  goeth  not  out  but  by  prayer  and  fast- 
ing,' What  a  volume  of  significancy  have  we  in  these 
words  !  Long  have  all  churches  and  societies  laboured 
by  all  manner  of  imaginable  plans,  methods,  and 
enginery  to  drive  out  the  monster  demon  of  Hin- 
dooism;  and  hitherto  but  with  very  partial  success. 
Perhaps  it  may  be  to  teach  us  all,  that  *  this  kind  will 
not  go  out  but  by  prayer  and  fasting,'  by  real  self- 
emptying,  self-denial,  and  humiliation  before  God,  ac- 
companied by  fervent,  importunate,  persevering  prayer. 
Instead,  therefore,  of  acting  any  longer  as  ingenious 
schemers  of  new  plans,  or  as  critics,  judges,  and  fault- 
finders with  old  ones ;  were  all  of  us,  at  home  and 
abroad,  to  betake  ourselves  more  to  self-humiliation 
and  prayer,  perhaps  even  '  this  kind '  of  demoniacal 
possession  would  soon  be  seen  *  going  out '  from  the 
souls  of  myriads,  to  the  praise  and  glory  of  Jehovah's 
omnipotent  grace." 

Mr.  Pourie  had  transferred  his  fine  missionary  spirit 
to  the  Free  Church  congregation,  which  he  was  too 
soon  to  leave  to  find  in  Sydney  a  grave  instead  of  the 
health  he  vainly  sought.  Dr.  Mack  ay,  long  an  in- 
valid, was  compelled  at  last  to  leave  the  work  he 
loved,  and  died  in  Edinburgh.  In  time  the  Mission 
was  reinforced  by  younger  men.     But  all  this  added 


JEt.  55.  A    MISSIONARY    REVIVAL.  309 

to  the  burden  laid  on  Dr.  Duff,  himself  fast  aging  from 
thirty  years'  toil.  Every  rainy  season  laid  him  low, 
to  recover  only  temporarily  during  the  brief  vacation 
of  the  cold  weather.  And  there  came  upon  him  the 
questioning  of  a  new  generation  of  ministers  in  his 
own  Church,  as  to  the  nature  and  the  wisdom  of  the 
missionary  method  which  Dr.  Inglis  had  suggested  in 
182^  he  himself  had  established  in  1830  and  woi'ked 
with  such  immediate  spiritual  results  ever  since, 
Dr.  Chalmers  had  approved  and  eulogized  time  after 
time,  and  the  other  evangelical  churches  had  carefully 
followed  after  first  ignorautly  opposing  it.  Such 
questioning  called  forth  the  closing  passage  of  his 
letter  on  Gopeenath's  death,  and  these  ardent  longings, 
at  a  time  when  he  had  bes^un,  with  other  evanofclical 
Christians  in  Calcutta,  a  series  of  revival  meetings  such 
as  had  turned  many  to  righteousness  in  America  and 
Ireland  just  before. 

"  My  own  firm  persuasion  is,  that  whether  we,  the 
weary,  toiling  pioneers,  ploughers,  and  sowers  shall  be 
privileged  to  reap  or  not,  the  reaping  of  a  great  har- 
vest will  yet  be  realized.  Perhaps  when  the  bones  of 
those  who  are  now  sowing  in  tears  shall  be  rotting  in 
the  dust,  something  like  justice  may  be  done  to  their 
principles  and  motives,  their  faith  and  perseverance, 
by  those  who  shall  then  be  reaping  with  joy,  and 
gathering  in  the  great  world-harvest  of  redeemed 
souls.  In  the  face  of  myriads  daily  perishing,  and  in 
the  face  of  myriads  instantaneously  saved  under  the 
mighty  outpourings  of  the  Spirit  of  grace,  I  feel  no 
disposition  to  enter  into  argument,  discussion,  or  con- 
troversy with  any  one.  Still  my  impulses  and  tenden- 
cies are  to  labour  on  amid  sunshine  and  storm,  to  leave 
all  to  God,  to  pray  without  ceasing  that  the  Spirit  may 
be  poured  out  on  Scotland,  England,  India,  and  all 
lands,  in  the   full   assurance    that   such   outpourings 

VOL.    II.  B    B 


370  LIFE    OF    DH.    DUFF.  1 86 1 

would  soon  settle  all  controversies,  put  an  end  to  all 
tlieorisings  about  modes  and  methods  and  other  im- 
material details,  and  give  us  all  so  much  to  do  with 
alarmed,  convicted,  and  converted  souls,  as  to  leave  no 
head,  no  heart,  no  spirit,  no  life  for  anything  else. 
Yes;  I  do  devoutly  declare  that  a  great,  widespread, 
universal  revival  would  be  the  instantaneous  and  all- 
satisfying  solution  of  all  our  difficulties,  at  home  and 
abroad !  Oh,  then,  for  such  a  revival !  How  long, 
Lord,  how  long  ?  When  wilt  Thou  rend  Thy  heavens 
and  come  down  ?  When  will  the  stream  descend  ? 
These,  and  such  like,  are  our  daily  aspirations.  We 
are  like  the  hart,  thirsting,  panting,  braying  for  tlie 
water-brooks.  We  feel  intensely  that  it  is  not  argu- 
ment, or  discussion,  or  controversy  that  will  ever  win 
or  convert  a  single  soul  to  God ;  that  it  is  the  Spirit's 
grace  which  alone  can  effectuate  this ;  and  it  is  in 
answer  to  believing,  persevering,  importunate  prayer, 
that  the  Spirit  usually  descends  with  His  awakening, 
convicting  and  converting  influences.  Our  weapon, 
therefore,  is  more  than  ever  the  Word  of  God,  and 
the  arm  that  wields  it,  prayer.  Surrounded  as  we  are 
by  the  bristling  fences  and  the  frowning  bulwarks  of 
a  three  thousand  years'  old  heathenism,  we  crave  the 
sympathies^  and  the  prayers  of  our  brethren  in  more 
highly  favoured  lands.  Painfully  familiar  as  we  are 
with  the  'hope  deferred'  which  maketh  the  'heartsick,' 
we  often  feel  faint,  very  faint ;  yet,  through  God's 
grace,  however  faint,  we  have  ever  found  ourselves 
still  '  pursuing,'  still  holding  on,  with  our  face  reso- 
lutely towards  the  enemy,  whether  confronting  us  in 
open  battle,  or  merely  evading  the  sharp  edge  of  the 
sword  of  the  Spirit  by  timely  flight.  Our  motto  has 
ever  been,  '  Onward  !  onward  ! '  no  matter  what  might 
be  the  Red  Sea  of  difficulties  ahead  of  us.  But,  oh, 
as  men — men  of  like  feeli  nfr-  n^id  infirmities  as  others 


^t.  55-  RUKAL    MISSION    AKOUND    MAHANAD.  37  I 

— it  would  tend  to  clicer  and  hearten  ns  did  we  find 
ourselves  encompassed  with  the  sympathies  and  the 
prayers  of  brethren  at  a  distance.  Not  that  God  has 
ever  left  us  witliout  some  witness  or  manifestation  of 
His  favour.  We  have  had  our  own  share  of  spiritual 
success ;  a  goodly  number  of  souls,  from  first  to  last, 
have  been  converted  to  God.  For  this  we  feel  deeply 
grateful.  But  we  long  for  thousands,  yea,  tens  of 
thousands,  and  hundreds  of  thousands,  and  millions  ! 
Will  the  Church  at  home,  if  wearied  of  giving  its 
moneys,  assist  us  by  a  united,  mighty  host  and 
army  of  prayers  ?  " 

His  own  Church  held  a  conference  of  two  days 
on  the  whole  history  and  methods  of  its  missions,  in 
November,  1861.  Their  founders.  Duff  and  Wilson, 
were  absent,  but  the  former  sent  home  to  Dr.  Cand- 
lish,  who  presided,  sixty  printed  octavo  pages  of  what 
he  termed  "  rough  notes."  These  were  meant  to  do 
what  in  1835  he  had  accomplished  by  the  living  voice. 
The  discussion  resulted  in  only  good.  It  dispelled 
ignorance,  quickened  the  zeal  of  the  Church,  and  called 
forth  volunteers  for  the  mission  field.  And  it  greatly 
helped  Dr.  Duff  in  a  new  extension  of  his  rural  mis- 
sion among  the  swarming  peasantry  of  the  county  of 
Hooghly.  From  Mahanad  as  a  centre,  under  the  Hev. 
J.  Bliattacharjya,  he  mapped  out  the  district  into  circle 
schools  where,  with  the  assistance  of  the  Vernacular 
Education  Society  afterwards,  Bengalee  preaching 
and  teaching  went  hand  in  hand.  There,  ever  since, 
that  Brahman  missionary  has  lived  as  the  pastor  of 
many  native  Christians,  as  the  superintendent  and  in- 
spector of  schools,  as  the  adviser  of  the  local  author- 
ities in  public  questions  affecting  the  peasantry  so 
that  Lord  Northbrook  selected  him  to  give  evidence 
on  the  subject  before  Parliament,  as  the  referee  of  the 
magistrate  in  questions  of  taxation  and  education,  and 


372  LIFE    OP    DE.    DUFF.  1862. 

as  the  guide,  pliilosopher,  and  friend  of  Hs  Hindoo 
neiglibours. 

We  cannot  better  part  from  Dr.  Duff's  purely 
missionary  work  at  this  time  than  by  looking  at 
this  picture  of  it,  drawn  by  a  competition-walla  in  all 
the  frankness  of  a  home  letter.  Dr.  Duff  had  just 
returned  from  a  long  inspection  of  the  remarkable 
results  of  the  Lutheran  Mission  to  the  aboriginal  Kols, 
on  the  uplands  of  Ohota  Nagpore. 

"  Calcutta,  '[6th  Feb.,  1862. 

"  Last  Sunday  was  the  communion  in  Mr.  Pourie'a  church. 
I  drove  down  with  Aitcluson  (now  Chief  Commissioner  of 
British  Burma,  then  in  the  Foreign  Office)  and  as  we  entered 
he  was  called  into  the  vestry.  What  they  wanted  with  him 
was  soon  apparent,  for  the  Raja  of  Kuppurtulla,  preceded  by 
Dr.  Duff,  walked  up  the  aisle  in  full  oriental  costume.  That 
was  a  stirring  sight,  and  has,  as  yet,  had  few  parallels.  He 
listened  most  attentively  to  the  sermon.  When  I  called 
yesterday  he  was  full  of  it.  The  Raja  had  expressed  himself 
much  interested  in  the  sermon,  *  especially,'  said  he,  '  in  that 
part  of  it  where  the  clergyman  showed  how  it  is  that  Christ's 
death  is  efficacious.'  Kuppurtulla  is  a  Sikh  Raja  of  some  con- 
sideration, who  has  his  head-qnarters  at  the  town  from  which 
he  takes  his  title,  in  Colonel  Lake's  commissionership.  He  is 
almost  a  Christian,  and  but  for  strong  political  reasons  would 
probably  come  forward  for  baptism.  From  his  estates  in  the 
Punjab  and  Oudh  he  has  a  revenue  of  £50,000.  He  has 
proved  himself  a  firm  friend  of  the  American  Missions.  He 
entirely  supports  one  missionary,  and  has  written  for  anotlier. 
In  Kuppurtulla  he  has  built  a  school,  a  church,  and  mission 
premises. 

"On  Wednesday  night  Dr.  Duff,  who  has  lately  returned 
from  a  two  months'  tour  in  Chota  Nagpore,  gave  an  account 
of  a  visit  to  that  province.  .  .  The  Kols  are  by  no 
means  so  rude  and  barbarous  a  race  as  they  have  often  been 
represented  to  be.  They  are  a  mild  and  intelligent  people, 
but  addicted  to  demon-worship.  The  accounts  we  have  been 
getting  at  home  of  the  spread  of  religion  among  that  people 


yEt.  56.  AT   WORK    IN   THE    COLLEGE.  373 

have  been  enormously  exaijgerated.  Dr.  DufF  involgliod 
against  such  misrepresentations,  as  calculated  to  dishearten 
people  here  and  at  home  wlien  the  real  state  of  the  case  is 
known.  But  ho  showed  what  a  good  work  it  was,  deep-laid 
and  progressive.  He  travelled  over  the  district  with  the 
Commissioner  (Colonel  Dalton),  wlio  is  a  sincere  friend  to 
the  cause.  Very  striking  and  affecting  it  was  to  hear  him 
contrast  the  spread  of  Christianity  there  with  what  it  has 
taken  thirty  years  of  labour  to  effect  among  the  casto-bonnd 
races  of  Bengal,  and  then  to  listen  to  the  triumphant  anticipa- 
tion of  the  fall  of  Brahmanism.  .  ,  I  have  seldom  felt 
such  a  profound  respect  and  admiration  for  a  man  as  I  did  for 
that  veteran  missionary,  as  he  spoke  to  me  with  the  tear  in 
his  eye  of  the  cause  to  which  he  has  given  his  life,  at  what  cost 
his  attenuated  and  enfeebled  frame  too  well  shows. 

"  On  the  morning  of  Satui-day  Dr.  Duff  took  us  to  hi.^ 
college.  As  he  drove  in  at  the  gates  of  the  handsome  edifice 
the  thousand  scholars  were  fast  gathering,  and  we  were  loudly 
saluted  by  cries  of  '  Good  morning,  sir.*  .  .  The  upper, 
or  English  division,  is  opened  by  a  prayer  from  Dr.  Duff.  Ho 
stood  in  the  verandah,  or  gallery,  from  which  open  off  the 
various  classrooms.  He  prayed,  amid  the  deepest  silence  and 
apparent  reverence,  for  the  overthrow  of  idolatrous  superstition 
and  the  spread  of  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God  in  India.  .  . 
The  highest  classes,  where  the  students  averaged  in  age  at 
least  twenty-one,  wore  engaged  in  reading  Abercrombie's 
'Moral  Powers,'  and  underwent  an  examination  in  the  text  and 
cognate  matters  that  testified  unmistakably  to  their  aptitude 
for  philosophical  acquirements.  Dr.  Duff  has  an  admirable 
way  of  speaking  to  the  lads.  In  every  class  we  entered  ho 
took  up  the  subject  in  hand  in  an  easy  and  familiar  way. 
With  great  tact  he  took  the  opportunity  of  illustrating  by  it 
some  great  practical,  scientific,  or  moral  truth,  in  a  style  that 
delighted  the  students,  even  when  it  led  them  to  laugh  at  tho 
religious  prejudices  in  which  they  had  been  brought  up.*' 

In  these  later  years  the  successive  presidents  at  the 
annual  examination  of  the  college  were  Sir  Bartle 
Frere,  when  in  Lord  Canning's  Council ;  Sir  Henry 
Durand,  and  Lord  Napier.      Lady  Elgin  inspected  the 


374  ^^^^    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1859, 

classes,  but  Lord  Lawronce  was  the  first  Governor- 
General,  soon  after  that,  to  make  a  state  visit  such 
as  his  predecessors  had  confined  to  the  secular  Govern- 
ment colleges. 

In  the  many  questions  of  administration  which  the 
events  of  1857-9  forced  upon  the  Government  and  the 
country  Dr.  Duff  took  a  keen  interest.  But,  as  a 
missionary,  he  was  called  upon  to  express  his  views 
publicly  only  when  the  good  of  the  whole  people  was 
at  stake.  Two  social  and  economic  difficulties  in 
Bengal  demanded  the  interference  of  Lord  Canning's 
later  government — the  rack-renting  of  the  peasantry 
by  their  own  zemindars,  and  the  use  of  their  feudal 
powers  by  English  landlords  or  lessees  to  secure  the 
profitable  cultivation  of  the  indigo  plant.  None  knew 
the  oppression  of  the  uneducated  millions  so  well  as 
the  missionaries  in  the  interior,  who  lived  among  and 
for  the  people,  spoke  their  language  and  sought  their 
highest  good.  Again  and  again  the  united  Missionary 
Conference  had  petitioned  the  Governor-General  for 
inquiry,  and  the  result  was  the  Charter  granted  by 
Parliament  in  1853.  But  nothing  came  of  that,  at 
first,  for  the  people,  and  again  the  Conference  asked 
for  a  commission  of  inquiry,  with  the  result  thus 
described  by  Dr.  DuS" :  "  All  being  then  apparently 
smooth  and  calm  on  the  surface  to  the  distant  official 
eye,  the  necessity  for  inquiry  was  almost  contemp- 
tuously scouted."  But,  as  soon  as  the  crisis  of  the 
Mutiny  would  allow.  Lord  Canning's  legislature  passed 
the  famous  Act  X.  of  1859  to  regulate  the  relations  of 
landlord  and  tenant.  Competition  then  invaded  pre- 
scription, but  the  Act  was  as  fair  an  attempt  to  pre- 
serve tenant-right  while  securing  to  the  landlord  the 
benefit  of  prices  and  improvements,  as  Mr.  Gladstone's, 
which  was  influenced  by  it,  was  in  Ireland  long  after. 
That  was  the  first  of  a  succession  of  measures,  down  to 


JEt.  53.  AGRARIAN    DISCONTENT    IN   BENGAL.  375 

the  last  year  of  Lord  Lawrence's  viceroyalty,  passed  to 
secure  the  old  cultivators  all  over  India  in  their  bene- 
ficial right  of  occupancy  and  improvements,  while  regu- 
lating the  conditions  on  which  their  rent  could  be 
enhanced.  Unhappily,  outside  of  the  permanent  tenure 
districts  of  Bengal  and  Oudh,  our  own  thirty  years 
leases  and  land-tax,  often  raised,  tempted  the  landlord 
to  squeeze  his  tenantry,  and  both  frequently  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  usurers  and  the  underlings  of  our  courts. 
But  in  1859  neither  zemindar  nor  ryot,  neither 
Bengalee  nor  English  landlord,  knew  his  rights. 
Early  in  18G0  the  peasantry  of  the  rich  county 
of  Nuddea  began  to  refuse  to  cultivate  indigo,  and 
to  mark  their  refusal  by  "  riots,  plunderings,  and 
burnings."  The  system  was  bad,  but  it  was  old,  it 
was  of  the  East  India  Company's  doing,  and  its  evils 
were  as  novel  to  the  Government  of  the  day  as  tho 
difficulty  of  devising  a  remedy  was  great.  Sir  J.  P. 
Grant,  the  second  Lieutenant-Governor,  was  able  and 
well-inclined  to  the  people ;  but  at  the  other  end  of 
the  official  chain  and  in  direct  contact  with  the  culti- 
vators, there  were  young  civilian  bureaucrats  who 
made  impossible  such  kindly  compromise  and  reforms 
as  have  since  preserved  a  similar  industry  in  Tirhoot. 
In  the  absence  of  anything  like  statesmanship  any- 
where, and  amid  the  animosities  of  the  vested  interests, 
the  whole  of  Bengal  became  divided  into  two  parties, 
for  and  against  the  indigo-planters.  The  result  was 
the  destruction  of  an  industry  which  was  worth  a 
million  sterling  annually  to  the  country.  Authorities 
who,  like  Dr.  Daff  and  the  Friend  of  India,  dared  to 
seek  the  good  of  the  people  while  striving  to  preserve 
the  industry,  were  scouted,  were  denounced  in  the 
daily  press,  and  their  very  lives  were  threatened.  An 
Act  was  hastily  passed  to  enforce  the  peace  and  appoint- 
ing a  commission  of  inquiry  on  which  the  missionaries 


37^  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1859. 

and  all  classes  were  represented.  To  tliat  Dr.  Duff 
submitted  a  letter,  which  was  published  because  of  "the 
character  and  position  of  the  writer,"  with  the  acknow- 
ledgment that  it  dealt  "  in  a  very  broad  and  compre- 
hensive spirit  with  the  subject  of  popular  education  as 
the  chief  remedy  for  the  evils  disclosed."  "  With  the 
bearings  of  the  indigo  system  in  a  merely  political 
or  commercial  point  of  view,"  he  wrote,  "  I  never  felt 
it  to  be  any  concern  of  mine  in  any  way  to  intermeddle. 
But  to  its  bearings  on  the  moral  and  social  welfare  of 
the  people,  to  the  task  of  whose  elevation  from  the 
depths  of  a  debasing  ignorance  my  whole  life  has  been 
consecrated,  I  have  always  felt  it  incumbent  to  give 
due  heed.  .  ,  In  common  with  my  missionary 
brethren  of  all  churches  and  denominations,  I  repudiate 
with  all  my  whole  heart  and  soul  anything  like  ill-will 
to  indigo  planters  or  hostility  to  indigo  planting  as 
such."  The  truth  is,  that  the  planters  were  the  victims 
who  suffered  most  from  the  Company's  trade  system 
and  from  the  failure  of  the  Queen's  Government  to 
give  Bengal  the  legislative  courts  and  police  which  it 
needed — till  too  late. 

A  personal  case  occurred  to  add  new  bitterness  to 
the  conflict  which  swept  away  the  planters  altogether. 
The  Rev.  James  Long,  a  patriotic  Irish  agent  of  the 
Church  Missionary  Society,  who  worked  for  and  sym- 
pathised with  the  people,  made  special  researches  into 
their  vernacular  literature,  at  the  instance  of  Govern- 
ment. '  He  caused  a  Bengalee  play,  termed  Neel  Dur- 
pwij  or  the  Indigo  Mirror,  to  be  translated  into  Eng- 
lish, and  a  valuable  contribution  to  our  knowledge 
of  native  opinion  it  was.  But  it  libelled  both  planters 
and  their  wives,  as  a  class.  And  the  translation  was 
officially  circulated  by  the  Bengal  Office,  which  thus 
became  a  partisan.  Still  not  one  of  these  offences, 
whether  in  the  original,  the  translation,  or  the  circu- 


/Et.   53.  UNJUST    IMPRISONMENT    OP    MR.    LONG.  377 

lation,  exceeded  the  extreme  violence  of  the  planters  in 
the  daily  newspapers.  In  an  evil  moment  the  planters 
forfeited  all  the  sympathy  duo  to  the  sufferers  by 
other  men's  misdeeds,  by  proceeding  against  Mr.  Long 
.for  libel,  not  civilly,  but  by  the  unusual  and  persecut- 
ing course  of  criminal  procedure,  and  that  before  the 
least  judicial  of  the  judges  of  the  old  Supreme  Court. 
The  missionary,  whom  at  other  times  the  planters  re- 
joiced in,  was  sentenced,  to  the  horror  of  the  majority 
of  them,  to  a  fine  of  a  hundred  pounds — immediately 
paid  by  a  Bengalee — and  imprisonment  for  one  month 
at  the  hottest  season  of  the  year.  The  jail  authorities 
did  their  best  to  make  him  comfortable,  and  he  held 
daily  levees  of  the  best  men  and  women  of  Calcutta, 
including  planters.  Dr.  Duff  was  doubtless  one  of 
the  visitors  ;  what  he  felt,  for  his  friend  and  for  the 
cause  of  righteousness,  this  letter  shows  : 

"Saturday. 

"My  Dear  Mrs.  Long, — Accept  my  best  thanks  for  the 
note  from  your  beloved  husband.  It  was  very  kind  of  him  to 
remember  me,  and  of  you  to  send  rao  the  note  so  promptly.  I 
am  glad  that  he  is  out  of  Madras.  His  stay  there  could  only 
have  prolonged  excitement;  and  what  he  needs  above  all  things 
now  is  rest,  rest,  rest,  to  mind  and  body.  He  should  go  up  to 
the  hills  at  once,  and  all  day  wander  over  the  breezy  heights, 
communing  with  dumb  but  grand  nature,  in  her  most  glorious 
manifestations, — or  rather,  with  the  great  God  whose  handi- 
work is  so  glorious. 

"  This  mail  brings  London  papers.  I  am  glad  to  see  the 
Daily  Neius,  next  in  influence  to  The  Times  itself,  take  Mr. 
Long's  pai't  in  the  Neel  Durpun  case,  and  condemn  the  planters, 
jury  and  judge. — Yours  very  sincerely,  Alexander  Duff." 

The  catastrophe  of  the  imprisonment  sobered  all 
parties,  and  Dr.  Duff's  fervid  fearlessness  only  made 
the  best  of  the  planters  his  warm  friends.  But  it  re- 
quired nearly  ten  years  of  public  discussion,  even  till 


378  LIFJ3    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1859. 

Sir  GreorgG  Campbell  became  Lieutenant-Governor,  to 
secure  tliat  primary  education  for  which  Lord  William 
Bentinck  had  appointed  Mr.  W.  Adam  in  1835,  and 
which  Duff  and  others  had  never  ceased  to  demand. 
A  school  cess,  even  in  Bengal,  now  gives  the  dumb 
millions  who  pay  it,  a  chance  of  knowing  their  right 
hand  from  their  left. 

When  the  Christian  Vernacular  Society  for  India 
was  established, — an  agency  for  giving  the  East  trained 
Christian  teachers  and  a  pure  literature,  for  which  the 
first  Lord  Lawrence  worked  almost  to  the  day  of  his 
death, — the  Bengal  Missionary  Conference  appointed 
Dr.  Duff  convener  of  a  committee  to  facilitate  its  in- 
troduction into  Eastern  India.  He  drew  up  a  remark- 
able paper  on  "  The  Educational  Destitution  of  Bengal 
and  Behar,"  which  the  Conference  published.  Mr. 
Long,  who,  with  Mr.  Lacroix  just  before  his  death, 
acted  with  him  in  the  committee,  writes  to  us  that 
Dr.  Duff's  "  sympathy  with  the  masses  grew  with  his 
increasing  acquaintauce  with  India,  and  with  the  de- 
velopment of  the  vernacular  press.  At  the  close  of 
our  last  meeting,  I  recollect  his  saying,  with  great 
emphasis,  '  though  our  direct  missionary  methods  are 
different, — one  devoted  to  English  education,  another 
to  vernacular  schools,  and  the  third  to  vernacular 
preaching, — there  is  not  one  essential  point  relating  to 
the  work  of  Christian  vernacular  instruction  on  which 
we  differ.'  Dr.  Duff  subsequently  spent  three  days 
with  me  at  the  Thakoorpookur  mission  of  the  Church 
of  England,  and  no  one  could  sympathise  more  strongly 
than  he  did  in  the  plans  I  was  working  out  for  peasant 
education.  We  met  every  month  at  the  Missionary 
Conference,  the  Tract  and  the  Bible  Society's  com- 
mittees, in  all  of  which  he  took  a  very  active  part.  He 
never  encouraged  the  practice  of  denationalising  native 
Christians  in  dress,  modes  of  life,  or  names.     He  did 


JEl.  S3-  ^^'    DRINKWATEE   BETHUiNB.  3/9 

not  like  to  soo  native  gentlomen  attired  in  European 
costume,  and,  as  a  consequence  of  this  expensive  style, 
deinaiuling,  as  in  the  case  of  some  converts,  equality  of 
salary  with  Europeans,  for  he  declared  that  instead 
of  equality  this  would  be  giving  them  three  times  as 
much." 

It  was  honourable  to  the  Hindoo  gentlemen  of  Cal- 
cutta— a  community  Dr.  Dulf  had  done  more  than  any 
other  man  to  create  and  to  liberalise — that,  in  1859, 
they  united  with  the  leaders  of  English  society  there  in 
entreating  him  to  fill  the  seat  of  president  of  the  Beth- 
une  Society.  That  institute  had  been  created  seven 
years  before,  on  the  suggestion  of  Dr.  Mouat,  to  form 
a  common  meeting  place  for  the  educated  natives  and 
their  English  friends,  and  to  break  down  as  far  as  pos- 
sible the  barriers  set  up  by  caste,  not  only  between 
Hindoos  and  all  the  world  beside,  but  between  Hindoos 
and  Hindoos.  Such  had  been  the  social  and  intellectual 
progress  since  18  JO,  that  the  time  had  come  to  develop 
the  debating  societies  of  youths  into  a  literary  and 
scientific  association  of  the  type  of  those  of  the  West. 
Mr.  Bethune  had  just  before  passed  away,  his  remains 
followed  to  the  grave  by  the  whole  city.  His  name 
was  given  to  the  new  society,  which  was  intended  to 
express  the  whole  aims  of  his  life.  The  son  of  the 
historian  of  the  siege  of  Gibraltar,  and  one  of  the  Con- 
galtons  of  Balfour  in  Fifeshire,  Drinkwater  Bethune 
became  the  fourth  wrangler  of  Airey's  year  at  Cam- 
bridge, gave  himself  to  literature  and  the  law,  joined 
Lord  Brougham  as  a  leading  spirit  in  the  Society  for 
the  Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge,  made  a  reputation 
as  a  Parliamentary  counsel,  and  on  going  to  India  as 
Macaulay's  successor  was  appointed  president  of  the 
Council  of  Education,  and  there  founded  the  female 
school  which  still  bears  his  name. 

The  new  society  started  on  a  purely  secular  basis. 


380  LIFE    OF    DR.    DtJrr.  1859. 

Afraid  of  truth  on  all  its  sides,  and  timidly  jealous  of 
that  which  had  made  the  natives  of  the  West  all  they 
were,  it  was  about  to  die  of  inanition.  Dr.  Duff,  who 
had  watched  its  foundation  with  interest  but  was  pro- 
hibted  from  helping  it  by  its  narrow  basis,  was  urged 
to  come  to  the  rescue.  He  asked  for  a  detailed  explana- 
tion of  the  rule  confining  its  discussions  to  any  subject 
which  may  be  included  within  the  range  of  general  liter- 
ature and  science  only.  Dr.  Chevers,  the  vice-president, 
obtained  from  the  members  the  unanimous  declaration 
that  this  did  not  exclude  natural  theology,  or  respectful 
allusions,  as  circumstances  might  suggest,  to  the  his- 
toric facts  of  Christianity,  and  to  the  lives  and  labours 
of  those  who  had  been  its  advocates.  Then  the  mission- 
ary gladly  became  president  and  worked  a  magical 
change.  The  theatre  of  the  Medical  College,  where  the 
society  met  every  month,  proved  for  the  next  four 
years  to  be  the  centre  of  attraction  to  all  educated 
Calcutta,  of  whatever  creed  or  party.  The  orthodox 
Brahmans  were  there,  taking  part  in  the  intellectual 
ferment,  through  leaders  like  the  Raja  Kalee  Krishna. 
"  Young  Bengal "  had  higher  ideals  set  before  it,  and 
found  a  new  vent  for  its  seething  aspirations.  Native 
Christians  took  their  place  in  the  intellectual  arena 
beside  the  countrymen  whom  they  desired  to  lead  into 
the  same  light  and  peace  which  they  themselves  had 
found.  Maharajas,  like  him  of  Benares  from  whose 
ancestor  Warren  Hastings  had  narrowly  escaped,  when 
they  visited  the  metropolis  to  do  homage  to  the  Queen 
in  the  person  of  the  Viceroy,  returned  to  their  own 
capitals  to  found  similar  societies.  And,  besides  the 
powerful  fascination  of  the  new  president's  eloquence 
and  courtesy,  there  was  the  attraction  of  lectures  from 
every  Englishman  of  note  in  or  passing  through  the  city. 
To  take  only  the  first  session,  of  1859-60,  Dr.  Duf£ 
opened  it  with  a  lecture   on   the  Rise  and  Progress 


^t.  53.  riiESlDliNT    OF    TUE    BETilUNE    SOCIETY.  38 1 

of  Native  Education.  Professor  B.  B.  Cowcll,  now  of 
Cambridge,  followed  in  a  pregnant  paper  on  the  Prin- 
ciples of  Historic  Evidence,  which  are  conspicuous  by 
their  absence  all  through  the  annals  and  literature  of 
Asia  outside  of  the  Hebrew  records.  Colonel  Baird 
Smith  expounded  the  Philosophy  of  Irrigation,  and 
then  went  to  Madras  to  die ;  the  loss  of  tliis  great 
engineer-general,  and  son-in-law  of  Do  Quincey,  calling 
forth  from  Dr.  Duff  a  burst  of  fcelins:.  Colonel  Yule 
poured  out  the  stores  of  his  quaint  learning  on  Java 
and  the  Javanese.  Mr.  Don,  the  latest  colleague  of 
the  president,  wrote  on  the  Methods  and  Results  of 
German  Speculation ;  Dr.  Mullens  on  the  Invasions  of 
the  Roman  Empire  and  of  India;  and  Miss  Mary 
Carpenter  on  Reformatory  Scliools.  Archdeacon  Pratt 
contributed  a  monograph  on  Sir  Isaac  Newton  such  as 
one  of  the  first  mathematical  philosophers  of  that  day 
alone  could  have  written.  But  most  valuable  of  all 
were  the  lectures,  on  Socrates,  on  Cambridge,  and  such 
subjects,  of  the  head-master  of  Marlborough,  whose 
name,  as  Bishop  Cotton,  will  ever  be  associated  with 
Heber's  as  the  best  and  the  greatest  of  Indian  prelates. 
Alternating  with  such  lecturers  were  the  Bengalee 
scholars,  Dr.  K.  M.  Banerjea  and  Dr.  Rajendralala 
Mittra,  and  not  a  few  essayists,  Muhammadan,  Hin- 
doo and  Christian.  But  that  the  society  might  not 
beat  the  air  with  mere  talk,  its  very  practical  president 
organized  it  in  six  sections,  of  education,  literature  and 
philosophy,  science  and  art,  sanitation,  sociology,  and 
native  female  improvement,  under  the  late  Henry 
Woodrow,  Professor  Cowell,  Mr.  H.  S.  Smith,  Dr. 
Chevers,  Mr.  Long  and  Baboo  Ramaprasad  Roy  re- 
spectively. These  worked  and  reported  results,  duly 
published,  with  all  the  enthusiasm,  and  more  than  the 
method  of  the  Social  Science  Consrress  and  such  bodies. 
Native  society  still  looks  back  on  the  four   brilliant 


3^2  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  i860. 

years  of  Dr.  Duff's  presidency.  Thus  for  rich  and  poor, 
educated  and  ignorant,  Christian  and  non-Christian,  he 
did  not  cease  to  sacrifice  himself,  and  always  in  the 
character  of  the  Christian  missionary  who,  because 
he  would  sanctify  all  truth,  feared  none. 

All  this,  however,  was  but  the  play  of  his  evening 
hours.  The  absorbing  business  of  his  daily  life  for 
six  years,  next  to  but  along  with  his  spiritual  duties, 
was  to  secure  strictly  catholic  regulations  for  the 
University  and  the  grant-in-aid  systems  which  his 
evidence  in  1853,  following  all  his  life-work,  had 
called  into  existence.  He  had  no  sooner  returned  to 
India  after  that,  than  he  was  nominated  by  the 
Governor-General  to  be  one  of  those  who  drew  up 
the  constitution  of  the  University,  and  he  was  fre- 
quently consulted  by  the  Bengal  Government  on  the 
principles  which  should  regulate  grants  to  non-official 
colleges  and  schools.  So  long  as  he  remained  in 
Calcutta  he  secured  fair  play  for  the  liberal  and  self- 
developing  principles  of  the  education  despatch  of 
1854.  When  he  and  Dr.  AVilson  ceased  to  influence 
affairs  and  rulers,  the  public  instruction  of  India 
began  to  fall  back  into  the  bureaucratic,  anti-moral 
and  politically  dangerous  system,  from  which  Lord 
Halifax  thought  he  had  for  ever  rescued  it.  In  all  the 
Presidencies  great  state  departments  of  secular  educa- 
tionists have  been  formed,  which  are  permanent  com- 
pared with  the  Governments  they  influence,  and  are 
powerful  from  their  control  of  the  press.  Every  year 
recently  has  seen  the  design  of  Parliament  and  the 
Crown,  of  both  the  Whig  and  the  Conservative  minis- 
tries, in  1854-60,  farther  and  farther  departed  from, 
as  it  is  expressed  in  this  key-note  of  the  great  des- 
patch ;  "  We  confidently  expect  that  the  introduction 
of  the  system  of  grants-in-aid  will  very  largely 
increase  the  number  of  schools  of  a  superior  order; 


^t.  54.  INFLUENCE  THROUGH  THE  CALCUTTA  UNIVERSITY.  383 

and  we  liope  that,  before  long,  sufficient  provision  may 
be  found  to  exist  in  many  parts  of  the  country  for  the 
education  of  the  middle  and  hisfher  classes,  inde- 
pendent  of  the  Government  institutions,  wliich  may 
then  be  closed."  The  departure  of  the  local  govern- 
ments from  this  healthy  principle  grieved  Dr.  Duff 
even  in  his  dying  hours,  because  of  all  its  consequences 
in  undiluted  secularism,  amounting,  in  the  case  of 
individual  officials  in  Bengal  and  Bombay,  to  the 
propagation  of  atheism  more  subtle  than  that  which 
he  had  overthrown  in  I80O  ;  in  political  discontent 
and  active  attacks  on  the  Government,  of  which  more 
than  one  Viceroy  has  recently  complained ;  and  in  the 
financial  mistake  which  upholds  departments  too  strong 
for  control,  while  killing  the  only  system  that  cares 
for  the  masses  by  making  the  wealthy  pay  for  their 
own  education.  For  the  first  six  years  of  the  history 
of  the  University  of  Calcutta,  in  all  that  secured  its 
catholicity,  and  in  such  questions  as  pure  text-books, 
and  the  establishment  of  the  chairs  of  physical  science 
contemplated  by  the  despatch,  Dr.  Duff  led  the  party 
in  the  senate,  consisting  of  Bishop  Cotton,  Archdeacon 
Pratt,  Dr.  Kay,  Dr.  Ogilvie,  Dr.  Cowell,  Dr.  Mullens, 
Dr.  K.  M.  Bauerjea,  Sir  H.  Durand,  Bishop  Stuart, 
Mr.  C.  U.  Aitchison,  Mr.  Samuel  Laing,  Sir  C.  Tre- 
velyan  and  the  present  writer.  Of  his  leadership, 
affecting  the  hooks  and  subjects  daily  studied  by 
the  thousands  of  youths  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
University  from  Peshawur  to  Ceylon,  Dr.  Banerjea 
has  thus  written :  "  To  his  gigantic  mind  the  suc- 
cessive Yice-Chancellors  paid  due  deference,  and  he 
was  the  virtual  governor  of  the  University.  The 
examining  system  still  in  force  was  mainly  of  his 
creation,  and  although  it  may  be  capable  of  improve- 
ment with  the  progress  of  society,  yet  those  who 
complain   of  the  large  area  of  subjects  involved  in  it 


3B4  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1863. 

Stem  to  forget  that  narrow-mindedness  is  not  a  less 
mischievous  evil  than  shallowness  of  mind.  Dr.  Duff 
was  again  the  first  person  who  insisted  on  education 
in  the  physical  sciences,  and  strongly  urged  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  professorship  of  physical  science  for 
the  University.  Although  he  first  met  with  opposi- 
tion in  official  quarters,  yet  his  influence  was  such 
that  it  could  not  be  shaken." 

The  Viceroy  is,  by  his  office,  Chancellor  of  the 
University,  and  he  appoints  the  Vice-Chancellor  for 
a  term  of  two  years.  Lord  Elgin  naturally  turned 
to  Sir  Charles  Trevelyan,  who  had  been  sent  out  as 
his  financial  colleague  in  council.  But  although  the 
honour  had  been  well  won,  that  official  would  not  wear 
it  so  long  as  it  had  not  been  offered  to  one  whom  he 
thus  declared  worthier : 

"Calcutta,  22nd  March,  1863, 

"My  Dear  Dr.  Duff, — I  have  written  to  Sir  R.  Napier 
requesting  that  he  will  submit  to  the  Governor-General  my 
strong  recommendation  that  you  should  be  appointed  Vice- 
Chancellor  of  the  Univei'sity,  and  entirely  disclaiming  the 
honour  on  my  part  if  there  should  have  been  any  idea  of 
appointing  me.  It  is  yours  by  riglit,  because  you  have  borne 
without  rest  or  refreshment  the  burden  and  heat  of  the  long 
day,  which  I  hope  is  not  yet  near  its  close ;  and,  what  concerns 
us  all  more,  if  given  to  you  it  will  be  an  unmistakable  public 
acknowledgment  of  the  paramount  claims  of  national  educa- 
tion, and  will  be  a  great  encouragement  to  every  effort  that 
may  be  made  for  that  object. — Very  sincerely  yours,  Ch. 
Trevelyan.'' 

Alas !  by  that  time  *'  the  long  day "  was  already 
overshadowed,  so  far  as  residence  in  India  was  con- 
cerned. The  friend  of  his  student  days  at  St.  An- 
drews, and  of  his  later  career,  Dr.  Tweedie,  had  been 
taken  away.  Dr.  W.  Hanna  had  taken  up  the  duty  of 
the  home  control  of  the  Foreign  Missions  only  long 
enough  to  show  how  well  he  would  have  exercised  it 


/^t.  57.  FOllCRD   TO    KETUHN    TO    SOOTLAXD.  385 

for  both  India,  Africa  and  tlie  Church,  if  he  could  have 
continued  to  bear  the  burden.  Dr.  CandHsh  had  tem- 
porarily entered  the  breach.  Again,  as  in  1847,  the  cry 
reached  Dr.  Dull:,  "  Come  home  to  save  the  missions." 
But  neither  Committee  nor  General  Assembly  moved 
him  till  another  finger  pointed  the  way.  In  the  fatal 
month  of  July,  18G3,  his  old  enemy,  dysentery,  laid 
him  low.  To  save  his  life,  the  physicians  hurried  him 
off  on  a  sea  voyage  to  China.  He  had  dreamed  that 
the  coolness  of  such  a  Himalayan  station  as  Darjeeling 
would  complete  the  cure.  But  he  was  no  longer  the 
youth  who  had  tried  to  fight  disease  in  1834,  and  had 
been  beaten  home  in  the  strusforle.  He  had  worked  like 
no  other  man,  in  East  and  West,  for  the  third  of  a  cen- 
tury. So,  in  letters  to  Dr.  Candlish  from  Calcutta  and 
the  China  Seas,  he  reviewed  all  the  way  by  which  he 
had  been  led  to  recognise  the  call  of  Providence,  and 
he  submitted.  He  returned,  by  Bombay  and  Madras, 
to  Calcutta,  aiid  there  he  quietly  set  himself  to  prepare 
for  his  departure. 

The  varied  communities  of  Bengal  were  roused,  not 
to  arrest  the  homeward  movement,  the  pain  of  which  to 
him,  as  well  as  the  loss  to  India,  they  knew  to  bo  over- 
borne by  a  divinely  marked  necessity,  but  to  honour 
the  venerable  missionary  as  not  even  Governors  had 
ever  been  honoured.  At  first,  such  was  the  instinctive 
conviction  of  the  true  catholicity  of  his  mission,  and 
the  self-sacrifice  of  his  whole  career,  that  it  was  re- 
solved to  unite  men  of  all  creeds  in  one  memorial  of 
him.  A  committee,  of  which  Bishop  Cotton,  Sir  C. 
Trevelyan,  and  the  leading  natives  and  representatives 
of  the  other  cities  of  India  were  members,  resolved  to 
reproduce,  in  the  centre  of  the  educational  buildings  of 
the  metropolis,  the  Maison  Carree  of  Nismes.  The 
marble  hall,  the  duplicate  of  that  exquisite  gem  of 
Greek  architecture  in  an  imperial  province,  was  to  be 

VOL.    11.  0    C 


386  LIFE   OF    DE.    DUFF.  1863. 

used  for  and  to  symbolise  tlie  catholic  pursuit  of  truth 
on  a  basis  not  less  broad  and  divine  than  that  which 
he  had  given  to  the  Bethune  Society.  But,  as  there 
were  native  admirers  of  the  man  who  thought  this  too 
Christian,  so  there  were  many  of  his  own  countrymen 
who  desired  to  mark  still  more  vividly  his  peculiar  genius 
as  a  missionary.  The  first  result  accordingly  was  the 
endowment  in  the  University  of  Daff  scholarships,  to 
be  held,  one  by  a  student  of  his  own  college,  one  by  a 
student  of  the  Eurasian  institutions  for  which  he  had 
done  so  much,  and  two  by  the  best  students  of  all  the 
affiliated  arts  colleges,  now  fifty-seven  in  number.  The 
Bethune  Society  and  the  Doveton  College  procured  oil 
portraits  of  their  benefactor  by  the  best  artists.  His 
own  students,  Cliristian  and  non-Christian,  placed  his 
marble  bust  in  the  hall  where  so  many  generations  of 
youths  had  sat  at  his  feet.  And  a  few  of  the  Scottish 
merchants  of  India,  Singapore,  and  China  ofiered  him 
£11,000.  The  capital  he  destined  for  the  invalided 
missionaries  of  his  own  Church,  and  for  these  it  is  now 
administered  by  the  surviving  donors  as  trustees.  On 
the  interest  of  this  sum  he  thenceforth  lived,  refusing 
all  the  emoluments  of  the  offices  he  held.  The  only 
personal  gift  which  he  was  constrained  to  accept  was  the 
house,  22,  Lauder  Road,  Edinburgh,  which  the  same 
friends  insisted  on  purchasing  for  him. 

The  valedictory  addresses  which  poured  in  upon  him, 
and  his  replies,  in  the  last  days  of  1863  would  fill  a 
volume.  Almost  every  class  and  creed  in  Bengal  was 
represented.  The  forty  or  fifty  members  of  the  united 
Missionary  Conference,  of  which  he  had  been  a  founder 
thirty-three  years  before,  thus  poured  out  their  hearts, 
testifying  in  the  name  of  all  the  Reformed  Churches, 
British,  American  and  European,  to  the  value  of  that 
system  of  evangelizing  Brahman  and  Muhammadan 
which,  a  generation  before,  their  predecessors  had  op- 


^l.  57.  FAREWELLS    TO    INDIA.  387 

posed  :  "  They  cannot  refrain  from  bearing  their  testi- 
mony to  the  distinguished  service  he  has  rendered  to 
the  cause  of  Christian  education,  by  means  of  the  Free 
Churcli  Institution,  during  the  entire  period  of  his 
missionary  life,  and  by  his  valuable  counsels  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  University  of  Calcutta  in  recent  years. 
Nor  do  they  forget  the  powerful  influence  exerted  upon 
the  Christian  Church  during  his  visits  home  by  his  able 
advocacy  of  the  claims  of  missions.  In  parting  with 
their  beloved  friend  and  brother,  the  Conference  desire 
to  convey  to  him  afresh  the  assurance  of  their  warm 
affection  and  esteem.  They  glorify  God  in  him,  and 
while  they  regret  that  missionary  work  in  India  is 
deprived  of  his  personal  services,  they  wish,  him,  in 
the  new  sphere  opened  to  him  at  home,  the  continued 
enjoyment  of  the  Master's  favour,  and  the  possession  of 
divine  peace,  so  long  as  life  lasts."  Private  friends, 
like  Durand,  and  high  officials  who  knew  only  his  public 
services,  made  it,  by  their  letters  and  memorials,  still 
more  difficult  to  say  farewell  to  a  land  which  the  true 
Anglo-Indian  loves  with  a  passionate  longing  for  its 
people  and  their  civilizers.  Very  pathetic  was  his 
farewell  to  bis  own  students,  those  in  Christ  and  those 
still  halting  between  two  opinions.  But  most  charac- 
teristic of  his  whole  work,  his  spiritual  fidelity,  and  his 
cultured  comprehensiveness,  was  tbe  reply  to  the  grate- 
ful outpourings  of  the  Bethune  Society,  representing  all 
educated  non-Christian  Bengal.  The  whole  pamphlet, 
address  and  reply,  marks  the  difference  between  1830 
and  1863,  and  in  that  diffiirence  the  work  he  had  done. 
Having  passed  the  philanthropic  and  educative  objects 
of  the  society  in  review,  he  reminded  its  members  : 

"Much  as  I  have  delighted  in  these  objects,  it  is  not 
solely,  or  even  chiefly  for  the  promotion  of  these,  that 
[  was  originally  induced  to  exchange  my  beloved 
native  Grampians   with  their  exhilarating  breezes,  for 


388  LIFE   OF   DR.*-DU¥F.  1863. 

tlie  humid  plains  of  Bengal  with  their  red  and  copper 
sky  and  scorching  atmosphere.  Oh,  no  !  There  is 
on  record  no  instance,  so  far  as  I  know,  of  mere  liter- 
ature, mere  science,  mere  philosophy,  having  had  the 
power  to  sever  any  of  their  votaries  from  the  chosen 
abodes  of  cultured  and  refined  society,  and  to  send 
them  forth,  not  for  purposes  of  discovery  or  research, 
but  on  errands  of  pure  philanthropy,  unto  strange  and 
foreign  lands.  But  what  these  have  failed  to  do, 
Christianity  has  been  actually  doing  in  ten  thousand 
instances  during  the  last  eighteen  hundred  years. 
And  why  ?  Because,  while  it  seeks  to  promote  man's 
earthly  good  in  every  possible  way  and  in  the  highest 
possible  degree,  its  chief  aim  is  of  a  vastly  higher  and 
more  transcendent  kind.  It  is  this  higher,  nobler, 
diviner  aim,  which  supplies  the  impelling  motive  to 
disinterested  self-denial  in  seeking  to  promote  the 
highest  welfare  of  man.  It  is  the  grand  end  which 
Christianity  professes  to  have  in  view,  with  the 
marvellous  love  which  prompted  it,  that  of  saving, 
through  the  incarnation  and  death  of  the  Son  of  God, 
immortal  souls  from  sin,  guilt  and  pollution,  and  of 
raising  them  up  to  the  heights  of  celestial  blessedness, 
which  has  been  found  potent  enough  to  move  numbers 
to  submit  to  the  heaviest  sacrifices — to  relinquish  home 
and  the  society  of  friends,  with  all  their  endearing 
associations  and  fellowships — to  go  forth  into  the 
heart  of  the  wilderness  and  even  jeopard  their  lives 
in  the  high  places  of  barbarism.  And  the  strength  of 
the  motive  thus  derived  is  enhanced  by  the  assurance 
that  the  sovereign  antidote  here  provided,  in  His  wis- 
dom and  beneficence,  by  God  Himself,  for  the  woes 
and  maladies  of  fallen  humanity,  is  fraught  with 
peculiar  power — 'the  power  of  God' — the  power  of 
a  divine  energy  accompanying  the  preaching  of  the 
g;ospel ;  a  power,  therefore,  fitted  and  designed  by  the 


^t.  57.         FAREWELL   TO   TilE    EDUCATED   HINDOO:^.  389 

Almighty  disposer  of  all  influence,  to  operate  on  the 
mind  of  man,  in  all  states  and  conditions  of  life,  with 
a  far  more  imperial  sway  than  any  other  known 
agency.  While  this  assurance,  again,  is  mightily  con- 
firmed by  actnal  historic  evidence  that  there  is  that, 
in  its  wondrous  tale  of  unspeakable  tenderness  and 
love,  in  the  awful  solemnity  of  its  sanctions,  in  tlie 
vitalizing  force  of  its  motives,  in  the  terribleness  of  its 
threatenings,  in  the  alluring  sweetness  of  its  promises, 
and  in  the  grandeur  and  magnificence  of  its  proffered 
rewards,  which  has  been  found  divinely  adapted  to 
pierce  into  the  darkest  heathen  intellect,  to  arouse 
into  action  its  long  slumbering  faculties,  to  melt  into 
contrition  the  most  obdurate  savaG:e  heart  and  enchain 
its  wild  roving  desires  and  restless  impulses  with  a 
fascination  more  marvellous  and  more  absolute  far 
than  aught  that  fables  yet  have  feigned  or  hope  con- 
ceived. 

"  Truly  blessed,  according  to  the  records  of  history, 
are  the  people  that  know  the  joyful  sound.  Designed 
of  heaven  to  reach  and  penetrate  all  ears,  to  move  and 
affect  all  hearts,  it  has  already  gladdened  the  homes  of 
multitudes  among  all  kindreds  and  tribes  and  peoples 
and  nations.  Having  an  intelligible  message  of  peace  and 
goodwill  for  every  man,  in  every  place,  at  every  time  and 
under  every  varying  circumstance,  it  has  been  wafted 
by  heralds  of  salvation  over  every  girdling  zone  of 
earth.  Unrelaxed  by  temperate  warmth,  unscathed 
by  torrid  heat,  unbenumbed  by  arctic  cold,  it  can 
point  to  its  trophies  in  every  realm  of  civilization,  in 
every  barbarian  clime,  in  every  savage  island.  As  a 
conqueror  it  has  entered  the  palaces  of  mightiest 
monarchs  and  raised  into  more  than  eartldy  royalty 
the  tenants  of  the  Immble  wigwam.  It  has  controlled 
the  deliberations  of  sages  and  senates,  it  has  stilled  the 
uproar  of  tattooed  warriors  wielding  the  ruthless  toma- 


390  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1863. 

hawk.  It  has  caused  the  yell  and  whoop  of  murderous 
onslaught  to  be  exchanged  for  the  soft  cadences  of 
prayer,  and  the  mellow  tones  of  praise  and  gladness. 
It  has  prevailed  on  the  marauding  hordes  of  the 
wilderness  to  cast  off  the  habits  and  customs  of  a 
brutish  ancestry,  and  to  emulate  the  improved  modes 
and  manners  of  refined  society.  It  has  impelled  them 
to  fling  aside  the  bones  and  the  beads,  the  paint  and 
the  feathers,  which  only  rendered  nakedness  more 
hideous,  and  to  assume  the  garb  and  the  vesture  be- 
fitting the  requirements  of  decency  and  moral  worth. 
It  has  successfully  invaded  the  halls  of  science,  and 
humbled  proud  philosophy  into  the  docility  of  childhood. 
It  has  wrought  its  way  into  the  caverns  of  debasing 
ignorance,  and  illumined  them  with  the  rays  of  celestial 
light.  It  has  gone  down  into  the  dens  of  foulest  in- 
famy, and  there  reared  altars  of  devotion  in  upright 
hearts  and  pure ;  it  has  mingled  its  voice  with  the 
ragings  of  the  tempest,  and  hung  the  lamp  of  a  glorious 
immortality  over  the  sinking  wreck.  It  has  lighted  on 
the  gory  battle-field,  and  poured  the  balm  of  consola- 
tion into  the  soul  of  the  dying  hero.  It  has  made 
the  thievish  honest,  the  lying  truthful,  the  churl  liberal. 
It  has  rendered  the  slothful  industrious,  the  improvi- 
dent forecasting,  and  the  careless  considerate.  It  has 
ensured  amplest  restitution  for  former  lawless  exac- 
tions, and  thrown  bounteous  handfuls  into  the  treasury 
of  future  beneficence.  It  has  converted  extravagance 
into  frugality,  unfeeling  apathy  into  generous  well- 
doing, and  the  discord  of  frantic  revelry  into  the  har- 
monies of  sacred  song.  It  has  changed  cruelty  into 
sympathy,  hatred  into  love,  malice  into  kindliness  and 
goodwill.  It  has  relieved  the  poor  and  the  needy, 
comforted  the  widow,  and  blessed  the  fatherless.  It 
has,  on  errands  of  mere}'-,  visited  the  loathsome  dun- 
geon, braved  the  famine,  and  confronted  the  plague. 


JEt.  57.  HIS    FAITH    AND    HOrE.  39 1 

It  has  wrenclied  tlie  iron  rod  from  the  grasp  of 
oppression,  and  dashed  the  fiery  cup  from  the  lips  of 
intemperance.  It  has  strewn  flowers  over  the  grave  of 
old  enmities,  and  woven  garlands  round  the  columns 
of  the  temple  of  peace.  And  if,  in  spite  of  these  and 
other  mighty  achievements,  which  have  followed  as  a 
retinue  of  splendour  in  its  train,  its  success  may  not 
have  been  so  extensive  and  complete  as  the  transcend- 
ency of  its  divinity  might  have  led  us  to  expect,  Chris- 
tians never  allow  themselves  to  forget  that  the  ages 
which  are  past  have  only  witnessed  its  birth-throes 
and  infantile  development  in  any  land — that  the 
time  is  fast  approaching  when  it  will  display  its  giant 
form,  and  go  forth  in  the  greatness  of  its  strength ; 
when  it  will  thresh  the  mountains  of  error  and  of  sin, 
and  scatter  them  like  the  dust  before  the  whirlwind 
on  the  summer  threshing-floor,  and  when,  with  every 
darkening  cloud  evanished,  it  will  arise  and  shine  with 
the  efi'ulgency  of  noon-day  over  an  emancipated  and 
renovated  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness. 

*'  That  bright  and  glorious  era  for  India  and  the 
world  I  have  long  seen  in  the  vision  of  faith.  The 
vividly  realized  hope  of  it  has  often  sustained  me  amid 
toils  and  sufferings,  calumny  and  reproach,  disappoint- 
ment and  reverse.  And  the  assured  prospect  of  its 
ultimate  realization  helps  now  to  shoot  some  gleams  of 
light  athwart  the  darkness  of  my  horizon ;  and,  so  far, 
to  blunt  the  keen  edge  of  grief  and  sadness,  when 
about  to  bid  a  final  adieu  to  these  lonof-loved  Indian 
shores.  Some  of  you  may  live  to  witness  not  merely 
its  blissful  dawn  but  its  meridian  eff*ulgence;  to  me 
that  privilege  will  not  be  vouchsafed.  My  days  are 
already  in  '  the  sere  and  yellow  leaf  ; '  the  fresh  flush 
of  vernal  budding  has  long  since  exhausted  itself  ;  the 
sap  and  vigour  of  summer's  outbursting  fulness  have 
well-nigh    gone,   leaving    me    dry  and    brittle,  like   a 


39-  T^IPS   OF   DR.    DUFP.  1S63. 

withered  lierb  or  flower  at  the  close  of  autumn;  the 
hoar  frost  of  old  age — age  prematurely  old — grim 
wintry  old  age,  is  fast  settling  down  upon  me.  But 
whether,  under  the  ordination  of  the  High  and  Holy 
One,  Who  inhabiteth  eternity,  my  days  be  few  or  many  ; 
whether  my  old  age  be  one  of  decrepitude  or  of  privi- 
leged usefulness,  my  best  and  latest  thoughts  will  bo 
still  of  India.  Wherever  I  wander,  wherever  I  roam ; 
wherever  I  labour,  wherever  I  rest,  my  heart  will  be 
still  in  India.  So  long  as  I  am  in  this  tabernacle  of 
clay  I  shall  never  cease,  if  permitted  by  a  gracious 
Providence,  to  labour  for  the  good  of  India ;  my  latest 
breath  will  be  spent  i-n  imploring  blessings  on  India  and 
its  people.  And  when  at  last  this  frail  mortal  body  is 
consigned  to  the  silent  tomb,  while  I  myself  think 
that  the  only  befitting  epitaph  for  my  tombstone  would 
be — '  Here  lies  Alexander  Duff,  by  nature  and  practice 
a  sinful  guilty  creature,  but  saved  by  grace,  through 
faith  in  the  blood  and  righteousness  of  his  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ ; ' — were  it,  by  others,  thought 
desirable  that  any  addition  should  be  made  to  this 
sentence,  I  would  reckon  it  my  highest  earthly  honour, 
should  I  be  deemed  worthy  of  appropriating  the 
grandly  generous  words,  already  suggested  by  the 
exuberant  kindness  of  one  of  my  oldest  native  friends, 
in  some  such  form  as  follows :  '  By  profession,  a 
missionary  ;  by  his  life  and  labours,  the  true  and  con- 
stant friend  of  India.'  Pardon  my  weakness  ;  nature 
is  overcome;  the  gush  of  feeling  is  beyond  control; 
amid  tears  of  sadness  I  must  now  bid  you  all  a 
solemn  farewell." 

Such  was  his  last  ^message ;  and  these  were  the 
words  in  which  the  two  men  in  India  best  able  to 
estimate  his  deeds  impartially,  spoke  of  him  officially 
to  natives  and  to  Europeans. 

Sir  Henry  Maine,  who  had  succeeded  to  the  position 


/Et.  57.  SIR    HENRY    MAlxNE    ON    DR.    DUFF.  393 

of  Vice-Cliancellor  of  tlie  Univcrsifcy,  wlilcli  illness  kept 
Dr.  DiifF  from  then  filling,  said  of  him  in  convocation : 
"  It  would  be  easy  for  me  to  enumerate  the  direct 
services  which  he  rendered  to  us  by  aiding  us  with 
unflagging  assiduity,  in  the  regulation,  supervision, 
and  amendment  of  our  course  of  study ;  but  in  the 
presence  of  so  many  native  students  and  native 
gentlemen  who  viewed  him  with  the  intensest  regard 
and  admiration,  although  they  knew  that  his  every- 
day wish  and  prayer  was  to  overthrow  their  ancient 
faith,  I  should  be  ashamed  to  speak  of  him  in  any 
other  character  than  the  only  one  which  he  cared 
to  fill — the  character  of  a  missionary.  Regarding 
him  then  as  a  missionary,  the  qualities  in  him  which 
most  impressed  me — and  you  will  remember  that  I 
speak  of  nothing  except  what  I  myself  observed — 
were  first  of  all  his  absolute  self-sacrifice  and  self- 
denial.  Religions,  so  far  as  I  know,  have  never  been 
widely  propagated,  except  by  two  classes  of  men — by 
conquerors  or  by  ascetics.  The  British  Government 
of  India  has  voluntarily  (and  no  doubt  wisely)  abne- 
gated the  power  which  its  material  force  conferred  on 
it,  and,  if  the  country  be  ever  converted  to  the  religion 
of  the  dominant  race,  it  will  be  by  influences  of  the 
other  sort,  by  the  influence  of  missionaries  of  the  type 
of  Dr.  Duff,  Next  I  was  struck — and  here  we  have 
the  point  of  contact  between  Dr.  Duff's  religious  and 
educational  life — by  his  perfect  faith  in  the  harmony 
of  truth.  I  am  not  aware  that  he  ever  desired  the 
University  to  refuse  instruction  in  any  subject  of 
knowledo^e  because  he  considered  it  dans^erous.  Where 
men  of  feebler  minds  or  weaker  faith  would  have 
shrunk  from  encouraging  the  study  of  this  or  that 
classical  language,  because  it  enshrined  the  archives 
of  some  antique  superstition,  or  would  have  refused  to 
stynulate  proficiency  in  this  or  that  walk  of  physical 


394  LIFE    OP    DR.    DUFF.  1863. 

science,  because  its  conclusions  were  supposed  to  lead 
to  irreligious  consequences,  Dr.  Duff,  believing  his 
own  creed  to  be  true,  believed  also  that  it  had  the 
great  characteristic  of  truth — that  characteristic  which 
nothing  else  except  truth  possesses — that  it  can  be 
reconciled  with  everything  else  which  is  also  true. 
Gentlemen,  if  you  only  realize  how  rare  this  combina- 
tion of  qualities  is — how  seldom  the  energy  whicli 
springs  from  religious  conviction  is  found  united  with 
perfect  fearlessness  in  encouraging  the  spread  of 
knowledge,  you  will  understand  what  we  have  lost 
through  Dr.  Duif's  departure,  and  why  I  place  it 
among  the  foremost  events  in  the  University  year." 

Dr.  Cotton,  the  Bishop  of  Calcutta,  in  his  metro- 
politan Charge,  finely  characterized  Duff,  and  thus  un- 
consciously answered  the  ignorant  objections  of  a  new 
generation  to  his  system  : 

"  I  need  hardly  remind  you  that  such  a  view  of 
evangelistic  work  in  India  as  I  am  now  trying  to 
sketch  was  especially  carried  out  by  that  illustrious 
missionary  whose  loss  India  is  now  lamenting,  and 
whose  name,  though  it  does  not  adorn  the  Fasti  of 
our  own  Church,  yet  may  well  be  honoured  in  all 
Churches,  not  only  for  his  single-eyed  devotion  to  his 
Master's  cause,  during  a  long  and  active  service,  but 
for  the  peculiar  position  he  took  up  in  India,  at  a 
most  important  crisis. 

"  It  was  the  special  glory  of  Alexander  DuiSP  that, 
arriving  here  in  the  midst  of  a  great  intellectual 
movement  of  a  completely  atheistical  character,  he 
at  once  resolved  to  make  that  character  Christian. 
When  the  new  generation  of  Bengalees  and  too  many, 
alas !  of  their  European  friends  and  teachers  were 
talking  of  Christianity  as  an  obsolete  superstition, 
soon  to  be  burnt  up  in  the  pyre  on  which  the  creeds 
of  the  Brahman,  the  Bhuddist  and  the  Muhammadan 


^t.  57.  BISHOP    COTTON    ON    DK'.    DUFF.  395 

were  already  perishing,  Alexander  Duff  suddenly 
burst  upon  the  scene,  with  liis  unhesitating  faith,  his 
indomitable  energy,  his  varied  erudition,  and  his  never- 
failing  stream  of  fervid  eloquence,  to  teach  them  that 
the  gospel  was  uot  dead  or  sleeping,  not  the  ally  of 
ignorance  and  error,  not  ashamed  or  unable  to  vindi- 
cate its  claims  to  universal  reverence ;  but  that  then, 
as  always,  the  gospel  of  Christ  was  marching  forward 
in  the  van  of  civilization,  and  that  the  Church  of 
Christ  was  still  '  the  light  of  the  world.'  The  effect  of 
his  fearless  stand  against  the  arrogance  of  infidelity 
has  lasted  to  this  day ;  and  whether  the  number  he  has 
baptized  is  small  or  great  (some  there  are  among  them 
whom  we  all  know  and  honour),  it  is  quite  certain 
that  the  work  which  he  did  in  India  can  never  be 
undone,  unless  we,  whom  he  leaves  behind,  are  faith- 
less to  his  example." 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

1864-1867. 

IN    SOUTH-EAST    AFRICA.— TEE   MISSIONARY 
PROPAGANDA. 

Last  Farewell  to  India. — In  tlie  Hotspur  with  Captain  Toynbee. — 
Reviewing  the  Past. — Spiritual  Musings. — Death  of  a  Missionary's 
Wife. — First  View  of  tlie  Kaffrarian  Coast. — Cape  Town  on  the 
Thirty-fourth  Anniversary  of  the  Shipwreck. — The  First  Mission- 
ary to  the  Hottentots, — Efforts  of  Ziegenbalg  and  Martyn  for 
South  Africa. — Dr.  Duff's  Wagon  Tour  from  Genadenthal  to 
Maritiiburg. — With  Bishop  Gray  during  the  Colenso  Trial. — 
Preaching  and  Reorganizing  at  Lovedale  and  Barnshill,  Pirieand 
King  William's  Town. — Dr.  Livingstone. — Edinburgh,  Perth  and 
Aberdeen. — Lord  Lawrence  Visits  the  Calcutta  Institution  in 
State. — Duff's  Plan  of  a  Missionary  Professorship,  Institute,  and. 
Quarterly  Review. — The  Collegio  di  Propaganda  Fide. — Raymond 
Lull  and  WaljBus. — Cromwell's  Protestant  Council. — Daff's  Ex- 
perience at  St.  Andrews.  The  Professorship  Endowed. — Cor- 
respondence with  H.  M.  Matheson,  Esq. — The  Institute  and  the 
Quarterly  Postponed. — The  Science  of  Religion. 

So  Alexander  Duff  said  farewell  to  India.  He  might 
have  sought  rest  after  the  third  of  a  century's  toil.  He 
was  nearing,  too,  the  sabbatic  seventh  of  the  three- 
score and  ten  years  of  the  pilgrimage  of  man — a  de- 
cade to  which  many  great  souls,  like  his  own  master 
and  friend,  Thomas  Chalmers,  had  looked  forward  as  a 
period  of  calm  preparation  for  the  everlasting  sabbath- 
keeping.  But  Duff  was  again  leaving  India,  and  for 
the  last  time,  only  to  enter  on  fourteen  years  of  cease- 
less labour,  as  well  as  prayer,  for  the  cause  to  which  he 
had  given  his  life.  It  was  well  for  him  that  some 
months  of  enforced  rest  were  laid  upon  him.  These 
were  still  the  days  of  Cape  voyages,  about  to  be  made 


/Et.  57.  VOYAGE    TO    CAPE    TOWN.  397 

things  of  the  past  for  tlie  ranjoritj  of  travellers  by  the 
Suez  Canal.  In  the  spacious  cabins  and  amid  tlie 
quiet  surroundings  of  the  last  and  best  of  the  old 
East  Indiamen,  the  convalescent  found  health ;  while 
the  invalids  whom  nothing  could  save  in  the  tropics, 
and  who  too  often  now  fall  victims  to  the  scorching  of 
the  Red  Sea  route,  had  another  chance  or  a  lengthened 
spell  of  calm  before  the  bell  sadly  yet  sweetly  tolled 
for  burial  at  sea.  The  wearied,  wasted  missionary, 
attended  to  the  ghaut  by  sorrowing  friends,  went  on 
board  the  Hotspur,  on  Saturday,  the  20th  December, 
1863. 

Not  only  in  the  ship,  but  in  Captain  Toynbee,  who 
is  known  as  one  of  the  foremost  of  Christian  sailors, 
was  he  peculiarly  fortunate.  That  officer  has  supplied 
these  reminiscences  of  tlie  voyage  as  far  as  Cape 
Town :  "  Knowing  how  many  were  grieving  at  Dr. 
Duff's  departure  from  India,  it  could  not  fail  to  strike 
us  that  the  *  proper  lesson '  read  in  the  morning  ser- 
vice the  next  day  was  Acts  xx.,  with  the  words,  'And 
they  all  wept  sore,  and  fell  on  Paul's  neck,  and  kissed 
him;  sorrowing  most  of  all  for  the  words  which  he 
spake,  that  they  should  see  his  face  no  more ;  *  and 
Dr.  Duff  then  so  weak  that  he  could  only  sit  quietly  by 
and  listen.  By  the  time  that  we  had  been  a  week  at 
sea,  however,  he  said  that,  though  he  could  take  no 
share  in  the  Sunday  morning  service,  as  it  was  held  in 
the  open  air  which  would  make  speaking  too  fatiguing, 
he  would  like  to  say  a  few  words  after  the  evening 
prayer.  He  began,  taking  the  Ten  Commandments  as 
his  subject,  in  so  low  a  tone  that  it  was  difficult  to 
hear ;  but  his  enthusiasm  seemed  to  overcome  even  the 
physical  weakness,  and  his  voice  was  full,  and  his  lan- 
guage grand,  as  he  preached  for  nearly  an  hour.  All 
enjoyed  and  admired  those  sermons,  which  he  con- 
tinued in  a  series  each  Sunday  evening  until  we  reached 


198  LIFE    OP    DE.    DUFF. 


Jlib- 


the  Cape,  none  ever  complaining  of  tlieir  lengtli, 
tliougli  their  effect  on  himself  was  seen  in  his  fatigued 
look  the  next  day.  We  had  invalid  soldiers  on 
board.  He  soon  found  out  the  sick  men  and  visited 
them,  holding  a  short  service  on  the  lower  deck  every 
day.  He  also  interested  himself  in  a  school  amongst 
the  soldiers'  children,  and  in  the  illness  and  death  of 
Mrs.  Ellis,  the  wife  of  a  missionary  going  home  for  her 
health.  Though  his  health  improved  he  continued  very 
weak.  Being  a  very  poor  sleeper,  he  used  to  look  sadly 
worn  some  mornings  after  a  rough  night ;  but  there 
was  never  anything  approaching  to  complaining  on  his 
part,  only  a  patient  smile,  and  the  remark,  '  I  heard 
my  friend,^  as  he  called  one  of  the  sailors  whose  harsh 
voice  had  waked  him  more  than  once.  The  contrast 
between  his  patience  and  the  impatience  of  others  on 
board  who  were  not  so  ill  as  he  was,  was  noticed  even 
by  the  servants.  A  young  cavalry  officer  on  board  re- 
marked to  me,  *  If  all  missionaries  were  like  Dr.  Duff, 
India  would  be  a  different  place.' 

"  The  morning  he  spent  in  his  cabin,  but  in  the 
evening  he  used  to  come  on  deck  and  sit  enjoying  the 
glories  of  sky  and  sea,  for  which  he  had  intense  ap- 
preciation. He  conversed  with  so  much  interest  and 
animation  that  those  were  times  of  rare  enjoyment. 
Sometimes  he  told  us  of  his  varied  travels;  once  of 
his  shipwreck.  I  was  struck  by  the  accuracy  of  his 
memory,  which  could,  after  so  many  years,  reproduce 
the  whole  scene  so  correctly  as  not  in  any  point  to  jar 
on  the  fastidiousness  of  a  nautical  ear ;  and  more  than 
once  by  the  deep  feeling  he  entertained  for  the  kind- 
ness shown  to  him  when  he  was  leaving  India,  and  by 
his  own  sorrow  that  it  was  impossible  for  him,  consis- 
tently with  a  right  regard  to  health  and  power  of  use- 
fulness, to  remain  in  Calcutta  so  long  as  life  should  be 
granted  to  him.     When  he  left  the  ship  in  Table  Bay, 


/T-t.  57.  THEN    AND    NOW.  399 

he  was  warmly  cheered  both  by  soldiers  and  sailors. 
Those  who  had  been  admitted  to  the  high  privilege  of 
nearer  acquaintance  with  him  felt  that  the  weeks  he 
had  spent  on  board  had  been  truly  'a  time  of  refresh- 
ing '  both  intellectually  and  spiritually." 

In  the  brief  ship  journal  which  Dr.  Duif  kept,  we 
have  these  traces  of  his  musing  and  his  working : — 

Monday,  2lst  December,  1863. — "  To-day,  about  noon,  had 
the  last  glimpse  of  Saugar  Island,  i.e.  in  reality  of  India.  I 
remember  my  first  glimpse  of  it  iu  May,  1830.  How  strangely 
different  my  feelings  then  and  now  !  I  was  then  entering,  iu 
total  ignorance,  on  a  new  and  untried  enterprise  ;  but  strong- 
iu  faith  and  buoyant  with  hope,  I  never  wished,  if  the  Lord 
willed,  to  leave  India  at  all ;  but  by  a  succession  of  providen- 
tial dealings,  I  had  to  leave  it  twice  before,  and  now  for  tho 
third  and  last  time.  It  has  been  the  scene  of  my  greatest 
trials  and  sufferings,  as  also,  under  God,  of  my  greatest  triumphs 
and  joys.  The  changes — at  least  some  of  the  more  noticeable 
ones — were  stated  in  my  reply  to  the  Missionary  Conference. 
My  feelings  now  are  of  a  very  mixed  character.  The  sphere 
of  labour  now  left  had  become  at  once  familiar  and  delightful. 
If  health  be  restored,  my  future  is  wrapped  in  clouds  and  thick 
darkness.  I  simply  yield  to  what  I  cannot  but  believe  to  bo 
the  leadings  of  Providence,  which  seem  to  peal  in  my  ears,  'Go 
forward  ! '  and  from  the  experience  of  the  past  my  assured 
hope  is,  that  if  I  do  go  forward,  in  humble  dependence  on  my 
God,  '  light  will  spring  up  in  my  darkness.'  I  began  my  labours 
iu  1830  literally  with  nothing.  I  leave  behind  me  the  largest, 
and,  in  a  Christian  point  of  view,  the  most  successful  Christian 
Institution  in  India,  a  native  Church,  nearly  self-sustaining, 
with  a  native  pastor,  three  ordained  native  missionaries,  besides 
— with  catechists  and  native  teachers — flourishing  branch  mis- 
sions at  Chinsurah,  Bansbaria,  Culna,  Mahanad,  etc.  For  all 
this,  I  desire  to  render  thanks  to  the  good  and  gracious  God, 
Whose  I  am,  and  Whom  I  am  bound  to  serve  with  soul,  body 
and  spirit,  which  are  His. 

''  Some  periods  of  my  career  were  very  stormy  ones,  especially 
the  first  and  second.  During  the  first  I  was  in  perpetual 
hostile   collision    with  natives,  who  abused  and  insulted   mo 


({.OO  LIFE    OP   DR.    DUFF.  1863. 

beyond  measui'e  in  private  and  in  tlie  newspapers  ;  and  also 
with  Eui'opeans,  such  as  the  ultra-orientalists^  relative  to  the 
basis  of  education  and  its  lingual  media;  and  the  lawyers, 
such  as  Longueville  Clarke^  on  the  rights  of  conscience 
in  inquirers  under  legal  age.  During  the  second  period  I 
was  still  in  violent  conflict  with  all  classes  of  natives  on 
a  vast  variety  of  subjects.  At  one  time  some  of  '  the  lewd 
fellows  of  the  baser  sort/  beaten  down  in  argument,  and 
confounded  in  their  attempts  to  confute  Christianity  and  de- 
stroy the  Chi'istian  cause,  entered  into  a  conspiracy  against  my 
life.  Lateeals  or  clubmen  were  hired  to  waylay  and  beat  me  in 
the  streets.  A  timely  discovery  and  exposure  of  the  whole 
prevented  execution.  With  the  Governor-General,  Lord  Auck- 
land, I  came  into  violent  collision  on  the  subject  of  education, 
and  all  the  hosts  of  officials,  secular  journalists,  and  worldlings 
joined  in  one  universal  shout  against  me,  of  dei-ision,  scorn,  con- 
tempt and  indignation.  Under  all  these  oppositions  I  simply 
endeavoured  to  possess  my  soul  in  patience ;  and  conscious  of 
the  rectitude  of  my  motives,  and  having  a  conscience  void  of 
offence  toward  God  and  man,  I  prayed  God,  in  due  time  and 
in  His  own  way,  to  vindicate  the  right  and  enable  me  to  love 
my  enemies.  The  third  period  of  my  sojourn  has  been  less 
stormy ;  and,  praised  be  God  !  I  now  leave  India  in  the  happy 
assurance  that  in  ways  unspeakably  gracious,  and  on  my  part 
undeserved.  He  has  *  made  even  my  enemies  to  be  at  peace 
with  me.'  Oh,  what  shall  I  render  unto  the  Lord  for  all  His 
goodness  ? 

"At  the  close  of  1833  I  was  for  thi*ee  weeks  in  a  pilot  brig 
at  these  Sandheads,  while  recovering  from  a  severe  jungle 
fever,  with  my  dearest  and  then  only  child,  who  also  was 
suffering  from  ague.  To  the  south  of  Kedjeree  we  saw  the 
Duke  of  Yoric  East  Indiaman  of  1,500  tons  high  and  di'y  in 
a  rice  field,  having  been  carried  there  in  the  tremendous 
cyclone  of  the  preceding  May, — perhaps  the  severest  on 
record.  The  embankments  were  everywhere  broken  down. 
The  sea  rolled  inland  for  scores  of  miles.  Myriads  perished. 
In  some  parts,  as  we  passed  we  saw  poor  emaciated  mothers 
offering  to  us  their  skeleton-like  children  for  a  handful  of  rice. 
The  whole  of  Saugar  Island  was  seven  or  eight  feet  under 
water.  Plantations,  cleared  at  a  great  expense,  were  de- 
stroyed; and  for  years  afterwards  salt  and  not  rice  was  the 


^t.  57.  DEATH    OF    A    MISSIONARY'S    WIFE.  4OI 

product.  They  are  only  now  tolerably  recovered.  In  carry- 
iii<^  on  the  draining,  European  suporlutendents  resided  in  bun- 
galows, raised  ten  or  twelve  feet  from  the  ground,  to  escape 
malaria,  wild  beasts,  etc. 

Monday,  2St}i,. — "  Yesterday,  and  especially  to-day,  had  much 
enjoyment  in  my  own  soul.  Tho  first  three  chapters  of  the 
E2)istle  to  the  Romans  appeared  more  wonderful  than  ever  in 
tiieir  delineation  of  man's  fearful  apostasy  from  God,  his  utter 
helplessness  and  hopelessness,  and  the  unspeakably  glorious 
remedy  in  the  unspotted  righteousness  of  Christ.  This  illus- 
trates to  my  own  mind  the  true  doctrine  of  Scripture  develop- 
ment. It  is  not  the  revelation  of  any  new  truth,  but  the  un- 
folding of  truth  already  there,  in  new  connections  and  new 
applications,  showing  in  this  new  expansion  of  it  (as  it  appears 
to  the  more  hi^^lily  illumined  soul)  a  breadth  and  extent  of 
significancy  not  previously  discerned. 

Thursday,  Slst. — "  The  last  day  of  the  year.  What  a  year  to 
me  !  In  some  respects  the  most  memorable  of  my  life  ;  for  in 
it,  in  a  way  unexpected,  the  Lord,  by  His  overruling  provi- 
dence, has  not  only  altered  but  reversed  the  cherished  purpose 
of  thirty-four  years,  which  was  to  live  and  labour  and  die  in 
India.  Having  already,  in  many  forms,  expressed  my  mind  on 
this  subject,  I  shall  say  no  more  now,  but  this :  *  Oh,  may  the 
Lord  make  it  increasingly  clear  to  me  that  I  am  really  doing 
His  will — really  seeking,  in  sole  obedience  to  His  will,  to  pro- 
mote His  glory  ! ' 

January  Isf,  1864. — "God  in  mercy  grant  that  this  year 
may  unfold  more  clearly  to  ray  own  mind  and  inward  and 
outward  experience  His  gracious  purpose  in  blasting  the 
cherished  wishes  and  purposes  of  my  whole  ministerial  life. 
What  work,  O  Lord,  hast  Thou  in  store  for  me  wherewith  to 
glorify  Thy  holy  name  ?  Oh  for  light  on  this  still  dark  and 
most  perplexing  subject !  But  I  wait,  O  Lord  ! — I  wait — I 
wait  on  Thee. 

Tuesday,  19fh. — "  The  sea  tempestuous — half  a  gale.  I  could 
not  go  to  Mrs.  Ellis  as  usual  between  10  and  11  a.m.  At  noon 
made  an  eflFort  to  see  her.  She  had  suddenly  become  worse, 
and  the  captain  wished  me  to  tell  her  her  case  was  critical.  T 
could  do  so  with  all  confidence,  for  previous  conversations  with 
her  showed  that  she  was  a  true  follower  of  the  Lamb.  Calmly 
and  resignedly  to  His  holy  will  she  spoke,  placing  her  whole 

VOL.    II.  D    D 


402  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1864, 

trust  and  confidence  in  Him,  and  in  Him  alone.  'Justified/ 
she  said,  '  by  His  blood/  slie  had  nothing  to  fear  for  her- 
self, though  she  feelingly  alluded  to  her  husband,  her  mother 
and  sisters  at  home,  and  two  youug  children  aboard.  Soon 
after  I  left  her  I  was  obliged  again  to  lie  down,  and  was  pros- 
trated the  whole  day  and  evening.  She  died,  or  rather  fell 
gently  asleep  in  Jesus,  about  eleven  o'clock  last  night,  and 
this  morniug  at  a  quartei'-past  seven  was  most  solemnly 
consigned  to  the  deep,  in  her  case  looking  with  assured 
hope  to  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  when  the  sea  shall  give 
up  her  dead.  The  captain  read  the  Englisli  service,  and  all 
present  were  affected  even  to  tears.  The  presence  of  the 
two  children,  too  young  to  know  their  loss,  touched  the  hearts 
of  all. 

21st. — '^This  forenoon  another  soldier  died  of  dysentery, 
and  in  half  an  hour  after  was  consigned  to  the  deep.  Captain 
Strange  reading  the  funeral  service.  I  had  been  seeing  hitn 
daily  of  late;  he  was  very  ignorant — could  not  read.  I  again 
and  again  reiterated  the  simple  principles  of  the  gospel,  and 
prayed  with  him,  but  without  much  satisfaction.  To  encounter 
the  languor,  weakness,  and  pains  of  a  death-bed,  ignorant  of 
the  very  elements  of  the  gospel !  oh,  it  is  a  lamentable  con- 
dition indeed.  Captain  Strange  is  a  very  worthy  kind-hearted 
man,  particularly  attentive  to  all  the  wants  of  the  soldiers, 
temporal  and  spiritual. 

2orc?. — "  About  200  miles  north  of  Madagascar.  Last  night 
very  sleepless.  Milton  and  Cowper,  my  favourite  poets,  read 
as  a  balm,  acted  on  my  turbid  spirits  somewhat  like  the  spicy 
breezes  from  Araby  the  Blest  on  the  senses  or  imagination  of 
the  old  mariners.  It  is  the  rare  combination  of  genuine 
poetiy  with  genuine  piety  which  achieves  this  result.  Being 
now  south  of  the  Mozambique  Channel,  the  wind  has  changed 
from  S.E.  to  N.E,,  and  is  warmer.  The  term  Mozambique 
reminds  one  of  the  adroitness  with  which  Milton  drags  every- 
thing which  constituted  the  knowledge  of  his  time,  by  way  of 
similitude,  illustration,  or  otherwise,  into  his  wondrous  song. 
Referring  to  Satan's  approach  to  Paradise — delicious  Para- 
dise— and  to  the  way  in  which  he  was  met  and  regaled  by 
*  gentle  gales,^  which,  '  fanning  their  odoriferous  wings,  dis- 
pense native  perfumes,  and  whisper  whence  they  stole  those 
balmy  spoils,'  he  thus  proceeds  : 


^t.  58.  COASTING    KAFFKARIA.  403 

'  Ah,  when  to  them  who  sail 
Beyond  the  Cape  of  Ilcipn,  and  now  are  past 
Mozanibio,  oif  at  sea  north-east  winds  blow 
Sabean  odours  from  the  sjiicy  shore 
Of  Arab}'  the  Blest,  with  sucli  delay 
Well  pleased  they  slack  their  course,  and  many  a  league 
Cheered  with  the  grateful  smell  old  Ocean  smiles.' 

27th. — "  Last  niG:ht  saw  two  lio^lits  in  the  direction  of  the 
land.  A  stellar  observation  showed  Ave  were  opposite  BufTalo 
River  and  Mountains.  To-day  off  the  eastern  extremity  of 
Algoa  Bay,  so  that  I  must  go  back  the  whole  distance 
traversed  this  raorniug,  our  Mission  stations  being  in  Kafifraria, 
east  of  the  Keiskamma  River. 

29fk. — "  At  noon  exactly  off  Cape  Agiilhas,  the  most  south- 
erly point  of  Africa.  With  my  binocular,  Darand's  parting 
gift,  the  lighthouse  seen  with  great  clearness.  The  coast 
high,  bleak,  rugged,  barren,  recalls  the  exclaination  of  one 
of  the  Scottish  emigrants  under  Mr.  Pringle,  who  arrived 
in  1820,  somewhat  farther  to  the  west,  near  Simon^s  Bay  : 
*  Hech,  sirs,  but  this  is  an  ill-favoured  and  outlandish-looking 
country.  I  wad  fain  hope,  that  thae  hieland  hills  and  muirs 
are  no  a  fair  sample  o'  our  African  location.^  The  dazzling 
white  masses  of  sand — white  as  the  driven  suow — painfully 
remind  me  of  Dassen  Island,  on  which  we  were  wrecked, 
13th  Feb.,  1830  surrounded,  except  at  one  point,  by  low 
rocky  reefs,  and  itself  a  waste  of  white  sand,  in  which  the 
penguins  lay  their  eggs,  and  on  which  wo  mainly  subsisted  for 
about  three  days !  Praised  be  God  for  our  wonderful  deliver- 
ance then,  and  our  continued  preservation  ever  since  !  I 
approach  the  termination  of  my  present  voyage  with  peculiar 
feelings — knowing  no  one  at  Cape  Town,  a  joui'Dey  inland  of 
700  miles  before  me,  with  not  a  glimpse  of  light,  as  yet,  on 
the  course  to  be  pursued.  But  I  approach  in  faith,  because  in 
the  path  of  duty,  humbly  trusting  that,  when  the  time  comes, 
light  will  arise  on  my  darkness,  to  the  praise  and  glory  of  a 
good,  gracious,  covenant-keeping  God  ! 

30th. — "  A  furious  south-easter !  Happily  we  had  turned 
the  Cape,  so  that  the  vessel  was  kept  close  on  to  the  shore. 
At  dawn  we  were  a  little  to  the  south  of  Table  Mountain, 
the  loftiest  of  that  wild  and  rugged  mountain  mass  which 
stretches   from   Table  Bay  to  the  Cape,   against  which,  as  a 


404  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1864. 

mighty  breakwater,  the  stupendous  billows  of  the  confluence 
of  all  the  great  oceans  for  ever  dash  and  roar.  The  wind 
being  off  land  the  sea  was  comparatively  smooth,  while  the 
gale  blew  with  the  force  of  a  hurricane.  All  around  the  sky- 
was  cloudless,  except  the  summit  of  Table  Mountain,  which 
was  covered  as  usual  with  a  dense  mass  of  clouds,  its  famous 
table-cloth.  The  whole  scene  was  singularly  grand.  The 
waves  rolling  and  curling  and  breaking  into  spray,  and  the 
spray  whirled  aloft  by  the  furious  gusts,  gave  the  appearance 
all  around  of  a  dazzling  white  mist ;  and  dashing  on  the  rocks 
that  line  the  shore  seemed  to  cover  them  with  an  elevated  bank 
of  foam  and  vapour,  the  mountain  behind  looking  down  in 
vast  precipices,  and  towering  aloft:  into  mid-air,  in  rounded 
tops,  or  conical  peaks,  or  rugged  serrated  ridges.  At  last  the 
sun  breaking  through  the  upper  edges  of  the  clouds  over  the 
Table  Mountain,  and  shining  down  on  shore  and  sea,  gave  such 
a  profusion  of  lights  and  shades  and  colours,  as  no  pencil 
could  adequately  portray.  When  fairly  abreast  of  Table  Moun- 
tain we  could  not  be  above  half  a  mile  from  the  shore.  To 
the  north-west  of  the  Table  Mountain,  and  separated  by  a  high 
pass,  is  the  singulai'ly  shaped  hill  which,  as  seen  from  Table 
Bay,  resembles  a  gigantic  lion  couchant — the  southern  terminus 
of  it  called  the  Lion's  Head,  and  the  northern.  Lion's  Rump. 
When  close  under  the  head  this  morning,  it  looked  like  a 
mighty  mitre  (of  cardinal  or  pope)  resting  on  a  dome-like 
cranium.  On  the  rump  we  could  see  the  signal  flag.  Below 
the  rump,  at  its  northern  extremity,  is  Green  Point,  covered 
with  beautiful  villas  and  gardens;  passing  it,  the  whole  of 
Cape  Town,  embosomed  in  the  vast  cul  de  sac  or  corrie  of  the 
mountain  came  into  full  view.  The  instant  we  rounded  the 
point,  the  wind,  which  was  strong  enough  before,  blew  with 
double  fury  across  the  level  open  between  Table  Bay  and 
False  Bay.  But  by  skilful  zigzag  tacking  the  captain  beat 
his  way  into  the  anchorage,  in  the  very  face  of  the  hurricane 
fury  of  the  south-easter,  casting  anchor  exactly  at  half-past 
eight  a.m.  I  felt  impelled  at  once  to  enter  my  closet,  shut  the 
door,  and  return  unfeigned  thanks  to  my  heavenly  Father  for 
the  prosperous  voyage  to  this  place.  Exactly  on  the  evening 
of  this  day  six  weeks  I  embarked  at  Calcutta.  What  reason 
of  gratitude  have  I  for  all  God's  mercies !  The  servant  who 
was  wont  to  attend  on  me  tapped  at  my  cabin  door,  saying 


.^t.  58.  AT   CAPE    TOWN   AGAIN.  405 

that  a  gentleman  from  the  shoi'o  wanted  to  see  mo.  It  was 
about  five  minutes  to  nine,  and  wo  had  not  been  anchored 
quite  half  an  hour.  Who  should  it  prove  to  be  but  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Morgan,  minister  of  the  established  Scotch  Kirk,  to 
take  me  to  his  manse.'' 

To  His  Wife. 
''  Genadenihal,  Moravian  Mission,  ISth  Feb.,  18G4. 

"This  is  the  thirty- fourth  anniversary,  alike  according  to  the 
day  of  the  week,  the  day  of  the  month  and  the  hour  of  the 
night,  of  our  ever  memorable  shipwreck  on  Dassen  Island. 
How  different  my  position  this  evening,  in  South  Africa ! 
Comfortably  lodged  with  the  Moravian  Brethren  in  this  far- 
famed  village, — the  oldest  and  most  populous  of  all  South 
African  Mission  stations, — I  feel,  as  it  were,  forced  by  the  very 
contrast,  to  realize  more  vividly  the  night  scene  of  thirty-four 
years  ago  on  these  South  African  shores.  What  changes  and 
events  have  been  crowded  into  these  thirty-four  years  !  And  yet, 
contrary  to  all  ordinary  expectation,  both  of  us  still,  by  God's 
mercy,  in  the  land  of  the  living,  to  celebrate  Jehovah's  loving- 
kindnesses.  Oh,  for  a  live  coal  from  the  altar  to  kindle  up 
this  naturally  cold  and  languid  heart  of  mine,  so  constantly  apt 
to  sink  back  into  sluggishness  and  apathy,  into  a  glow  of 
seraphic  fervour,  in  the  review  of  God's  unspeakable  mercies  ! 

"  In  order  to  see  something  of  the  working  of  other  Missions, 
I  soon  resolved  to  proceed  to  KafFraria  by  the  ordinary  land 
route.  The  distance  is  about  700  miles — about  the  distance 
from  John  o'Groat's  House  to  Land's  End  in  Cornwall.  This 
implied  my  getting  a  wagon  and  eight  mules.  All  this  prepar- 
ation occupied  nearly  a  week,  during  which  I  saw  many  of  the 
Cape  Town  notabilities.  The  Bishop  and  Dean,  etc.,  called 
on  me.  The  Ilouble.  Mr.  Rawson  (whose  acquaintance  I  made 
in  Calcutta  in  1819,)  the  Colonial  Secretary,  was  so  pressing 
in  his  invitation,  that  I  went  out  with  him  to  his  beautifully 
situated  house  at  Wynberg,  and  stayed  over  the  night.  The  next 
day  he  took  me  to  call  on  some  of  the  notables  of  the  place ; 
taking  lunch  with  the  Bishop,  and  I  also  went  out  to  spend 
good  part  of  a  day  with  Dr.  Adamson.  Old  Mr.  Saunders  is 
still  living,  and  full  of  inquiries  about  you. 

"  On  Saturday,  6th  Feb.,  I  went  by  train  (for  there  is  a  rail- 
way line  of  fifty-eight  miles,  to  Wellington,  N.E.  of  Cape  Town) 
to  St'^llcubosch,  thirty-one  miles.     There  I  stayed  with    Mr. 


406  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1864. 

Murray,  one  of  tlie  professors  of  the  Theological  Seminary 
of  the  Dutch  Eeformed  Church.  His  uncle  was  the  late 
Dr.  Murray,  of  the  Free  Church,  Aberdeen.  There  saw  the 
Wesleyan  and  Rhenish  Mission  schools,  etc.  Monday  8th, 
went  by  rail  on  to  Wellington,  its  utmost  limit.  There  saw  a 
French  mission.  On  Tuesday  I  went  by  covered  cart,  across 
a  striking  pass  to  Worcester,  upwards  of  forty  miles  distant. 
There  I  stayed  with  Mr.  Murray,  minister  of  the  Dutch  Church, 
and  brother  of  the  professor,  both  most  able  and  devoted  men. 
There  saw  the  Ehenish  Mission  schools.  Wednesday,  returned 
to  Stellenbosch.  Thursday,  went  out  with  Professor  Murray 
to  Piniel,  twelve  miles  off,  to  see  an  independent  self-sustain- 
ing mission,  under  a  Mr.  Stegman,  who  is  in  connection  with 
no  society. 

"  To  Eerse  River,  where  I  expected  to  find  my  wagon 
waiting  for  me.  There  finding  all  right,  after  breakfast  I  set 
off,  in  a  S.B.  direction  and  close  to  False  Bay,  crossed  a  loffcy 
pass,  called  Sir  Lowry  Cole's  Pass  after  the  governor  who  sent 
the  sloop  of  war  to  take  us  from  Dassen  Island.  The  custom 
in  travelling  here  is,  at  the  end  of  two  or  three  hours,  to  stop 
and  unyoke  the  animals  (or,  according  to  Colonial  Dutch 
phraseology,  to  outspan),  let  them  take  a  roll  in  the  sand,  and 
browse  about,  and  drink  water,  for  an  hoar.  Towards  evening 
came  to  a  small  inn,  the  only  one  between  Cape  Town  and 
Genadenthal.  I  did  not  like  the  look  of  it ;  so  the  evening 
being  dry  and  weather  pleasant  I  slept  in  my  wagon.  On 
Saturday  I  proceeded  to  Genadenthal,  and  the  Moravian 
missionaries  with  their  children  and  higher  students  were  out 
in  a  green  hollow,  with  carts,  waiting  to  salute  me.'' 

Christian  Missions  in  South  and  East  Africa  are 
the  offspriug  of  those  in  India.  It  was  Ziegenbalg,  the 
first  Protestant  missionary  to  India,  who,  after  a 
passing  visit  to  the  Cape  in  1705,  induced  the  United 
or  Moravian  Brethren  to  evangelize  those  whom  the 
Datcli  called  Hottentots.  Georg  Schmidt,  a  Bohe- 
jnian  Bunj^-an,  was  no  sooner  freed  from  his  six  years' 
imprisonment  for  Christ's  sake,  than,  in  1737,  he  went 
out  to  Cape  Town.  He  was  with  difficulty  allowed  by 
the  Dutch  to  begin  his  mission  in  Affenthal,  in  the 


ALt  5S.  MISSIONARY    ENTERPRISE    IN   AFRICA.  407 

lulls  eiglity  miles  to  the  east.  There  he  did  such  a 
work  in  the  "  valley  of  apes  "  that  a  Dutch  Governor 
long  after  changed  its  name  to  the  "  valley  of  grace," 
or  Genadenthal.  The  Boers  banished  him  to  Holland, 
and  it  was  loft  to  the  British  to  boorin  missions  anew. 
What  Zicgcnbalg  had  urged  Henry  Martyn  repeated. 
Standing  beside  Sir  David  Baird,  as,  in  1806,  the 
British  flag  a  second  time  waved  over  the  Dutch  fort, 
the  evangelical  missionai'y-cha[)laiu  of  the  East  India 
Company  prayed  "  that  the  capture  of  the  Cape  might 
be  ordered  to  the  advancement  of  Christ's  kingdom." 
From  Genadenthal  the  great  liirht  radiated  forth,  east 
and  north,  amid  the  wars  and  butcheries  which  it 
would  have  anticipated,  till  now,  after  three-quarters 
of  a  century,  a  sixth  of  the  whole  population  of  South 
Africa,  up  to  the  Zambesi,  is  Christian.  There  are 
180,000  native  and  358,000  colonist  Christians.*  From 
south  to  north,  from  the  Cape  to  the  Nile  mouths,  an 
ever  strengthening  chain  of  missionary  stations  now 
draws  Africa  to  Christ. 

Dr.  DufF  went  to  Africa  to  inspect  those  of  his  own 
Church,  which  had  begun  in  KafFraria  in  1821,  after 
the  Kaffirs  had  been  driven  north  behind  the  Keis- 
kamma.  Divided,  after  the  Disruption  of  1843,  between 
the  Free  and  the  United  Presbyterian  Churches,  por- 
tions of  which  still  imagine  the  existence  of  a  purely 
metapbysical  difference  of  opinion  on  the  subject  of 
the  relation  of  the  Church  to  the  State,  these  Missions 
must  be  united  asfain  before  there  can  be  an  indio-enous 
Kaffir  Church.  Dr.  Duff  began,  as  his  letters  show, 
by  personally  inspecting  and  stimulating,  while  he 
learned  experience  from,  all  the  Missions  along  the  great 
trunk  route  east  from  Cape  Town  to  Port  Elizabeth, 
north-east    by    Grahamstown   to    King    Williamstown 

*  8vdh  Afiica  and  its  M!isiuu  FieJch,  by  Rev.  J.  E.  Carlyle.    1878. 


4o8  LIFE    OF   DK.    DUFF.  1864. 

and  the  stations  in  British  Kaffraria,  then  north 
through  the  Orange  Free  State,  and  then  east  again 
into  Natal.  The  time  was  three  years  before  the  first 
diamond  was  found.  The  season  was  unusually  wet 
but  cool.  At  Port  Elizabeth  the  Eastern  Provinces 
Herald  thus  reported  how  he  met  with  the  sailor 
who  had  saved  his  wife's  life  in  the  memorable  ship- 
wreck :  "  Mrs.  Duff  would  have  perished  but  for  the 
dauntless  bravery  of  the  second  mate.  Singularly 
enough  when  Dr.  Duff  visited  this  port  he  happened  to 
be  here  also,  and  no  sooner  did  he  know  of  the  arri- 
val of  the  veteran  missionary  than  he  hurried  to  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Rennie's  house  once  more  to  see  him.  The 
meeting  was  very  aflectiug.  Dr.  DufF  being  unable  to 
conceal  his  emotion  at  so  unexpectedly  beholding  tlie 
preserver  of  his  wife."  The  second  mate  had  become 
Captain  Saxon. 

Ecclesiastically  all  South  Africa  was  in  a  commotion, 
not  for  the  christianization  of  the  forty  or  fifty  mil- 
lions of  Kaffirs,  but  because  of  sacerdotal  and  also 
evangelical  struggles  between  Bishop  Gray,  claiming 
to  be  Metropolitan  of  Africa,  and  Dr.  Colenso,  insisting 
on  remaining  Bishop  of  Natal.  But  for  the  sacer- 
dotalism involved,  the  defence  of  Christian  truth  by 
Bishop  Gray,  and  especially  by  Dean  Douglas,  after- 
wards Bishop  of  Bombay,  would  demand  the  unqualified 
gratitude  of  the  whole  Church.  On  the  evangelical 
side  of  it  Dr.  Duff  was  so  strongly  drawn  to  Bishop 
Gray  that  he  wrote  to  him  several  letters,  two  of  which 
appear  in  the  prelate's  Biography.  "  Among  the 
many  letters  of  the  period,  the  Bishop,"  writes  his  son, 
"  was  pleased  with  one  from  Dr.  Alexander  Duff,  a 
well-known  Free  Kirk  missionary  from  India,  who 
was  at  that  time  travelling  in  Africa.  '  Since  my 
arrival,'  he  says,  '  I  have  been  perusing,  with  painful 
yet  joyous  interest,  the  trial  of  the  Bishop  of  Natal  for 


^t.  58.  THE    TRIAL   OF    BISHOP    COLENSO.  409 

erroneous  teaching,  painful  because  of  the  erroneous 
teaching,  joyous  because  of  the  noble  stand  made  by 
your  lordship  and  the  clergy  at  large  for  true  primitive 
apostolic  teaching.'  "  Again,  from  Maritzburg,  where 
he  heard  the  Bishop's  charge.  Dr.  Duff  repeated  his 
expressions  of  sympathetic  appreciation.  But  we  know, 
from  a  conversation  which  we  had  with  him  immedi- 
ately on  his  return  from  Africa,  that  he  did  more  than 
this.  At  Wyuberg,  where  the  Bishop  and  he  sat  up 
a  whole  night  discussing  the  history  and  cause  of 
the  Disruption  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  Dr.  Duff 
demonstrated  to  the  sacerdotal  Metropolitan,  who  had 
denounced  "  the  Privy  Council  as  the  great  Dagon  of 
the  English  Church,"  that  the  spiritual  independence 
inalienable  from  any  Church  w^orthy  of  Christ's  name 
and  spirit  is  not,  and  was  not  in  the  Free  Church 
struggle,  the  supremacy  of  priests  and  prelates  who  un- 
church others  by  the  fiction  of  "  the  grace  of  orders," 
but  the  right  of  the  whole  body,  lay  and  clerical,  as 
a  kingdom  of  priests  unto  God,  to  worship  Him,  and 
administer  all  purely  spiritual  affairs  solely  according 
to  conscience  and  without  interference  by  the  State, 
which  has  no  jurisdiction  there  whether  it  endow  the 
Church  or  not.  "Hence,"  said  Dr.  Duff  to  a  prelate 
of  whom  the  High  Church  party  are  proud  though 
they  still  lack  the  courage  of  their  convictions,  "  your 
remedy  is  secession,  with  its  initial  sacrifice  of  state 
support  and  social  prestige."  The  practical  commentary 
on  Dr.  Duff's  teaching  was  the  action  of  Dean  Douglas, 
whose  indictment  of  Bishop  Colenso  in  the  metropoli- 
tan's court  is  a  master-piece  of  evangelical  theology. 
Yet  when  Bishop  of  Bombay  he  publicly  declared  that 
there  could  be  no  true  or  acceptable  Christianity  in 
India  which  did  not  flow  from  himself  and  those  who 
like  himself  (and  the  Latin  and  Greek  Churches) 
imagine  they  have  "  the  grace  of  orders." 


4IO  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1864.. 

Dr.  Duff  began  his  work  as  representative  of  the 
committee  of  Foreign  Missions,  at  its  principal  South 
African  station  of  Lovedale,  on  the  17th  March,  1864. 
The  station  is  650  miles  north-east  of  Cape  Town, 
and  forty  from  King  Williarastown.  There  to  the 
presbytery,  in  conference,  "  he  gave  a  long  and  interest- 
ing address  in  a  low  voice,  often  speaking  in  a 
whisper,"  according  to  the  local  report.  The  scholarly 
work  of  the  Rev.  W.  Grovan,  founder  of  the  chief 
missionary  institute  in  the  colony,  he  broadened  and 
developed,  alike  on  its  industrial  and  educational  side, 
following  his  Calcutta  experience.  At  that  time  the 
Kaffir  Christian  community  of  the  Lovedale  district  was 
965  strong,  of  whom  345  were  communicants.  From 
Lovedale,  nestling  in  low  hills  like  Moffat,  he  proceeded 
to  the  large  station  of  Burnshill,  fifteen  miles  to  the 
east,  among  the  Amatole  mountains,  once  Sandilli'.s 
capital,  in  the  very  heart  of  the  scenes  of  five  Kaffir 
wars.  On  the  eastern  side  of  these  hills  is  the  Pirie 
station,  then  conducted  by  the  veteran  Rev.  John 
Ross,  at  that  time  forty  years  in  the  field.  At  all, 
and  at  King  Williamstown,  Peelton,  and  elsewhere, 
he  preached  through  interpreters  and  mastered  every 
detail  of  the  work,  putting  it  in  a  new  position  alike 
for  greater  efficiency  and  expansion.  Thence  he 
pursued  the  still  long  and  difficult  track  through 
Basutoland  with  its  French  Mission  stations,  delayed 
by  swollen  and  unbridged  rivers  and  tracks  impassable 
for  the  rain.  But  the  climate  he  pronounced  as  in  the 
main  a  fine  one,  in  which  Europeans  enjoy  as  good 
health  as  in  Australia.  At  Queenstown,  in  April, 
he  saw  hoarfrost  for  the  first  time  for  many  years. 
Delayed  by  natural  obstacles,  and  often  tempted  to 
turn  back,  he  wrote  from  Winburgh  in  the  Orange 
Free  State,  "  I  am  content  to  go  on,  having  only  one 
object  supremely  in   view,  to  ascertain  the  state  and 


.'Et.  58.  FAREWELL   TO    SOUTH    AFRICA.  4II 

prospects  of  things  in  these  regions  in  a  missionary 
sense,  so  as  to  have  authentic  materials  for  future 
guidance  if  privileged  to  take  the  helm  of  our  Foreign 
Mission  affairs." 

After  reaching  Maritzburg,  where  he  had  much 
intercourse  with  Bishop  Gray,  and  being  attracted  by 
the  success  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Allison,  at  Edendale,  he 
returned  by  steamer  from  Port  Natal  to  Cape  Town, 
where  he  received  a  public  breakfast.  Thence  he  sailed 
in  the  Saxon, — named  after  the  second  mate  of  the 
Lady  Holland, — to  England,  which  he  reached  in  July. 
The  fruits  of  his  six  months'  tour  of  inspection  we 
shall  trace  in  the  consolidation  of  the  old,  and  the 
creation  of  new  missionary  agencies  for  Africa.  While 
he  had  been  at  work  in  the  south,  Livingstone  was 
exploring  in  the  east  and  the  centre  of  Africa,  and 
both  were  unconsciously  preparing  for  united  action 
for  the  christianization  of  the  Kaffir  race,  from  the 
Keiskamma  to  the  head  of  Lake  Nyassa.  As  Duff 
was  leaving  Natal  for  the  Cape,  Livingstone,  having 
completed  his  great  Zambesi  expedition  of  1858-18('4, 
was  boldly  crossing  the  Indian  Ocean  to  Bombay 
in  the  little  Lady  Nyassa  steam  launch  manned  by 
seven  natives  who  had  never  before  seen  the  sea. 

Dr.  Duff  reached  Edinburgh  just  in  time  to  address 
the  "commission"  of  the  General  Assembly,  on  the 
10th  August.  Speedily  he  took  his  way  north  to 
his  own  county  of  Perth,  in  order  to  take  part  in 
the  ordination  of  the  Rev.  W.  Stevenson  as  a  mis- 
sionary to  Madras.  The  city  hall  could  not  contain 
the  crowds  to  whom,  after  a  sermon  by  John  Milne 
surcharged  with  his  Calcutta  experiences,  Dr.  Duff 
addressed  burning  words  en  zeal  in  Foreign  Missions 
the  evidence  of  a  revived  Church.  In  Aberdeen, 
whence  the  Countess  welcomed  him  to  Haddo  House, 
he  had    strength,  a   week  after,   to  take  part  in  tlio 


412  LIFE    OP    DR.    DUFF.  1864, 

ordmation  of  another  missionary  to  Madras.  "  Not- 
withstanding his  enfeebled  health  his  voice  was  dis- 
tinctly heard  over  the  large  audience,  and  his  eloquent 
and  seasonable  address  was  listened  to  with  close 
attention  and  evident  delight,"  is  the  record  of  the 
local  reporters.  Soon  there  arrived  from  Calcutta 
intelligence  which  increased  his  activity  before  he  was 
physically  equal  to  the  strain.  A  cyclone,  more  disas- 
trous in  the  destruction  of  life  and  property  than  any 
he  had  witnessed  or  has  since  been  experienced,  swept 
over  the  mouth  of  the  Ganges  on  the  5th  October. 
From  Calcutta  to  Mahanad  the  hurricane  levelled  not 
a  few  of  the  mission  buildings,  churches,  schools  and 
houses.  The  Rev.  K.  S.  and  Mrs.  Macdonald,  then  in 
charge,  reported  that  sixty  girls  in  the  Calcutta  Orphan- 
age, and  their  own  children,  were  nearly  buried  under 
the  ruins  of  the  old  house.  In  a  few  hours  after  receiv- 
ing the  news  the  sympathetic  veteran,  well  knowing  all 
that  the  disaster  involved,  organized  an  effort  to  raise 
two  thousand  pounds,  and  really  sent  out  five  thou- 
sand. This  rash  waste  of  returning  strength  had  its 
result  in  his  enforced  absence  from  the  General  As- 
sembly of  1865;  but  Dr.  Murray  Mitchell,  who  re- 
presented him,  announced  a  home  income  for  Foreign 
Missions  in  the  previous  year  of  £27,000,  besides 
£3,000  reported  by  Dr.  James  Hamilton  to  the  Synod 
of  the  English  Presbyterian  Church  as  annually  con- 
tributed for  its  vio^orous  mission  in  China. 

At  this  period,  too,  Dr.  Duff  was  cheered  by  the  fact 
that,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  British  India, 
a  missionary  college — his  own — had  been  formally 
visited  by  a  Governor-General.  Sir  John  Lawrence 
had  learned,  in  his  Punjab  and  Mutiny  experience, 
the  truth  which  he  thus  expressed  in  a  formal  repre- 
sentation to  Lord  Canning,  the  first  Viceroy :  "  Sir 
John  Lawrence  does  entertain  the  earnest  belief  that 


^t.  58.  JOHN    LAWRENCES    CHEISTIAN    TOLICY.  413 

all  those  measures  wliicli  are  really  and  truly  Christian 
can  be  carried  out  in  India,  not  only  without  danger 
to  British  rule,  but,  on  the  contrary,  with  every  ad- 
vantage to  its  stabihty.  Christian  things  done  in  a 
Cliristiau  way  will  never,  the  Chief  Commissioner  is 
convinced,  alienate  the  heathen.  About  such  things 
there  are  qualities  which  do  not  provoke  nor  excite  dis- 
trust, nor  harden  to  resistance.  It  is  when  unchristian 
things  are  done  in  the  name  of  Christianity,  or  when 
Christian  things  are  done  in  an  unchristian  way,  that 
mischief  and  danger  arc  occasioned.  The  difficulty 
is,  amid  the  political  complications,  the  conflicting 
social  considerations,  the  fears  and  hopes  of  self- 
interest  which  are  so  apt  to  mislead  human  judgment, 
to  discern  clearly  what  is  imposed  upon  us  by  Chris- 
tian duty  and  what  is  not.  Having  discerned  this,  we 
liave  but  to  put  it  into  practice.  Sir  John  Lawrence 
is  satisfied  that,  within  the  territories  committed  to 
his  charge,  he  can  carry  out  all  those  measures  which 
are  really  matters  of  Christian  duty  on  the  part 
of  the  Government.  And,  further,  he  believes  that 
such  measures  will  arouse  no  danger ;  will  conciliate 
instead  of  provoking,  and  will  subserve  to  the  ultimate 
diffusion  of  the  truth  among  the  people."  The  pro- 
consul of  the  Punjab,  who  wrote  these  words,  went 
further,  urging  the  Viceroy  that  this  policy  "  be 
openly  avowed  and  universally  acted  on  throughout 
the  Empire,"  "  so  that  the  people  may  see  we  have  no 
sudden  or  sinister  designs,  and  so  that  we  may  exhibit 
that  harmony  and  uniformity  of  conduct  which  befits 
a  Christian  nation  striving  to  do  its  duty."  When  he 
himself  was  called  by  critical  times  to  the  same  high, 
office,  his  Excellency  visited  in  state  and  presided  at 
the  first  examination  of  Dr.  Duff''s  college  held  after 
he  landed,  just  as  he  inspected  the  Government  col- 
leges and  presided  as  Chancellor  of   the  University. 


414  LIFB   OF    DR.    DUFF.  1865. 

What  a  change  from  even  Lord  William  Bentiuck's 
time, — from  the  days  when  Macaulay  used  his  Indian 
experience  to  dogmatize  to  Mr.  Gladstone  on  Church 
and  State  !  We  have  not  Dr.  Duff's  letter  to  the 
Governor-Gleneral,  but  this  was  the  simple  reply  of  the 
Viceroy,  whom,  as  they  lately  laid  him  to  rest  beside 
Livingstone  and  Outram  and  Colin  Campbell,  in  the 
nave  of  Westminster  Abbey,  the  Dean  most  truly  pro- 
nounced to  be  the  Joshua  of  the  British  Empire : 

John  Lawrence  to  Alexander  Duef. 

"  February,  1865. — I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  your 
letter  of  the  olst  January,  and  I  am  sure  that  I  wish  I  could 
liave  been  of  more  service  to  the  Free  Church  Institution  than 
I  have  been,  for  it  is  calculated  to  do  much  good  among  the 
superior  classes  of  Bengal  society.  The  advances  they  have 
made  in  education  since  I  was  a  young  man  are  very  remark- 
able, but  it  is  too  generally  in  secular  knowledge  only.  Your 
Institution  seems  to  be  the  only  one  in  which  a  large  number 
have  the  opportunity  of  becoming  acquainted  with  the  Chris- 
tian religion  also,  and  certainly,  if  we  can  judge  from  outward 
appearances,  they  have  not  neglected  to  do  so." 

Now  that  Dr.  Duff  was  fairly  and  permanently  in 
Scotland,  he  felt  that  the  time  had  come  to  lay  broad 
and  deep  in  his  own  country  and  Church  the  founda- 
tions of  that  missionary  enterprise  to  which  he  re- 
garded all  his  previous  home  campaigns  as  prepara- 
tory. Here,  as  in  India,  he  must  leave  behind  him 
a  system  based  on  and  worked  by  living  principles, 
Avhich  would  grow  and  expand  and  bless  the  people 
long  after  he  was  forgotten.  Financially  his  quarterly 
associations  were  well,  but  they  would  be  worthless  if 
not  fed  by  spiritual  forces  and  not  directed  by  spiritual 
men.  And  he  had  learned,  even  in  the  first  year  after 
his  return,  to  be  weary  of  the  narrow  controversies 
and  sectarian  competition  which,  though  inseparable 
from  such  a  time  of  transition  as  that  through  which 


jr.t.  59.  HIS    MTSSIONABT    PROPAGANDA.  415 

Scotland,  like  nil  other  countries,  is  passing  to  a  re- 
constructed Kirk,  are  hostile  to  catholic  energy  and 
spiritual  life.  So  he  determined  to  launch  his  scheme 
of  a  Missionary  Propaganda — of  a  professorship  of 
Evangelistic  Theology,  a  practical  Missionary  Insti- 
tute, and  a  Missionary  Quarterly  Review. 

No  building  is  so  familiar  to  the  eyes  of  the  many 
English  and  Americans  who  annually  winter  in  Rome 
as  the  Collegio  di  Propaganda  Fide.  Standing  on  one 
side  of  the  Piazza  di  Spagna,  fronted  by  that  hideous 
specimen  of  modern  statuary  which  was  erected  by 
Pio  Nono  to  commemorate  the  myth  of  the  Immacu- 
late Conception,  the  college  looks  like  a  desolate  bar- 
rack or  theatre,  out  of  which  long  files  of  youths 
march  every  morning  and  evening  for  a  little  fresh  air. 
Yet,  unattractive  as  is  the  building  designed  by  Ber- 
nini, and  forbidding  the  whole  aspect  of  the  place, 
there  is  no  spot  in  Rome  so  full  of  modern  interest 
and  so  free  from  all  that  Protestants  are  accustomed 
to  dislike  in  the  long  papal  capital.  Two  centuries 
and  a  half  ago  the  fifteenth  Gregory  founded  that  col- 
lege, to  be  the  nurse  of  missionaries  and  the  retreat  of 
scholars  from  all  parts  of  the  earth.  There,  in  lan- 
guages more  numerous  than  those  in  which  the  public 
are  invited  to  confess  to  the  priests  who  flit  about 
St.  Peter's,  youths  of  almost  every  tribe  and  nation 
and  kingdom  and  tongue  are  fitted  to  go  forth  to 
tell  the  story  of  the  Cross — and  something  more, 
unfortunately — to  the  heathen  world.  A.  library  of 
thirty  thousand  volumes,  rich  in  oriental  manuscripts 
and  works  bearing  on  the  superstitions  of  man's  reli- 
gions, supplies  an  armoury  for  the  student.  The 
Museo  Borgia,  which  boasts  a  portrait  of  the  infamous 
Popj  Alexander  VI.  side  by  side  with  the  famous 
Codex  Mexicanus,  contains  specimens  of  the  idols,  the 
arts  and  the  industries  of  every  country  in  the  world 


4l6  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1865. 

from  China  to  Peru.  And  the  Propaganda  is  com- 
pleted by  the  possession  of  a  printing  establishment, 
which  turns  out  works  in  almost  every  language,  of 
rare  typographical  beauty  as  well  as  considerable 
scholarship.  There,  under  professors  who  are  them- 
selves generally  returned  missionaries,  upwards  of  a 
hundred  and  twenty  youths  are  always  under  training 
to  work  in  that  field  which  is  the  world,  whose  har- 
vests are  ever  white  for  the  sickle  which  there  are 
so  few  reapers  to  wield. 

Duff  had  long  been  fascinated  by  the  idea  of  a  nur- 
sery of  evangelists,  from  lona  and  the  capitular  bodies 
of  the  old  cathedrals  to  that  tolerated  for  a  time  by 
the  Dutch  under  WaljBus  at  Leyden,  in  1612,  and  to 
the  great  creation  of  Gregory  XV.  in  1622.  Nor  should 
it  be  forgotten  that  "  the  philosophic  missionary,"  the 
pioneer  of  all  martyr-missionaries  in  Africa,  Raymond 
Lull,  had  implored  the  Pope  and  the  princes  of  Europe 
to  found  Christian  propagandas.  In  1311  he  obtained 
from  the  Council  of  Vienna  a  decree  for  their  estab- 
lishment in  the  Universities  of  Paris,  Oxford,  and 
Salamanca;  while,  in  his  own  Majorca,  he  procured 
the  foundation  of  a  monastery  for  the  instruction  of 
thirteen  students  in  Arabic  and  the  Muhammadau 
controversy. 

When  Cromwell  used  to  play  with  the  proposal  to 
make  him  king,  he  declared  to  the  Grison,  Stoupe, 
whom  he  used  as  a  trusty  agent  in  foreign  affairs, 
that  he  would  "  commence  his  reign  with  the  establish- 
ment of  a  council  for  the  Protestant  religion,"  in 
opposition  to  Gregory's  Propaganda,  which  had  pro- 
duced the  slaughter  of  the  Vaudois  and  Milton's 
sonnet.  In  old  Chelsea  College  the  council  were  to 
train  men,  and  from  it  they  were  to  help  in  the  evan- 
gelization, of  Scandinavia  and  Turkey,  of  the  East  and 
West  Indies,  as   well  as  of   the    Latin    Church.      In 


Ait.  S9-  ^    UISSIONAKY    PEOFESSORSHIP.  417 

1677  Dr.  Hyde  would  Lave  made  Christ  Churcli, 
Oxford,  a  "  Collegium  de  Propag-atida  Fide."  The 
father  of  all  Christian  scientists,  Robert  Boyle,  when 
an  East  India  director,  revised  the  project  for  India 
which  Prideaux  adv^ocatcd  under  the  reign  of  William 
in  1G94.  And,  so  long  ago  as  1716,  one  of  the  earlier 
chaplains  of  the  East  India  Company,  Mr.  Stevenson, 
urged  the  establishment  of  colleges  in  Europe  to 
train  missionaries  and  to  teach  them  the  lanofuao-es. 

*'  When  passing  through  the  theological  curricu- 
lum of  St.  Andrews,"  said  Dr.  Duff  to  the  General 
Assembly,  "  I  was  struck  markedly  with  this  circum- 
stance, that  throughout  the  whole  course  of  tlie  curri- 
culum of  four  years  not  one  single  allusion  was  ever 
made  to  the  subject  of  the  world's  evangelization — the 
subject  which  constitutes  the  chief  end  of  the  Christian 
Church  on  earth.  I  felt  intensely  that  there  was 
something  wrong  in  this  omission.  According  to  any 
just  conception  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  the  grand 
function  it  has  to  discharge  in  this  world  cannot  be 
said  to  begin  and  end  in  the  preservation  of  internal 
purity  of  doctrine,  discipline  and  government.  All  this 
is  merely  for  burnishing  it  so  as  to  be  a  lamp  to  give 
light  not  to  itself  only  but  also  to  the  world.  There 
must  be  an  outcome  of  that  light,  lest  it  prove  useless, 
and  thereby  be  lost  and  extinguished.  Why  has  it 
got  that  light,  but  that  it  should  freely  impart  it  to 
others  ?  Years  afterwards,  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges, 
we  heard  that  this  Free  Church  had  determined  to  set 
up  its  Hall  of  Theology,  and  that  Dr.  Welsh  had 
succeeded  so  remarkably  in  procuring  funds — thanks 
to  those  who  have  been  so  liberal  since,  the  merchant 
princes  of  Glasgow  ! — that  besides  the  ordinary  theo- 
logical chairs,  there  were  to  be  chairs  of  Natural 
Science,  Logic,  and  Moral  Philosophy,  all  demanded 
by  the  peculiar  necessities  of  the  times.     I  could  not 

VOL.    IT.  E   E 


41 8  LIFE    OF    DB.    DUFF.  1866. 

help  feeling  tliat  now  was  tlie  time  for  advancing  a 
step  farther,  and  on  the  spur  of  the  moment  was  led 
to  write  to  my  noble  friend  Dr.  Gordon,  the  Convener 
of  the  Indian  Foreign  Missions,  to  the  effect,  that 
surely  this  was  the  time  and  occasion  for  setting  up  a 
chair  for  Missions — in  short,  a  Missionary  Professor- 
ship ;  that  as  the  Free  Church  in  her  General  Assembly 
had  started  as  a  missionary  church,  her  New  College 
should  start  as  a  missionary  college.  On  my  second 
return  from  India  I  talked  of  the  subject  to  various  in- 
fluential men  in  the  Church,  amongst  others  to  the  late 
Dr.  Cunningham,  who  approved  highly  of  the  object ; 
but  even  he  did  nob  think  the  time  was  ripe  for  it. 
Crossing  the  Atlantic,  I  was  wont  to  talk  of  it  much 
to  our  friends  in  America ;  and  there  was  one  Synod 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  there  that  agreed  to  instruct 
its  professor  of  theology  to  make  this  a  distinct  sub- 
ject of  his  prelections,  namely  to  lecture  on  Evangelistic 
Theology ;  and  that  is  the  only  lectureship  of  the  kind 
that  I  know  of.  On  my  last  return  from  India  I  felt 
intensely,  looking  at  the  state  of  the  country  generally, 
that  there  was  still  much  need  of  such  a  professorship, 
and  perhaps  the  more  need,  because  the  world  is 
more  agitated  and  restless  than  ever,  and  young  men 
more  flighty,  because  of  the  multitude  of  secular  open- 
ings in  every  direction." 

An  endowment  of  £10,000  was  at  once  supplied 
for  the  chair  by  men  of  various  evangelical  Churches. 
When  the  General  Assembly  of  1867,  with  whom  the 
appointment  of  the  first  professor  rested,  could  not 
agree  as  to  which  of  two  experienced  missionaries, 
from  Calcutta  and  Bombay,  should  be  appointed  to  it, 
Dr.  Duff  was  most  unwillingly  compelled  to  accept  the 
appointment  by  the  unanimous  call  of  his  Church. 
The  donors,  while  sharing  his  enthusiasm,  had  desired 
to  honour  him  by  calling  the  chair  by  his  name.     This 


Ait.  60.      CORRESrONDENCE    WITH    MH.    II.   M.  MATIIESON.     4I9 

at  least  he  prevented.  They  secured  tteir  personal 
as  well  as  missionary  object  far  more  effectually,  as  tlicy 
•and  lie  thought,  by  stipulating  only  that  the  professor- 
ship should  be  of  the  status,  and  be  devoted  to  the 
subjects  his  irresistible  statement  of  which  had  led 
them  to  supply  the  capital  of  the  endowment.  Other- 
wise the  money  was  made  over  unconditionally  to  the 
General  Assembly,  and  by  Dr.  Duff  as  the  representa- 
tive of  the  donors — of  whom  ho  himself  was  one — 
without  legal  document  and  so  accepted  by  the  Assem- 
bly in  the  act  legislatively  creating  the  professorship, 
"  with  consent  of  a  majority  of  presbyteries." 

Dr.  Duff  was  so  jealous,  in  his  Master's  cause,  of 
attempts  made  by  a  few  ministers  and  professors  to 
minimise  the  chair  as  novel  to  or  inconsistent  with  the 
theological  course  of  Protestant — and  up  to  his  own 
time  non-missionary  Churches — that  immediately  be- 
fore the  meeting  of  that  General  Assembly  he  thus  took 
care  to  secure  the  deliberate  co-operation  and  formal 
consent  of  the  donors.  All  have  survived  him,  and 
their  strong  opinions  in  favour  of  the  continuance  of 
the  chair  as  he  devised  it  are  known  to  his  Church. 
These  letters  to  the  largest  of  the  donors,  H.  M.  Mathe  - 
son,  Esq.,  have  been  submitted  to  us  by  that  generous 
elder  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  England. 

"11th  May,  1867. 

''My  Dear  Mr.  Matueson, —  .  .  As  regards  the  mis- 
sionary professorship — to  my  own  mind  it  is  most  perplexing, 
and  despite  all  my  endeavours  and  prayers  fills  me  with  an 
anxiety  that  is  well  nigh  crushing  and  overwhelming,  (1)  I 
know  not  what  your  views  are  with  regard  to  the  proposal 
emanating  from  many  quarters,  that  the  chair  should  be  left 
open  to  the  appointment  of  a  home  minister  as  well  as  a 
foreign  missionary.  Some  of  the  contributors,  I  know^  would 
decidedly  object  to  this,  except  in  a  case,  not  likely  I  hope  evoi- 
to  arise,  viz.,  the  Church's  declaring  that,  among  all  her  foreign 


420  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1867. 

missionaries,  retired  or  in  the  field,  there  was  not  one 
,  reasonpbly  competent  to  fill  it.  And  (2)  I  know  not  what  your 
views  are  with  reference  to  another  proposal,  which  has 
gained  extensive  favour,  viz.,  that,  after  the  first  appointment, 
it  would  be  left  open  to  make  all  subsequent  ones  only  tempo- 
rary, or  for  a  few  years — thus  reducing  the  professorship  to  a 
lectureship,  and  depriving  the  occupant  of  the  chair  of  that 
accumulating  influence  over  students  and  others  which  the 
status  of  a  professor  and  long  experience  undoubtedly  give. 
Some  of  the  contributors,  I  know,  would  object  to  such  an 
innovation  in  the  case  of  the  missionary  chair.  And  I  confess 
it  is  altogether  different  from  my  own  understanding  of  the 
subject  when  applying  to  parties  for  contributions.  Now  if 
the  Church  were  to  sanction  either  or  both  of  these  proposals, 
and  any  of  the  contributors  were  to  object,  and  decline  to  give 
their  moneys  unless  the  proposals  were  set  aside,  you  can  see 
what  a  dilemma  we  should  be  in,  and  how  harassing  such  a 
dilemma  to  my  own  mind. 

20th  May. — "  I  have  no  words  wherewith  to  express  my  in- 
debtedness to  you  for  the  relief  which  your  letter,  received 
this  morning,  has  afi'orded  to  my  sorely  burdened  spirit.  My 
own  trust,  all  along,  has  been  in  a  good  and  gracious  God.  I 
could  not  but  believe  that  the  cause  was  His  ;  and  I  had  some- 
thing of  an  assurance  that,  if  so.  He  would  not  suffer  it,  in 
the  end,  to  be  wholly  defeated.  And  yet,  in  spite  of  all  this 
I  could  not,  in  the  hour  of  nature's  weakness,  amid  apparently 
insuperable  difficulties,  help  being  filled  with  anxieties,  and 
that  too  in  very  proportion  to  the  greatness  and  goodness  of 
the  cause  which  seemed  on  the  verge  of  shipwreck.  You  may 
judge  then  of  the  relief  which  such  a  letter  as  yours  at  once 
afibrded  me.  I  could  not  help  falling  down  on  my  knees  to 
thank  God  for  it ;  and  the  very  first  words  which  came  into 
mind  were  literally  these  :  '  0  thou  of  little  faith,  wherefore 
didst  thou  doubt  ? '  In  the  course  of  my  own  strangely 
chequered  life  I  have  had  so  many  palpable  answers  to  prayer, 
that  I  now  feel  deeply  under  a  sense  of  the  sin  and  shame  of 
having,  for  a  moment,  given  way  to  unbelieving  doubts  at  all 
in  connection  with  a  cause  that  so  vitally  concerns  the  honour 
and  cause  of  the  adorable  Saviour. 

2ht]t  May. — '^  I  have  to  thank  you  for  your  last  kind  note  ; 
but  delayed  replying  to  it  till  I  could  report  definitely  on  tho 


JEt.  6i.  FIKST    PROFESSOR   OF   MISSIONARY   THEOLOGY.         42 1 

two  points  previously  alluded  to.  Having  now  seen  Candlisli, 
Buchanan  and  other  leaders,  I  am  warranted  to  say  tliat  all 
are  of  one  mind  on  the  subject ;  and  that,  in  some  suitable 
way,  provision  will  be  made  to  ensure  in  all  time  coming  the 
appointment  of  an  experienced  foreign  missionary  to  the  chair, 
and  that  it  shall  be  a  pi'ofessorship  for  life.  All  this  I  have 
now  reason  to  believe  will  be  satisfactorily  secured.  .  .  As 
it  is,  all,  I  find,  are  hearty  in  carrying  it  out ;  and  for  the  most 
part  according  to  the  expressed  wishes  of  the  contributors. 
There  is  therefore  now  no  occasion,  I  am  happy  to  say,  for 
your  coming  to  Edinburgh. 

27th  May. — "To-day  the  professorship  affair  came  on.  The 
two  points  were  conceded,  the  election  was  made,  and,  to  my 
own  sur]3rise,  I  am  now  the  professor !  Oh,  for  grace  to 
guide,  dii'ect  and  uphold  me  ! 

"  Were  it  not  for  your  timely  interposition  it  is  impossible 
that  the  matter  could  have  been  concluded  as  it  has  been. 
To  you,  therefore,  under  God  I  feel  pre-eminently  indebted, 
though  the  cause  is  not  mine  but  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ^s. 
Being  wearied  I  can  say  no  more  now,  having  been  out  from 
8  a.m.  to  5  p.m." 

One  circumstance  which  reconciled  Dr.  Duff  to  the 
toil  of  not  only  preparing  lectures  for  the  chair,  but 
of  delivering  them  in  the  three  colleges,  in  Edinburgh, 
Glasgow  and  Aberdeen,  every  winter,  was  this,  that  he 
saved  the  whole  salary  for  the  foundation  of  the  second 
portion  of  his  most  catholic  project,  the  Missionary 
Institute.  For  he  refused  to  touch  any  income  as 
professor,  or  as  convenor  of  the  Foreign  Missions 
Committee,  being  content  with  the  modest  revenue 
from  the  Duff  Missionary  Fund.  The  bulk  of  that, 
even,  he  used  to  give  away  on  the  rule  of  systematic 
beneficence,  of  which  he  had  always  been  the  eloquent 
advocate.  The  Institute,  as  described  by  himself  in 
his  inaugural  lecture  to  the  students  on  the  7th 
November,  1867,  still  remains  to  be  established  by 
the  ministers,  elders,  and  members  of  the  evangelical 
Churches  who,  under  Lord  Polwarth,  have   recently 


422  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1 86 7. 

drafted  its  constitation  as  the  best  memorial  of  him. 
The  Missionary  Quarterly,  apart  from  the  denomina- 
tional or  official  record  of  each  church  and  society,  he 
did  not  live  to  see.  Planned  under  the  editorship  of 
Canon  Tristram,  with  promises  of  assistance  from  a 
most  competent  literary  and  missionary  staff  repre- 
senting all  the  Churches,  the  much  desired  Quarterly 
does  not  seem  to  have  found  catholicity  enough  at 
home  for  its  vigorous  support.  But  in  the  East  the 
Indian  Evangelical  Review,  a  quarterly  journal  of  mis- 
sionary thought  and  effort,  has  for  seven  years  done 
well  for  all  the  Church  catholic  abroad  the  work  which 
is  far  more  needed  by  the  Church  divided  at  home. 

But  though  the  Institute  and  the  Quarterly  still 
await  Christian  statesmanship  in  Great  Britain,  like 
the  united  college  which  he  proposed  in  1832  in  Cal- 
cutta, and  charity  like  his  own  to  establish  them,  he 
took  care  that  the  professorship,  of  which  he  was 
himself  one  of  the  founders,  should  not  be  tampered 
with  when  he  could  no  longer  guard  their  rights.  The 
Assembly  having  legislatively  created  the  professor- 
ship, he  did  not  rest  until  the  same  supreme  court 
of  his  Church  in  the  same  way  made  attendance  on  the 
lectures  in  evangelistic  theology  part  of  the  course 
essential  for  licence  and  ordination.  When  the  present 
writer  was  one  of  the  Assembly's  commissioners  for 
the  quinqiiennial  visitation  of  the  New  College,  Dr.  Duff 
prepared  a  scheme  for  the  development  of  the  chair,  so, 
as  to  enable  it  to  cover  the  whole  subject  of  com- 
parative religion,  or  the  science  of  religion,  or  the 
relation  of  the  faiths  of  the  non-Christian  world  to 
the  Divine  revelation  of  God  in  Christ.  This,  indeed, 
he  had  sketched  in  his  inaugural  lecture  as  the  fourth 
of  the  nine  parts  of  a  collegiate  course  of  evangel- 
istic theology.  Honoured  to  be  the  first  of  the  Re- 
formed Churches  to  make  theology  in  its  relation  to 


ALt.  6 1.  THE    SCIENCE    OF   RELIGION.  423 

the  creeds  and  cults  of  beatliendom  a  compulsory 
part  of  its  eight  years  training  of  students  of  divinity, 
the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  has  the  opportunity  of 
making  its  academic  course  still  more  complete  in 
the  appointment  of  Dr.  Duff's  successor  in  the  chair. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

1867-1878. 

NEW  MISSIONS  AND    TEE  RESULTS   OF  HALF  A 
CENTURY'S   WORK. 

Missions  on  the  Hortatory  Method. — David's  Example  and  Syste- 
matic Beneficence. — The  Gonds  of  Central  India. — Sir  Richard 
Temple  and  Stephen  Hislop. — The  Santals  of  the  Bengal  Up- 
lands.— Karayan  Sheshadri's  Rural  Mission. — Bethel  and  Sir 
Salar  Jung. — IMiesion  Buildings  and  Salaries. — Correspondence 
with  Lord  Northbrook  on  English  Education. — United  Christian 
College  of  Madras. — Dr.  Duff  at  the  Church  Mission's  Com- 
mittee.— The  Communion  of  Saints  and  Missionary  Faith. — The 
Anglo-Indian  Christian  Union. — Letter  from  Lord  Lawrence. — 
Drs.  Duff  and  Lumsden  visit  the  Lebanon. — Relation  of  the 
Mission  to  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  the  United  States. — Exten- 
sion of  Kaffraria.n  Mission  to  the  Trauskei  Country. — Natal 
Missions  and  Sir  Peregrine  Maitland. — James  Allison. — Dr.  Dutf 
and  the  Aberdeen  Family. — A  Bright  Career. — Gordon  Memorial 
Mission  to  the  Zulus. — Dr.  Livingstone's  Zambesi  Project. — Dis- 
covers Lake  Nyassa. — His  Letters  to  the  Free  Church. — Rev. 
Dr.  Stewart's  Proposal. — Dr.  Duff  Launches  the  Livingstonia 
Expedition  in  1875. — His  Heroic  Wish  in  1877. — The  Unconscious 
Founder  of  the  New  Hebrides  Mission. — Dr.  William  Syming- 
ton's Diary. — The  Immediate  Fruit  of  Forty-nine  Years  of  Mis- 
sionary Work. 

Not  only  as  professor  of  Evangelistic  Theology,  but 
as  superintendent  or,  so  far  as  Presbyterian  parity 
allowed,  director  of  the  Foreign  Missions  of  his 
Church,  Dr.  Daff  had  the  care  of  all  the  churches 
till  the  day  of  his  death.  None  the  less  was  he  the 
adviser,  referee,  and  fellow-helper  of  the  other  mis- 
sionary agencies  of  Great  Britain  and  America.  His 
third  of  a  century's  experience  of  India,  what  he  had 
learned  in  his  careful  tour  of  inspection  in  Africa,  his 


^t.  6 1.  CONSOLIDATIUN    AND   EXTENSIOIJ.  425 

personal  study  of  both  Europe  and  America,  were 
henceforth  all  concentrated  on  one  point — the  consoli- 
dation and  extension  of  the  Missions.  For  this  end 
he  ever  sought  to  perfect  the  internal  organization 
of  his  own  Church,  which  he  had  created  at  what  an 
expenditure  of  splendid  toil  we  have  told.  During 
the  two  years  1865  and  1866,  the  records  of  his  office 
and  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  the  newspapers  of 
the  day,  show  that  he  held  conferences  with  the  minis- 
ters, office-bearers  and  collectors  of  each  congrega- 
tion and  presbytery  over  a  large  part  of  Scotland, 
informing,  stimulating  and  often  filling  them  with  an 
enthusiasm  like  his  own.  Nothing  was  too  humble, 
nothing  too  wearisome  for  one  already  sixty  years  of 
age,  if  only  the  great  cause  could  be  advanced.  To 
him  a  conference  meant  not  a  quiet  talk  but  a  burning 
exposition.  As  in  1866  the  ordinary  home  income 
reached  an  annual  average  of  £16,000,  and  the  fees 
and  grants-in-aid  united  with  the  subscriptions  of 
Christian  people  abroad  to  double  that,  he  felt  that  the 
time  had  come  for  new  missions. 

He  had  told  the  General  Assembly  of  1865,  in  his 
first  report,  that  their  committee  were  "  not  only  in- 
tensely anxious  to  strengthen  their  stakes,  but  also 
greatly  to  lengthen  their  cords.  This  can  be  done  in 
either,  or  both,  of  two  ways — either  by  giving  larger 
scope  and  development  to  existing  operations  within 
the  fields  already  chosen,  or  by  entering  on  entirely 
new  fields  and  there  breaking  up  wholly  new  ground. 
For  the  active  prosecution  of  either,  or  both,  of  these 
courses,  your  committee  are  prepared,  to  whatever 
extent  this  venerable  Assembly  may  approve,  or  the 
Church  at  large  may  supply  the  necessary  means.  .  . 
Our  plan  never  was  intended  to  be — and,  in  point  of 
fact,  never  actually  was — a  narrow,  one-sided,  fixed, 
exclusive  plan;  but,  on  the  contrary,  in  its  original 


426  LIFE    Ofc^   Dli.    DUFF.  iS^?- 

conception,  a  broad,  all-compreliending  plan;  only,  its 
breadth  and  comprehension  were  to  be  gradually 
evolved  or  unfolded  from  a  rudimental  germ — requiring 
years  of  growth  to  exhibit  its  real  nature  and  design, 
and  whole  generations  for  reaping  the  full  harvest 
of  its  ripened  fruits.  From  the  very  outset  the  two 
kindred  and  reciprocal!}?-  auxiliary  processes  of  training 
the  young  for  varied  future  usefulness,  and  addressing 
the  adults,  through  whatever  lingual  medium  might  be 
found  most  effective  in  reaching  their  understandings 
and  their  hearts,  were  simultaneously  carried  on,  side 
by  side." 

But  he  had  provided  for  the  development  of  the 
colleges  through  their  local  support,  leaving  the 
whole  increased  subscriptions  of  his  Church  thence- 
forth to  go  to  "  addressing  the  adults  "  in  the  rural 
districts  of  India,  and  in  the  barbarous  lands  of  Africa 
and  Oceania.  To  the  General  Assembly  of  1867,  in 
an  oration  full  of  his  old  fire,  he  thus  commended  and 
illustrated  the  principle  on  which  he  had  acted  all 
his  life  and  sought  to  support  his  whole  missionary 
advance : 

"  The  Systematic  Beneficence  Society  is  based  on 
the  grand  principle  of  holding  ourselves  responsible 
to  God  for  all  that  we  have,  and  that  it  is  our  bounden 
duty  to  devote  a  large  portion  of  the  income  which  He 
may  be  pleased  to  give  us  directly  to  His  cause  and 
for  His  glory.  It  does  seem  strange  that  the  great 
principle  which  lies  at  the  root  of  the  Beneficence 
Society — the  grand  New  Testament  principle,  the 
principle  of  being  stewards  of  God's  bounties — should 
be  looked  upon  by  many  in  these  days  as  if  it  were  a 
novelty.  Why,  it  is  a  principle  which  is  at  least  three 
thousand  years  old.  We  have  the  grandest  exemplifi- 
cation of  it  in  the  history  of  David  in  First  Chronicles 
xxix.     In  that  chapter  we  are  told  how  David  poured 


.-Et.   6i.  SYSTEMATIC    LENEFICENCE.  427 

out  of  his  treasury  gold  and  silver  and  precious 
stones ;  and  when  he  had  set  the  example  which  he 
did,  he  appealed  to  his  nobles,  and  they  liberally 
responded.  Example  is  better  than  precept,  and  what 
took  place  in  David's  case  was  just  what  might  have 
been  expected.  "What  was  even  more  remarkable  than 
the  liberality  displayed,  was  the  willingness  of  heart 
which  was  shown.  In  fact,  the  whole  principle  of  the 
Systematic  Beneficence  Society  was  expounded  and 
acted  out  by  David.  If  David's  principle  was  acted 
upon  now,  instead  of  the  subscriptions  from  the  whole 
of  our  members  to  the  Foreign  Missions  being  four- 
fifths  of  a  farthing  for  a  week,  it  would  be  four-fifths 
of  a  shilling,  and  would  not  stop  even  there.  On  one 
occasion,  when  in  Calcutta,  I  received  a  letter  from  an 
ofiicer  who  had  served  in  the  Sindh  campaign.  He 
had  received  between  three  thousand  and  four  thousand 
rupees  as  his  share  of  the  prize  money,  I  had  seen 
him  only  once,  when  he  happened  to  be  passing  through 
Calcutta.  Having  taken  him  to  visit  our  Institution, 
he  was  greatly  struck  with  it.  In  tliat  letter  he  sent 
"what  he  called  a  tithe  of  his  prize  money,  amounting 
to  upwards  of  three  hundred  rupees,  as  a  thank-offering 
to  God.  I  thanked  him  warmly  for  his  liberality ;  and 
in  doing  so  happened  to  refer  to  the  29th  chapter  of 
Chronicles  and  14th  verse,  stating  that  it  was  a  blessed 
thing  to  have  the  means  of  giving,  but  that  it  was 
still  more  blessed  when  God  was  graciously  pleased  to 
give  us  the  disposition  to  part  with  these  means. 
Some  two  or  three  weeks  afterwards  I  received  a 
second  letter  from  the  same  ofiicer,  containing  the 
whole  of  the  rupees  which "  he  had  received  for  his 
prize  money,  accompanied  with  the  remark,  '  I  had 
often  read  that  chapter  and  that  passage,  but  it  had 
never  struck  me  in  that  light  before  ;  and  I  thank  God 
for  putting  it  into  my  heart  to  do  as  I  have  done.' 


428  LIFE    OF    DB.    DUFF.  1869. 

He  then  desired  me  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  the 
sum  in  a  particular  newspaper,  but  stated  that  I  was 
not  to  mention  his  name,  but  to  say  that  it  was  from 
1  Chronicles  xxix.  14.  That  was  not  all.  When  the 
time  arrived  that  he  was  able  to  retire  upon  a  pension, 
instead  of  coming  home,  as  many  do,  to  indulge  them- 
selves in  luxurious  ease  and  idleness,  he  entered  as  a 
volunteer  in  the  service  of  his  Lord,  and  became  a 
practical  missionary  in  India,  for  which  his  knowledge 
of  the  vernacular  and  his  other  qualifications  emi- 
nently qualified  him  ;  and  I  can  assure  this  Assembly 
that  it  was  a  noble  work  that  he  rendered.  He  is, 
alas  !  no  more  ;  but  '  his  works  do  follow  him.'  " 

The  first  new  mission  which  "Dr.  Duff  helped  into 
existence  was  to  the  Gronds  of  Central  India.  From 
Nagpore  Stephen  Hislop  had  spent  many  a  week 
^mong  them  in  their  hilly  fastnesses,  studying  their 
language,  taking  down  their  almost  Biblical  traditions, 
and  telling  them  of  Him  to  whom  their  dim  legends 
pointed,  the  Desire  of  all  nations.  When  Sir  Richard 
Temple  was  sent  by  Lord  Canning  to  rescue  the 
Central  Provinces  from  misrule,  Hislop  became  his 
guide  and  friend.  The  fruit  of  the  missionary's  re- 
searches appeared  in  one  of  the  most  valuable  contri- 
butions to  the  literature  of  so-called  pre-historic  man, 
his  "  Papers  relating  to  the  Aboriginal  Tribes  of  the 
Central  Provinces."  As  the  disciple  of  John  Lawrence 
Sir  R.  Temple  felt  a  keen  interest  in  the  millions  of 
the  rude  tribes  entrusted  to  him.  On  his  first  furlough 
thereafter,  in  August,  1865,  he  spent  some  days  with 
Dr.  Duff  in  Edinburgh,  who  acted  as  his  guide  over 
the  city  and — as  he  confessed  to  us  with  a  twinkle — 
took  him  thrice  in  one  day  to  long  Scotch  services. 
The  two  carefully  discussed  the  subject  of  a  mission 
to  the  Gonds,  Mr.  Hislop's  papers  on  whom  had  just 
appeared.     The  result  was  the  despatch  of  Mr.  Dawson, 


/El  63.  MISSIONS    TO   ABOlilGINAL   TRIBES.  429 

from  the  Nagpore  staff,  witli  the  native  catcc-hist 
Hardie,  to  Cliindwara,  as  a  centre,  a  liealtby  station 
in  the  Grond  uplands  of  Deogurh.  Gondee  has  been 
reduced  to  writing,  and  portions  of  Scripture  have 
appeared  in  the  language.  Dr.  Duff  would  foin  have 
sent  a  missionary  to  the  Sutnamees,  the  aboriginal 
sect  of  theistic  worshippers  of  the  "pure  name"  of  God 
in  the  cast  of  the  Central  Provinces,  but  that  field  was 
soon  after  supplied  by  the  Germans. 

Ever  since,  in  1862,  he  had  wandered  over  the  forest 
land  of  the  simple  Santals,  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
to  the  north  of  the  rural  missions  in  Hooghly  and 
Burdwan,  he  had  determined  to  plant  a  mission  among 
that  section  of  the  people  who  were  not  cared  for  by  the 
Church  Missionary  Society  along  the  south  bank  of  the 
Ganges,  and  by  the  Baptists  on  the  Orissa  and  Bchar 
sides.  The  Rev.  J.  D.  Don  and  Dr.  M.  Mitchell  were 
enabled  by  him  to  begin  operations  at  Pachumba  in 
1869,  when  the  chord  line  of  the  East  Indian  Railway 
opened  up  the  south  country,  skirted  by  the  grand 
trunk  road,  and  under  the  shadow  of  the  Jain  moun- 
tain of  Parisnath.  There,  under  three  Scottish  mis- 
sionaries, medical,  evangelistic  and  teaching,  in  San- 
talee,  Hindee  and  Bengalee,  a  staff  of  convert-cate- 
chists  has  been  formed  and  a  living  native  church 
created.  The  Santals,  whom  ojQ&cial  neglect,  toler- 
ating the  oppression  of  Bengalee  usurers,  drove  into 
rebellion  in  1855,  are  coming  over  in  hundreds  to 
the  various  Churches,  and  promise  to  become  a  Chris- 
tian people  in  a  few  generations.  When  ritualistic 
sacerdotalism  for  a  time  introduced  discord  into  the 
neighbouring  Church  of  the  Kols  of  Chota  Nagpore, 
evangelized  by  the  Lutheran  missionaries  sent  out 
by  Pastor  Gossner,  the  proposal  was  made  to  Dr. 
Duff  that  he  should  enter  on  a  portion  of  the 
field. 


430  I^ir^    OP   BR.    DUPP.  1871. 

Bat  tliougli  bis  own  province,  Bengal,  enjoyed  the 
least  of  Dr.  Duff's  fostering  care,  from  Bombay  the 
Rev.  Narayan  Sheshadri,  the  first  educated  Brahman 
who  had  joined  the  Church  of  "Western  India,  went 
boldly  forth  to  evangelize  his  peasant  countrymen  and 
the  outcast  tribes  in  the  villages  around  Brahmanical 
Indapoor,  to  the  south  of  Poena,  and  in  the  country 
of  the  Nizam,  of  which  Jalna  is  a  British  cantonment. 
As  the  catechumens  around  Jalna  increased  into  a  large 
community,  they  became  perplexed  by  the  denial  of 
hereditary  rights  in  the  soil,  and  by  the  impossibility  in 
a  native  principality  of  enjojdng  such  sanitary  and  self- 
administering  institutions  as  Christianity  recommends. 
A  new  society  had  sprung  to  life  from  among  the  cor- 
ruption of  the  old,  but  to  have  fair  play  it  must  have 
standing  ground  of  its  own.  Accordingly  the  Chris- 
tian Brahman  applied  to  the  Arab  prime  minister  of 
the  Muhammadan  Nizam  of  Hyderabad  to  grant  a  site 
to  the  Hindoo  and  outcast  cultivators  and  artisans 
who  had  become  Christ's.  The  reply  was  the  conces- 
sion of  land  rent-free  for  twenty-five  years.  There, 
under  the  protection  of  the  Jalna  cantonment,  three 
miles  distant,  Narayan  Sheshadri  has  made  his  village 
at  once  a  model  and  a  guarantee  of  what  India  will 
yet  become.  The  pretty  stone  church,  named  Bethel, 
• — Hebrew  rather  than  Marathee,  — stands  in  the  centre 
of  a  square,  on  either  of  two  sides  of  which  are  the 
public  institutions  of  the  young  community :  manse, 
schools,  hospital,  serai,  market,  smithy,  wells.  Within 
a  radius  of  ninety  miles  are  ten  large  towns,  where, 
and  in  the  intervening  country,  the  catechists  of  Bethel 
evangelize  their  countrymen.  The  light  has  shined 
forth  into  the  adjoining  province  of  Berar,  penetrated 
by  the  Bombay  and  Calcutta  railway  at  this  end  as  the 
Santal  country  is  at  the  other.  No  part  of  his  duty 
gave  Dr.  Duff  greater  delight  than   that  of  assis.ting 


^.t.  65.  MISSIONARY    ECONOMICS.  43 1 

in  such  an  experiraent  as  tliis,  illustrating  at  once  the 
pi'iuciples  of  his  system  and  supplying  to  all  India  an 
example  for  imitation. 

The  expansion  of  the  Missions  forced  on  Dr.  DufT 
the  necessity  of  making  a  special  appeal  to  the  country 
for  a  fund  to  build  houses  for  the  missionaries,  and 
substantial  schools,  in  Africa  as  well  as  in  India,  where 
these  did  not  exist.  The  task  of  raising  £50,000  for 
this  purpose  was  almost  repulsive  to  him  with  his 
other  engngements.  But  after  a  deliberate  and  per- 
sistent fashion  he  set  himself  to  it.  He  conducted  a 
correspondence  on  the  subject  which  it  is  even  now 
almost  appalling  to  read.  He  was  zealously  aided  by 
members  of  the  committee,  and  the  result  was  success. 
The  greater  part  of  the  money  was  paid  in  a  few  years, 
and  hns  now  been  expended  in  manses,  preaching  halls, 
and  schools  which  place  the  missionary  in  the  heart  of 
his  work,  and,  for  the  first  time  in  many  instances, 
surround  him  by  the  same  sanitary  advantages  as  his 
countrymen  enjoy  in  the  European  quarters  of  Cal- 
cutta, Boml)ay  and  Madras.  Even  before  this,  the  rise 
of  prices  in  these  cities  and  throughout  India,  which 
had  begun  in  the  Crimean  and  culminated  in  the 
United  States  war,  compelled  the  committee  to  revise 
the  whole  scale  of  salaries.  To  this,  as  one  who  had 
ever  denied  himself  and  who  was  beginning  to  live  not 
a  little  in  the  past,  he  was  reluctant  to  turn.  He 
keenly  felt  the  danger  of  robbing  the  missionary's  life 
of  its  generally  realized  ideal  of  self-sacrifice  for  Him 
who  spared  not  Himself,  and  so  of  attracting  to  the 
grandest  of  careers  the  meanest  of  men — the  merely 
professional  missionary.  Few  though  they  were,  he 
had  seen  such  failures  in  the  Lord  of  the  harvest's 
field.  But  duty  prevailed,  and  he  set  about  the  work 
with  business-like  comprehensiveness.  After  a  con- 
ference of  conveners  and  secretaries,  sitting  in  Edin- 


432  LIFE   OP  DE.   DUFF.  1872. 

burgh,  liad  taken  evidence  and  discussed  tlie  whole 
subject  of  missionary  economics,  he  consented  that 
the  committee  should  be  asked  to  sanction  an  increase 
somewhat  proportioned  to  the  rise  of  prices.  And 
so,  while  as  convener  he  left  behind  him  a  well- 
organized  missionary  staff,  he  and  his  committee  went 
no  further  than  the  standard  of  such  a  subsistence 
allowance  as,  by  keeping  off  family  care  and  pecuniary 
worry,  should  permit  the  absorption  of  the  whole  man 
in  the  divine  work. 

When,  in  1872,  Lord  Northbrook  was  designated 
Governor-General,  in  succession  to  Lord  Mayo  whose 
assassination  called  forth  from  Dr.  Duff  a  warm  eulogy 
of  that  Viceroy,  the  missionary  made  a  representa- 
tion to  his  old  friend  on  the  subject  of  the  education 
despatch  of  1854.  After  a  year's  experience  of  his 
high  office,  his  Excellency  thus  addressed  Dr.  Duff: 

"Government  House,  Calcutta,  January  S\st,  1873. 

"Dear  Dr.  Duff, — As  you  were  so  good  as  to  communicate 
with  me  before  I  left  England  through  Mr.  [now  Lord] 
Kinnaird,  I  feel  no  hesitation  in  sending  you  the  enclosed  copy 
of  a  resolution  upon  education  which  will  be  issued  to  morrow, 
and  which  is  the  first  expression  of  my  views  upon  educational 
questions.  Matters  liave  been  rather  complicated  here  by  some 
resolutions  of  the  Government  of  India  issued  in  1869,  which 
went,  in  my  opinion,  too  far  in  the  direction  of  withdrawing 
Government  support  fi-om  the  English  colleges,  and  created 
great  alarm  among  the  educated  natives.  .  .  I  have  tried, 
while  supporting  Mr.  [now  Sir  George]  Campbell  as  I  am 
bound  to  do,  especially  for  his  efforts  to  spread  education 
among  the  people,  and  to  give  a  more  practical  turn  to  it, 
to  satisfy  our  native  friends  that  we  are  no  enemies  to  high 
English  education ;  and,  in  so  doing,  I  have  taken  the  oppor- 
tunity to  repeat  the  principles  laid  down  in  ISSi,  especially  the 
position  to  be  held  by  Sanskrit  in  the  educational  scheme. 

"  I  have  had  two  very  interesting  conversations  with  Dr. 
Wilson  at  Bombay.    My  impression  is  that  there  is  much  room 


^t,  66.     CORRESPONDENCE    WITH    LORD   NORrKBROOK.         433 

for  improvement  in  the  scTieme  for  degrees  at  the  Calcutta 
University,  and  in  the  class-books  and  subjects  for  the  Univer- 
sity examinations,  and  I  have  communicated  with  the  Syndicate 
who  have  appointed  a  committee  to  inquire  into  the  subject. 
Another  and  more  serious  question  has  arisen  from  some 
particulars  which  Mr.  Murdoch  (the  secretary  in  India  of  the 
Christian  Vernacular  Education  Society)  has  brought  forward 
as  to  the  contents  of  some  of  the  vernacular  class-books  in  the 
Government  schools  in  M  idras.  It  seemed  to  me  to  be  very 
undesirable  to  direct  public  attention  to  this.  The  manner  in 
which  I  shall  deal  with  it  is  to  direct  an  inquiry  into  the  gene- 
ral suitability  of  the  books  used  in  Government  schools,  and 
to  communicate  confidentially  with  the  different  Governments, 
requesting  them  to  take  the  opportunity  of  expurgating  tho 
vernacular  school  books,  if  necessary,  by  the  removal  of  any 
gross  passages. — I  am. 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

"NORTHBROOK." 

"Pattrrdale,  Penrith,  30th  A2oril,  1873. 

"  Dear  Lord  Northbuook', — I  cannot  suflBciently  express 
my  thanks  to  your  Loi'dship  for  writing  to  me  as  you  have 
done,  amid  your  heavy  cares  and  anxieties,  on  the  subject  of 
your  educational  policy.  .  .  Soon  after  the  letter  was  put 
into  my  hands,  with  the  Government  resolution  on  education, 
a  telegram  from  India  announced  that  your  Lordship  had 
delivered  a  great  speech  on  the  subject  of  education  to  the 
Convocation  of  the  Calcutta  University. 

"  Let  me  in  a  single  sentence  say  that  I  have  read  the 
Government  resolution  and  your  Lordship's  speech  not  only 
with  unfeigned  but  unmingled  delight  and  admiration.  In 
the  general  views  expressed  in  them — views  characterized  as 
much  by  their  wisdom  and  practical  prudence  as  by  their  large- 
ness, comprehensiveness,  generosity  and  liberality — I  entirely 
concur.  Indeed,  there  is  scarcely  a  syllable  in  either  which  I 
could  wish  to  see  altered ;  and  as  a  friend  of  India,  I  do  feel 
cordially  grateful  to  your  Lordship  for  so  noble  an  exposition 
and  so  clear  an  enforcement  of  great  and  enlightened  principles, 
such  as  those  so  distinctly  laid  down  in  the  great  Educational 
Despatch  of  1854,  for  the  carrying  out  of  which  in  its  full  in- 
tegrity I  have  always  strenuously  contended.     The  proposed 

VOL.    II.  F   F 


434  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1873. 

mode  also  of  dealing  with  the  question  raised  by  Mr.  Murdoch 
about  vernacular  class-books  and  class  or  text-books,  generally 
appears  to  me  eminently  judicious.  Tour  Lordship  will  kindly 
excuse  me  for  presuming  to  write  in  this  way,  but  I  cannot 
help  it,  as  it  is  the  joint  utterance  of  head  and  heart.  .  .  . 
Rejoicing  in  the  brilliant  inauguration  of  your  Lordship's 
Indian  career,  and  praying  that  the  God  of  Providence  may 
guide,  direct  and  sustain  you  under  the  tremendous  responsi- 
bilities of  your  exalted  office, — I  remain. 

Very  gratefully  and  sincerely  yours, 

"Alexander  Dupp." 


If  Lord  Nortlibrook's  views  had  continued  to  pre- 
vail, like  those  of  all  his  predecessors,  back  to  Lord 
William  Bentinck's  time — save  Lord  Auckland — there 
could  not  have  arisen  those  causes  of  complaint  which 
have  ever  since  marked  the  hostility  of  the  educational 
departments  in  India  to  the  despatch,  and  which  led 
Lord  Lawrence  to  unite  with  the  missionary  societies  in 
proposals  for  a  protest  to  the  Secretary  of  State  for 
India.  This  action  of  the  Governor-General  in  favour 
of  the  catholic  principles  of  1854,  alike  in  the  higher 
and  in  primary  education,  was  followed  by  a  most  satis- 
factory development  of  the  Institution  at  Madras.  In 
1832  Dr.  Duff  and  the  Calcutta  Missionary  Conference 
had  in  vain  proposed  to  their  Churches  at  home  to 
co-operate  in  the  extension  of  the  then  infant  Institu- 
tion as  a  united  Christian  college,  to  train  students 
for  all  the  Missions.  In  1874  he  joyfully  received  a 
similar  project  from  Madras  for  the  union  of  the  Free 
Church,  Church  Missionary  and  Wesleyan  Societies  in 
the  development  of  its  Institution  into  one  well-equip- 
ped and  catholic  Christian  college  for  all  Southern 
India.  The  five  years'  experiment  has  proved  so  suc- 
cessful an  illustration  of  evangelical  unity  and  educa- 
tional efficiency  that  the  college  is  likely  to  be  perma- 
nently placed    under  a  joint  board,  representing   not 


^t.  66.  MISSIONARY   tJNITY.  435 

only  these  Churches,  but  the  Established  Church   of 
Scotland. 

The  essential  unity  of  all  evangelical  Christians  Dr. 
Duff  never  rejoiced  to  exemplify  more  than  along  with 
the  Church  Missionary  Society.     He  happened  to  bo 
in  Loudon  on  the  5th  January,  1869,  when  the  general 
committee  had  met  for  the   solemn  duty  of  sending 
forth  three  experienced  missionaries  and  ministers  to 
India.      These  were  Mr.  (now  Bishop)    French ;   the 
late  Rev.  J.  W.  Knott,  who  resigned  a  rich  living  for 
a  missionary's  grave ;  and  Dr.  Dyson,  of  the  Cathedral 
Mission  College,   Calcutta.     Good   old  Mr.  Venn   was 
still    secretary.     Dr.    Kay    was  then   fresh  from  the 
learned  retreat  of  Bishops'  College   on  the  Ilooghly. 
General  Lake  represented  the  Christian  soldier-poli- 
ticals of  the  school  of  the  Lawrences.     The  Maharaja 
Dhuleep  Singh  was  there  to  join  in  supplications  for  the 
college  to  be  founded  for  the  training  of  his  country- 
men to  be  evangelists,  pastors  and    teachers,  in  the 
land  of  which  he  was  born  to  be  king.     Bishop  Smith, 
of    China,    who    presided,   closed   the    proceedings   in 
words   like  these :  ''  We  have  been  greatly  favoured 
this  day  with  the  presence  of  so  many  veterans  of  the 
missionary  work  to  say  farewell  to  our  brethren,  and 
we  have  been  delighted  with  the  heart-stirring  address 
and  missionary  fire  of  the  *  old  man  eloquent.'     The 
last  time  Dr.  Daff  and  I  met  together  was  when  he 
bowed  the  knee  with  me  in  my  private  study  at  Hong 
Kong,  and  offered  prayer  for  us,  for  we  also  need  sus- 
taining grace  as  well  as  our  brethren.     Here  I  find  him 
to-day  giving  us  words  of  encouragement.     Advanced 
as  he  is  on  the  stage  of  life,  it  is  an  unexpected  plea- 
sure to  see  him  again  ;  and  we  thank   God  that  we 
have  been  permitted  to  listen  to  him.     It  is  a  blessing 
to  meet  on  occasions  such   as   those,  to  find  that  the 
old  missionary  fire  is  not  extinct,  and  to  know  that 


43^  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1869 

the  good  work  is  prospering.  May  it  go  on  until  the 
whole  earth  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  the  glory 
of  the  Lord." 

Dr.  Duff,  in  an  impromptu  utterance,  had  thus 
burst  forth  under  the  impulse  of  fervid  affection  and 
of  gratitude  that  not  the  young  and  untried  but  the 
ablest  ministers  in  England  were  going  up  to  the  high 
places  of  the  field  : 

"The  communioD  of  saints  is  a  blessed  and  glorious  ex- 
pression. Ever  since  I  liave  known  Christ,  and  believed  in 
Christ  for  salvation,  I  have  always  felt  that  there  is  a  tie 
peculiarly  binding  on  the  Church  of  Christ,  whatever  may  be 
the  form  of  government.  Accordingly,  I  have  always  felt  it 
an  unspeakable  privilege  to  be  permitted  not  only  to  sympa- 
thise, but  to  co-operate  in  every  possible  way,  with  all  who 
love  Christ  in  sincerity  and  in  truth,  and  will  be  co-heirs  with 
Him  in  the  glory  to  be  revealed,  and  rejoice  with  Him  for  ever 
and  ever,  I  cannot  understand  the  grounds  of  separation 
between  men  who  are  living  in  the  bonds  of  Christ.  .  .  We 
do  not  stand  alone.  If  we  did,  we  should  be  hopeless.  We 
stand  very  much  in  the  position  of  Elijah  on  Mount  Carmel. 
He  stood  alone  in  one  sense :  he  was  confronted  with  four 
hundred  and  fifty  priests  of  Baal ;  but  he  felt  that  he  was  not 
alone — that  he  had  one  greater  and  mightier  than  all  that 
were  against  him,  and  his  great  prayer  was  to  the  God  of 
Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  that  He  might  interpose  and 
cause  it  to  be  seen  and  felt  that  there  was  a  God  in  Israel, 
that  he  was  His  servant  to  do  these  things  according  to  His 
word.  He  said,  '  Hear  me,  0  Lord,  hear  me,  that  this  people 
may  know  that  Thou  art  the  Lord.'  That  is  our  position. 
We  must  do  all  that  he  did.  He  prepared  the  altar  and  the 
sacrifice,  and  said,  '  I  have  done  all  that  I  can ;  but  if  I  had 
not  done  this,  how  could  I  look  up  and  pray  ?  Having  done 
that  in  accordance  with  God's  word,  I  can  look  up  and  pray.' 
Let  us,  then,  enter  on  the  mighty  work  in  this  spirit,  and 
while  we  confront  the  Himalayan  masses  of  superstition  and 
idolatry,  let  us  first,  the  spirit  of  Elijah  animating  us,  look  up 
and  say,  '  O  God  of  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob.'      Yes, 


ALL  63.   A  TLEA  FOR  TUE  ABLEST  MEN  AS  MISSIONARIES.      437 

we  as  Christians  can  do  still  more.  We  can  say,  '  0  God,  tho 
Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  do  Thou  interpose  in  behalf  of  that 
great  name,  and  send  forth  Thy  Holy  Spirit  to  accompany  our 
efforts  in  this  work  ; '  and  the  day  will  come  when  the  fire 
shall  descend  and  burn  up  the  wood  and  the  stones,  and  the 
mountain  masses  of  obstacles,  and  consume  them,  and  turn 
spiritual  death  into  life.  Yes,  the  day  will  come.  But  are  wo 
doing  our  part  ?  are  we  doing  all  that  we  can  ?  The  individual 
missionary  abroad  may  be  doing  all  that  ho  can  as  a  mission- 
ary ;  but  are  the  communities  that  send  him  forth  doing  all 
that  they  ought  to  do?  If  not,  I  feel  intensely  you  have  no 
warrant,  no  right  to  pray  for  the  blessing  of  God.  From  what 
I  am  constantly  reading  in  my  own  country,  I  see  that  we  are 
making  a  mere  mock  in  regard  to  Missions ;  that  we  are  simply 
playing  at  Missions,  and  ai'e  not  doing  the  proper  thing  at  all 
in  this  great  country.  If  we  go  to  war  against  a  great  city 
like  Sebastopol — if  we  want  to  penetrate  into  the  centre  of 
Abyssinia — what  do  we  do  ?  We  take  the  best  and  most 
skilful  and  experienced  of  our  brave  generals,  and  our  best 
officers  and  troops,  and  we  send  supplies  in  such  abundance 
that  there  can  be  no  want.  If  we  wish  to  be  successful  wo 
must  use  the  means  which  are  adapted  to  secure  success. 
Now  I  feel  intensely  that  I  am  humbled,  that  we  as  a  people, 
as  Churches  and  communities,  are  content  with  doing  just  a 
little,  as  showing  some  recognition  of  a  duty,  but  not  putting 
forth  our  power  and  energy,  as  if  we  were  in  earnest,  and 
sending  out  the  ablest  and  most  skiful  of  our  men.  We  are 
but  trifling  with  the  whole  subject.  The  world  is  to  be  evan- 
gelized. We  have  eight  hundred  millions  of  people  to  bo 
evangelized.  Here,  in  Great  Britain,  we  have  one  minister  for 
every  thousand  of  inhabitants,  and  yet  we  are  content  to  send 
out  one  for  two  millions  of  people,  and  in  China  I  do  not  sup- 
pose there  is  one  for  three  millions,  taking  all  the  societies 
together.  Would  we  desire  to  know  what  we  ought  to  do  ? 
Let  us  look  to  the  Church  at  Antioch.  When  God  had  a  great 
work  to  do  among  the  Gentiles,  what  did  He  do  ?  Here  is  the 
Church  at  Antioch,  with  Barnabas  and  Simeon,  Lucius  of 
Cyrene,  and  other  men  of  character,  but  not  equal  to  Paul  and 
Barnabas.  Does  the  Holy  Ghost  say  that  Paul  and  Barnabas, 
having  been  the  founders  of  the  Church,  were  indispensable 
for  its  prosperity,  and  you  must  keep  them — Lucius  and  tho 


438  LIFE    OF    DR.  DUFF.  1870 

otTiers  will  uot  be  so  tnuch  missed  :  send  tliem  to  do  tlie  work  ? 
No ;  He  says,  '  Separate  me  Barnabas  and  Paul ; '  tbe  otlier 
men  can  carry  on  the  quieter  work,  and  figlit  fclie  battle  witb 
heathenism  if  it  be  needed;  the  most  able  and  skilled  men 
must  go  forth  on  the  mighty  enterprise — '  Separate  me  Barna- 
bas and  Paul/  Excuse  me  for  saying  this.  In  this  day's 
meeting,  which  gladdens  my  own  heart,  I  see  something  of 
this  kind  of  process  beginning.  We  do  not  want  all  the  ablest 
men  in  this  country  to  engage  in  the  enterprise,  but  cannot 
some  of  them  be  spared  as  leaders  of  the  younger  ones  ?  We 
need  all  the  practical  wisdom  which  the  world  contains  to 
guide  us  and  direct  us  in  the  midst  of  the  perplexities  which 
beset  us  in  such  fields  as  India  and  China.  Difficulties  are 
increasing  every  day,  and  there  are  new  difficulties  arising  that 
will  require  all  the  skill  and  wisdom  of  the  most  practical  men 
we  possess,  and  such  men  will,  ere  long,  come  forward  with 
a  power  and  voice  which  shall  make  themselves  felt.  It  makes 
my  heart  rejoice  to  think  that  Oxford  can  send  forth  two  of 
its  Fellows ;  that  English  parishes  can  spare  two  able  and 
useful  men  to  go  forth  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  I  see  in  this 
the  beginning  of  a  better  state  of  things,  and  I  have  no  doubt 
that  the  example  will  have  the  effect  of  stirring  up  and  stimu- 
lating others  to  do  likewise,  and  that  some  of  the  mightiest 
names  among  us  will  go  forth.  It  will  not  do  to  say  we  should 
be  satisfied  with  labourers  only ;  why  should  not  some  of  the 
Church's  dignitaries — why  should  not  some  of  our  bishops, 
if  they  be  the  successors  of  the  apostles,  go  forth,  and  set  an 
example,  the  value  of  which  the  whole  world  would  acknow- 
ledge ?  I  wonder  that  a  man  who  is  prominent  before  the 
wox'ld  for  his  position  and  rank  does  not  surrender  that,  and 
go  forth  on  a  mission  of  philanthropy.  I  wonder  at  it.  Some 
would  be  ready  to  follow.  But  at  all  events  they  would  say. 
Here  is  sincerity,  here  is  devotedness ;  and  it  will  no  longer 
be  said,  '  You  are  the  men  who  are  paid  for  loving  the  souls 
of  men.'  I  will  not  speak  merely  of  Church  dignitaries,  but 
of  other  dignitaries.  Peers  of  the  realm  can  go  to  India  to 
hunt  tigers,  and  why  cannot  they  go  to  save  the  souls  of  men  ? 
Have  we  come  to  this,  that  it  shall  be  beneath  them,  and 
beneath  the  dignity  of  men  in  civil  life,  to  go  forth  on  such  an 
errand  ?  The  eternal  Son  of  God  appears  on  earth  that  He 
may  work  out  for  us  an  everlasting  redemption.     It  was  not 


JEt.  64.  ANGLO-INDI\N    EVANGELIZATION    SOCIETY".  439 

beneath  Him  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost,  and  will 
you  tell  me  that  it  is  beneath  the  dignity  of  a  duke,  or  an 
Arclibishop  of  Canterbury,  to  go  into  heathen  realms  to  save 
a  lost  creature  ?  " 

This  recalled  the  Exetei  Hall  appeals  of  1837. 
Again,  soon  after,  lie  gave  another  proof  of  bis  true 
catholicity  in  writing,  for  the  Indian  Female  Evange- 
list, conducted  by  the  Church  of  England  Society  for 
Female  Education  in  the  East,  an  elaborate  series  of 
papers  on  Indian  Womanhood  from  the  Vedic  age  to 
the  present  time. 

Dr.  Duff's  philanthropic  and  spiritual  efforts  for 
the  good  of  Europeans  and  Eurasians  in  India,  con- 
tinued from  his  first  years  in  Calcutta,  found  an  or- 
ganized and  permanent  agency  in  the  Anglo-Indian 
Christian  Union,  or  Evangelization  Society  as  it  is  now 
called.  When  in  Calcutta  he  had  been  the  active 
chairman  of  a  society  for  ameliorating  the  temporal 
condition  of  the  people,  he  had  so  early  as  1 841  helped 
to  found  a  temperance  society,  he  frequently  lectured 
to  the  soldiers  at  Dum  Dum  and  elsewhere  on  the 
subject,  and  he  was  most  earnest  in  that  movement 
for  a  sailors'  home  which  ended  in  Lord  Lawrence 
presenting  the  valuable  site  of  the  appropriate  build- 
ing on  the  Strand  of  Calcutta.  Just  before  his  return 
to  Edinburgh  in  1864,  the  Anglo-Indians  who  happened 
to  be  present  at  the  General  Assembly  of  that  year, 
led  by  Dr.  K.  MacQueen,  united  to  send  out  a  minister 
to  the  Scottish  teaplanters  who  are  turning  the 
malarious  wilds  of  Cachar  and  Assam  into  smiling 
gardens.  The  society  was  discouraged  by  the  unfit- 
ness of  the  first  instruments,  but  in  1870  Dr.  Duff 
gave  it  new  life.  The  increase  of  tea  and  indigo  culti- 
vation, of  cotton  and  jute  factories,  of  railways,  of  the 
British  army  and  subordinate  civil  service,  had,  since 
the  Mutiny,  raised  the  European  and  Eurasian  Chris- 


440  LIFE    OP   DR.    DUFF.  1870. 

tians  in  India  to  a  number  little  short  of  the  quarter 
of  a  million.  For  these  the  Government  chaplains  and 
the  few  voluntary  churches  in  the  great  cities  and 
missionary  services  elsewhere  had  long  been  inade- 
quate. The  £170,000  spent  on  the  ecclesiastical 
establishment  of  3  bishops  and  153  chaplains,  and  in 
grants  to  Romish  priests  who  are  generally  foreign 
Jesuits  ignorant  of  the  language  of  the  Irish  soldiers, 
might  have  been — ought  now  to  be — applied  in  a  man- 
ner both  more  equitable  and  more  effective  for  its  end 
in  a  country  where  vast  revenues  are  annually  alienated 
in  support  of  Hindoo  shrines  and  Muhammadan  mos- 
ques. As  it  is  there  are  British  regiments  without 
spiritual  services,  while  chaplains  are  congested  in  the 
great  cities  for  the  benefit  of  wealthy  congregations  who 
are  able  and  willing  to  supply  themselves.  The  Church 
of  England,  led  by  good  Bishop  "Wilson,  had  created 
an  Additional  Clergy  Society  which  supplied  ministers 
to  destitute  military  and  civil  stations  aided  by  state 
grants.  In  Madras  the  Colonial  and  Continental 
Church  Society  tried  to  fill  the  breach.  But  after 
the  sudden  removal  by  death  of  Dr.  Cotton,  who  was 
like  Duff  himself  the  bishop  of  good  men  of  every 
Church,  not  only  the  eclesiastical  establishment  but 
the  aided  societies  became  the  instruments  of  the 
weakest  form  of  Anglican  sacerdotalism.  The  sacra- 
mentarianism  of  the  bishops  and  chaplains  sent  out 
by  successive  Secretaries  of  State  was  not  atoned 
for  by  grace  like  Keble's,  or  learning  like  Dr.  Pusey's, 
or  wit  like  Bishop  Wilberforce's.  Gradually  in 
many  places  ofiicers  forsook  the  Church  of  England 
services,  while  the  earnest  soldiers  among  the  troops 
marched  to  church  murmured  at  the  wrong:  done  to 
the  conscience.  Many  of  the  evangelical  members  of 
all  the  churches  united  in  demanding  reform. 

In  1869,  after  the  five  years'  administration  of  Lord 


A^A.  64.      LORD  LAWRENCE  ON  CHRISTIAN  WORK  IN  INDIA.       44  I 

Lawrence,  this  took  the  form  at  Simla  of  a  Union 
Church  based  ou  the  reformed  confession,  which  Dr. 
M.  Mitchell  organized.  Next  year  Dr.  DufF,  as  pre- 
sident of  the  Anglo- Indian  Christian  Union,  selected 
the  Rev.  John  Fordyce  and  sent  him  out  as  commis- 
sioner to  report  on  the  spiritual  needs  of  the  British 
and  Eurasian  settlers  all  over  Northern  India.  Mr. 
Fordyce,  after  practically  carrying  out  the  zanana 
system  in  Calcutta,  had  returned  to  become  minister 
first  in  Dunse  and  then  in  Cardiff.  On  reaching  India 
he  became  pastor  of  the  new  Union  Church  at  Simla 
during  the  hot  and  rainy  seasons,  and  devoted  the  other 
half  of  each  year  to  a  visitation  of  the  whole  land  from 
Peshawur  to  Calcutta.  The  railway  companies,  which 
had  ten  thousand  Christian  employes  uncared  for 
spiritually,  welcomed  his  services.  Wherever  he  went 
officers  and  soldiers  sought  his  return,  or  at  least  the 
establishment  of  some  permanent  evangelical  agency 
among  tbem.  The  letters  from  such  among  Dr.  Duff's 
papers  are  full  of  a  pathetic  significance.  The  new 
society  gradually  worked  out  a  catholic  organization. 
The  districts  of  country — omitting,  it  is  to  be  regretted, 
the  tea  provinces  of  North-eastern  Bengal,  where 
scattered  communities  of  Christians  are  settled — were 
mapped  out  into  seven  circuits,  each  with,  a  radius  of 
from  200  to  300  miles,  easily  accessible  by  railway. 
While  Dr.  Duff,  as  president  worked  the  whole  from 
Edinbui'gh,  Lord  Lawrence,  as  patron,  was  active  in 
London.  To  Mr.  Fordyce  the  great  and  good  Viceroy 
thus  wrote  on  the  24th  June,  1874. 

"  I  feel  the  full  force  of  much  which  you  have  said 
as  to  the  state  of  things  in  India,  of  the  want  all  over 
the  land  of  adequate  religious  influences.  It  is  only 
too  true  that  '  a  famine  of  the  word  of  life  affects  most 
fatally  the  native  population,  and  imperils  many  of  our 
fellow-countrymen.'      Hence,   as  you   say,   there  is  a 


442  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1870. 

double  plea  for  more  Christian  work  in  India.  I  also 
fully  concur  in  your  remarks  on  tlie  evil  effects  of  tlie 
conduct  of  some  of  those  who,  while  bearing  the 
Christian  name,  have  little  regard  for  the  precepts  of 
that  religion.  All  this  is  very  sad ;  but  it  is  very 
difficult  to  bring  to  bear  a  practical  remedy.  Still,  we 
must  not  despair.  The  difficulties  which  beset  the 
subject  should  rather  incite  us  to  bestir  ourselves  and 
devise  a  remedy.  The  united  efforts  of  Protestants  of 
all  Churches  in  the  good  work  offer  the  best  hope 
of  success.  We  want  men,  and  we  want  money,  and 
above  all  we  want  some  person  of  ability  and  zeal, 
and  of  some  social  influence,  to  take  the  lead  and 
guide  the  helm,  and  so  by  continuous  and  systematic 
labour  bring  about  the  results  which  we  so  much 
desire." 

In  addition  to  the  formation  of  union  congregations 
Dr.  Duff  in  the  last  year  of  his  life  saw  ten  agents  of 
the  society  at  work  in  India,  six  of  them  ordained 
ministers,  and  sent  out  Dr.  Somerville,  of  Glasgow,  and 
the  Rev.  C.  M.  Pym,  rector  of  Cherry  Burton,  to 
evangelize  in  the  cold  seasons  of  1874  and  1877,  as 
Dr.  Norman  Macleod  had  done  in  1867.  Financially 
as  well  as  ecclesiastically  the  Government  of  India 
may  yet  be  allowed  to  carry  out  the  scheme  which 
Lord  Mayo's  Government  approved  of  in  principle, 
that  of  so  applying  the  present  expenditure  of  £170,000 
to  purely  military  chaplains  and  in  grants  to  Christian 
societies,  that  it  may  cover  the  whole  extent  of  Anglo- 
Indian  society,  official  and  non-official. 

But  India  was  the  source  of  only  half  the  cares  and 
the  labours  of  Dr.  Duff  after  he  left  it.  As  convener 
of  the  Foreign  Missions  Committee  of  his  Church,  he 
established  a  new  mission  in  the  Lebanon,  and  three 
new  missions  in  South-east  Africa — in  then  indepen- 
dent Kaffraria,  in  Natal,  and  on  Lake  Nyassa;  while 


^t.  64.  TOUli    IN    SYRIA.  443 

he  lived  long  enoiigli  to  receive  cliargo  of  the  New 
Hebrides  stations  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church. 
The  Church  of  Scotland  in  1839  sent  a  missionary 
expedition  to  Palestine,  consisting  of  M'Cheyne  and 
Drs.  Black,  Keith  and  A.  Bonar,  which  ended  in  the 
estabhshment  for  a  time,  by  Dr.  Wilson,  of  Bombay,  of 
a  mission  to  the  Jews  in  Damascus.  When,  in  1852, 
Mr.  William  Dickson,  editor  of  the  Children's  Mission- 
ary Record,  visited  Syria,  Dl^  Duff  gave  him  a  letter 
of  commendation,  and  the  result  was  the  formation  of 
a  catholic  committee  in  Scotland  for  the  founding 
of  schools  among  the  Druses,  Maronites,  and  Greek 
Christians  of  the  Lebanon.  In  1870,  accompanied  by 
Dr.  Lumsden,  principal  of  the  New  College,  Aberdeen, 
Dr.  Duff  made  a  second  tour  in  Syria  to  examine  the 
schools.  The  district  which  they  traversed  from  Bey- 
rout,  where  they  landed  on  the  11th  April,  stretches 
from  the  ''  entrance  of  Hamath  "  on  the  north  to  Tyre 
on  the  south-west  and  Damascus  on  the  south-east, 
embracing  not  only  the  range  of  Lebanon  itself,  with 
the  country  immediately  to  the  south,  but  also  Anti- 
Lebanon,  and  the  far-reaching  plain  of  Coele- Syria. 
This  region  is  in  extent  about  100  miles  by  30,  and 
contains  upwards  of  one  thousand  villages  and  ham- 
lets, with  a  population  of  half  a  million.  The  deputies 
held  a  conference  with  the  missionaries  of  the  Amer- 
ican Presbyterian  Board,  under  whom  not  only  a 
great  college  and  many  schools,  but  the  Syrian 
Evangelical  Church  has  been  fostered  into  vigorous 
life.  These  brethren  agreed  that  if  the  Free  Church 
sent  to  the  mountain  an  ordained  minister,  who 
should  be  a  well-qualified  educationist,  they  would 
cordially  co-operate  with  him,  "  on  the  understanding 
that  he  do  not  institute  a  separate  ecclesiastical  organi- 
zation, or  interfere  with  the  doctrine  or  discipline  of 
the  existing  native   Evangelical  Church;"  an  under- 


444  ^i^^  0^  ^^-  DUFF.  1874. 

standiDg  in  the  wisdom  of  whicli  Dr.  Duff  thoroughly 
concurred,  being  with  them  desirous  that  the  various 
congregations  of  converts  be  united  in  one  native 
Syrian  Protestant  Church. 

An  ordained  and  a  medical  missionary  have  accord- 
ingly ever  since  evangelized  the  Meten  district  of 
Lebanon,  from  the  centre  first  of  Sook,  and  now  of 
Shweir,  encouraged,  like  the  many  missionaries  in  that 
comparatively  small  territory,  by  the  administration  of 
the  Christian  Rustem  Pasha,  under  the  constitution  se- 
cured for  that  portion  of  the  unhappy  Turkish  empire 
by  Lord  Dufferin  after  the  massacres  of  1860.  The  for- 
mation of  the  first  congregation  has  raised  the  question 
of  the  relation  of  the  new  mission  to  the  American, 
and  that  will  doubtless  be  amicably  settled  according 
to  the  catholic  principle  laid  down  by  Dr.  Duff"  in  1870. 

Having  consolidated  the  Kaffrarian  Mission,  on  his 
return  from  South  Africa  in  1864  Dr.  Duff  saw  it  ex- 
tended to  the  north  across  the  Kei.  There  the  centre 
of  the  Idutywa  Kaffir  reserve,  up  to  the  Bashee  River, 
formed  in  1874,  was  called  by  his  name,  Dufi'bank. 
Three  years  later  the  Fingoes,  through  Captain  Blyth 
and  Mr.  Brownlee,  officials,  contributed  £1,500  to 
found  an  evangelizing  and  industrial  Institute  after 
the  model  of  Lovedale,  and  to  that  was  given  the  name 
of  Blythswood.  With  the  station  of  Cunningham  com- 
pleting the  base,  where  there  is  a  native  congregation  of 
more  than  two  thousand  Kaffirs,  the  Traucik.n  territory 
is  thus  being  worked,  in  a  missionary  sense,  up  towards 
Natal.  There  the  fruit  of  the  great  missionary's  in- 
fluence is  seen  in  three  mission  centres,  at  the  capital 
Pieter-Maritzburg ;  at  Impolweni,  fourteen  miles  to  the 
north ;  and  at  Gordon,  within  a  few  miles  of  the  fron- 
tier of  Zululand,  now  divided  among  thirteen  feudatory 
chiefs  advised  and  controlled  by  two  British  residents 
on  the  Indian  political  system.     Natal  was  taken  pos- 


^t.  68.  THE    NEW    MISSIONS    IN    NATAL.  445 

session  of,  for  the  highest  civilizing  ends,  by  tho 
missionaries  of  tlie  American  Board  so  early  as  1835, 
in  the  midst  of  the  Kaffir  war  of  that  year,  and  when 
Dingane  ruled  the  Zulus.  His  massacre  of  the  Boers 
drove  out  the  missionaries  till  the  British  Government 
took  possession  of  the  country.  That  was  in  1843,  at 
the  time  when  an  old  correspondent  of  Dr.  Duff's  was 
Governor  of  South  Africa.  Sir  Peregrine  Maitland 
had  resigned  the  well-paid  office  of  commander-in-chief 
of  the  Madras  army  rather  than  pass  on  an  order  com- 
pelling British  officers  and  troops  to  salute  Hindoo 
idols  on  festival  days.  Worthy  to  be  a  friend  of 
Duff,  he  told  the  American,  Grout,  who  was  to  work 
for  ten  years  without  making  one  convert  from  the 
Zulus,  that  he  had  more  faith  in  missionaries  than  in 
soldiers  for  preventing  war  with  barbarous  tribes. 

When,  long  after,  Dr.  Duff  in  his  wagon  descended 
from  the  uplands  of  Basutolaud  and  the  heights  of  tho 
Drakenberg  upon  the  picturesque  valleys  and  smiling 
plains  of  Natal,  his  heart  was  taken  captive  by  Mr. 
James  Allison,  the  highly  educated  son  of  a  Peninsular 
officer.  Allison  was  well  advanced  in  years  when  he 
gave  himself  to  the  work  of  the  Master.  Commis- 
sioned by  the  Wesleyans,  he  broke  new  ground  among 
the  Griquas  in  1832,  and  he  went  on  pioneering  till 
Duff  found  him  settling  his  many  converts,  as  an 
independent  missionary,  in  the  village  of  Edimdale, 
which  he  created  for  them,  while  they  paid  the  whole 
purchase-money  by  petty  instalments.  In  1873  Duff 
sent  him  to  organize  a  similar  settlement  at  Impol- 
■weni,  and  there  he  died  a  few  years  after  at  the  ripe 
age  of  seventy-three.  It  was  a  noble  life,  and  yet  not 
more  noble  than  that  of  the  majority  of  Christian 
pioneers  in  all  our  colonies,  as  well  as  in  India,  China, 
and  the  islands  of  the  seas.  His  work  at  Maritzburg 
also  was  taken  over  by  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland. 


446  LIFE    OP   'DR.    DUFF.  1874. 

When,  in  November,  1864,  Dr.  Duff  went  north  to 
take  part  in  the  ordination  of  new  missionaries,  the 
first  to  welcome  him  to  Haddo  House  was  the  Dowager 
Countess  of  Aberdeen.  Eight  months  before,  the  fifth 
earl,  her  husband,  to  whom,  while  yet  Lord  Haddo, 
his  companionship  had  been  sweet  at  Malvern,  had 
been  called  to  his  rest  after  years  of  incessant  labour 
for  the  spiritual  and  temporal  good  of  all  around 
him  in  London,  Grreenwich,  on  his  own  estates,  and 
in  Egypt,  where  he  sought  and  found  prolonged 
life.  The  Malvern  intercourse  resulted  in  a  friendly 
identification  of  Dr.  Duff  wdth  the  Aberdeen  family  in 
all  its  branches,  very  beautiful  on  both  sides,  and  fruit- 
ful in  spiritual  results  not  only  to  him  and  to  them, 
but,  we  believe,  to  the  Zulu  people.  The  letters  that 
passed  between  the  missionary  and  the  Dowager 
Countess  and  her  family  are  fragrant  with  the  spirit 
of  St.  John's  epistles  to  Kyria  and  Gains.  In  this 
chapter  we  have  to  do  with  them  only  in  so  far  as  they 
throw  light  on  the  origin  of  the  Gordon  Memorial 
Mission.  Some  dim  glimpses  of  the  exquisitely  deli- 
cate relation  between  them  may  be  seen  by  those  who 
can  read  between  the  lines,  in  the  "  Sketches  of  the 
Life  and  Character  of  Lord  Haddo,  fifth  Earl  of 
Aberdeen,  and  of  his  Son,  the  Hon.  J.  H.  H.  Gordon,"* 
which  Dr.  Duff  published  in  1868,  under  the  principal 
title  of  The  True  Nobility. 

James  Henry  Hamilton  Gordon,  the  second  son  of 
the  fifth  Earl  of  Aberdeen,  won  all  hearts  at  school 
and  at  college  by  his  fine  courage,  his  pure  life,  his 
personal  beauty  and  the  manly  unconsciousness  in 
which  his  character  was  set.  At  eiorhteen,  in  the  vear 
1863,  he  became  a  zealous  Christian  like  his  father. 
"Last  New  Year's  Eve,"  he  wrote  to  a  friend,  "I  went 

*  Published  by  the  Eeligious  Tract  Society,  in  which  Dr.  Duff  showed 
a  keen  interest. 


^t.  68  JAMES    HENRY    HAMILTON    OUllDOX.  447 

to  bed  -witli  scarcely  a  tliouglit  about  my  soul ;  but  the 
very  next  day,  by  the  grace  of  God,  I  was  brought  to 
know  the  love  of  Christ  which  passeth  knowledge. 
Yes,  the  birthday  of  the  year  is  the  birthday  of  my 
soul."  First  at  St.  Andrews,  where  Principal  Sliairp 
was  drawn  to  him,  and  then  in  the  larger  world  of 
Cambridge,  he  became  the  Lycidas  of  his  fellows.  The 
joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost  made  him  the  happiest  among 
them.  In  18G7  he  came  out  the  second  man  in  all  the 
University.  The  youth  whom  every  Sunday  evening 
found  in  the  Jesus'  Lane  school,  and  whose  face  was 
familiar  at  the  University  daily  prayer-meeting,  was 
also  among  the  first  in  athletic  sports,  in  sketching, 
in  verse-writing,  and  in  the  debating  society.  He  was 
captain  of  the  University  eight,  and  rowed  No.  4  in 
the  contest  with  Oxford.  His  inventive  ambition 
showed  itself  in  the  construction  of  a  breech-loader, 
which  was  to  "  beat  all  other  possible  breech-loaders 
in  the  rapidity  of  its  fire."  Mr.  Macgregor's  expe- 
riences sent  him,  in  the  long  vacation,  canoeing  from 
Dover  through  France  to  Genoa,  and  back  through 
Germany  to  Rotterdam.  On  his  return,  after  an  hour 
on  the  Cam,  he  went  to  his  room  to  dress  for  dinner, 
when  that  happened  on  the  12th  February,  1868, 
which  Dr.  Duff  thus  records :  While  he  was  engaged 
wdth  his  rifle,  it  went  off,  causing  almost  immediate 
death.  The  next  day  he  was  to  have  rowed  in  the 
inter-university  race.  Instead  of  that  both  Oxford 
and  Cambridge  put  the  flags  at  the  boat-houses  half- 
mast  high,  and  not  a  man  was  seen  on  either  river. 
He  whom  an  accident  had  thus  suddenly  removed  had 
not  long  before  written  to  a  fellow-student  who  feared 
that  to  profess  Christ  would  be  to  invite  the  taunt  of 
being  a  hypocrite  :  "It  is  a  happy  thing  to  serve  the 
Lord.  Tliough  we  sometimes  have  to  give  up  pleasure, 
we  gain  a  great  deal  of  happiness  even  in  this  world. 


44^  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1S74. 

Paul  suffered  a  great  many  persecutions,  yet  he  said, 
'  Rejoice  in  the  Lord  alway  ;  and  again  I  say.  Rejoice.'  " 
Young  Grordon  had  felt  another  ambition.  When 
only  fourteen  he  declared  he  would  be  a  missionary. 
When  nineteen  he  repeated  his  determination,  saying 
to  his  brother,  who  had  returned  from  New  Brunswick 
as  sixth  earl,  and  was  telling  him  of  the  winter  life  of 
the  lumberers  in  its  forests  :  "  What  could  be  more  de- 
lightful than  to  go  from  camp  to  camp,  Bible  in  hand, 
and  share  the  life  of  those  fine  fellows,  while  trying  to 
win  them  to  Christ!"  But  he  added,  with  characteris- 
tic self -suspicion,  that  his  love  of  adventure  might 
have  much  to  do  with  the  desire.  As  time  went  on, 
however,  he  thought  of  studying  for  the  ministry  with 
this  end.  When,  at  the  close  of  1864,  the  Cape  Govern- 
ment were  offering  for  sale  grants  of  land  in  Transkei 
Kaffraria,  he  leaped  at  the  suggestion  that  when  he 
came  of  age  he  misfht  settle  down  as  an  ordained 
captain  of  civilization  on  a  Kaffir  reserve.  *'  I  shall 
endeavour  to  follow  the  leading  of  my  conscience  and 
the  sfuidance  of  God  in  makinsf  mv  decision  on  this 
matter,"  was  the  entry  in  his  private  diary.  Truly,  as 
Dr.  Duff  wrote,  what  might  not  such  a  Christian 
athlete,  "  the  grandson  of  the  great  chief  who  once 
wielded  the  destinies  of  the  British  empire,"  have  become 
among  a  people  of  noble  impulses  and  self-forgetting 
courage  like  the  Kaffirs  ?  What  sudden  death  prevented 
him  from  doing,  his  sorrowing  family  enabled  Dr.  Duff 
to  begin  as  a  sacred  duty.  His  elder  brother,  the 
sixth  earl,  having  sought  health  in  a  warm  climate 
and  to  gratify  his  love  of  adventure,  was  accidentally 
drowned  on  a  voyage  from  Boston  to  Melbourne,  as 
first  mate  of  the  ship  Rero.  The  third  and  only  sur- 
viving brother  succeeded  to  the  peerage  in  1870. 
Accordingly  there  was  drawn  up  a  deed,  unique  in 
the  history  of  Missions,  since  the  Haldanes  sold  their 


^t.  62.  GORDON    MEMOEIAL    MISSION.  449 

estates    the   preamble   of    which    tells,    formally  but 
toucliinn-ly,  its  own  story.* 

The  Rev.  J.  Dalzell,  M.B.  a  medical  missionary  and 
his  wife,  the  daughter  of  Dr.  Lorimer,  of  Glasgow,  were 
sent  out  to  select  a  site ;  a  teacher  and  two  artisans 
followed,  and  by  1874  the  Gordon  Memorial  Mission 
was  established  within  a  few  miles  of  the  frontier  of 
Zululaud.  This  letter  may  be  here  given,  referring 
to  the  career  of  him  whose  truly  chief-like  character' 
will  surely  yet  become  a  stimulus  to  the  thirteen  feuda- 
tories of  Zululand  and  the  people. 

"  Scarborough,  9th  Sept.,  1868. 

"  Dear  Lady  Aberdeen, — Your  letter,  dated  the  5th, 
I  have  read  with  a  feeling  of  profound  and  thrilling 
interest.      Lord  Polwarth    very  kindly    favoured  me 

*  We,  the  Right  Honourable  Mary,  Countess  of  Aberdeen  ; 
George,  Earl  of  Aberdeen ;  Mary  Lady  Polwarth ;  Walter  Lord 
Polwarth;  the  Honourable  John  Campbell  Gordon;  the  Lady 
Harriet  Gordon ;  and  the  Lady  Catherine  Elizabeth  Gordon  ;  con- 
sidering that  we  are  desirous  of  founding  a  mission  to  the  heathen 
in  South  Africa  in  memory  of  a  beloved  member  of  our  family,  tho 
Honourable  James  Henry  Gordon,  who  died  on  the  twelfth  day  of 
February,  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-eight,  and  for  this  purpose 
have  resolved  to  set  apart  a  sum  of  money,  the  interest  of  which 
•will  be  sufficient  to  yield  the  salary  of  an  ordained  missionary  and 
to  defray  other  expenses,  also  to  provide  the  funds  required  to  build 
a  suitable  house  for  the  residence  of  such  missionary,  and  consider- 
ing that  it  will  be  most  advantageous  that  such  mission  and  mis- 
sionary should  be  in  connection  with  and  under  the  responsible 
managemer.t  of  an  existing  mission  by  a  Christian  Church,  and  that 
the  Foreign  ^lissious  Coi:iiuittecof  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  have 
had  for  many  years  a  mission  to  the  natives  in  Kaffraria,  and  are 
proposing  to  extend  it  by  erecting  one  or  more  stations  in  the  ter- 
ritory to  the  north  and  east  of  the  river  Kei :  therefore  we  have 
paid  to  the  Rev  Alexander  Duff,  Doctor  of  Divinity,  for  behoof  of 
the  said.  Foreign  Missions  C  immittee,  should  they  accept  of  this 
present  trust,  the  sum  of  six  thousand  pounds,  to  be  by  them  per- 
manently invested  accoi'ding  to  tlieir  rules  and  practice,  and  we  now 
hereby  declare  that  the  said  sum  is  to  be  held  in  trust  alwa3's  for 
the  purposes  and  subject  to  the  conditions  following;  viz.,  First, 
The  Memorial  Mission  Station  shall  be  in  the  Transkei  territory,  or 
some  paz-t  of  Kaffraria,  and  shall  be  named  "  Gordon,"  etc.,  etc. 

VOL.    II.  G   (J 


450  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  lS6l. 

with  the  leading  facts  in  the  life  of  the  dear  departed 
one.  He  has  also  favoured  me  with  the  narrative 
of  tlie  Canoe  Voyage,  than  which  I  scarcely  remember 
having  ever  read  anything  more  stirring.  It  reached 
me  on  the  evening  of  a  day,  I  at  once  opened  it,  to 
take  a  dip  into  it,  intending  to  reserve  the  more  care- 
ful perusal  of  it  till  the  next  day.  But  it  soon  so 
riveted  me  that  I  could  not  stop  till  I  got  to  the 
very  close.  When  done  with  it,  I  felt,  well,  had  it 
pleased  the  Lord  to  spare  his  life,  and  send  him  to 
Kaffirland,  with  such  athletic  powers  and  fertility 
of  resource,  the  Kaffirs  would  be  impelled  to  make 
him  their  king,  while  he  would  bring  them  to  the 
King  of  kings  !  But,  to  the  Omniscient,  it  ap- 
peared good  to  ordain  it  otherwise.  But  it  makes  one 
feel  all  the  more  strongly  that  there  is  a  singular 
appropriateness  in  the  blessed  mode  which  has  been 
fixed  on  for  perpetuating  his  memory  here  below." 

When,  in  May,  1856,  Dr.  Livingstone  completed  the 
second  of  his  expeditions  from  the  Cape  to  St.  Paul 
de  Loanda,  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa,  and  thence 
right  across  the  continent  to  the  Quilimane  approach  to 
the  Zambesi,  he  used  this  language  :  "  We  ought  to 
encourage  the  Africans  to  cultivate  for  our  markets,  as 
the  most  efiectual  means,  next  to  the  gospel,  of  their 
elevation.  It  is  in  the  hope  of  working  out  this  idea 
that  I  propose  the  formation  of  stations  on  the  Zam- 
besi beyond  the  Portuguese  territory,  but  having 
communication  through  it  with  the  coast.  The  Lon- 
don Missionary  Society  has  resolved  to  have  a  station 
among  the  Makololo,  on  the  north  bank,  and  another 
on  the  south  among  the  Matabele.  The  Church, 
Wesleyan,  Baptist,  and  that  most  energetic  body,  the 
Free  Church,  could  each  find  desirable  locations." 
The  Universities  Mission,  which  he  induced  Oxford 
and  Cambridge  to  send  out,  met  with  such  losses,  while 


Alt.  55.   LIVIKGbTONE  S    DISCOVERY    OF   LAKE    NYASSA.         45  I 

he  himself  buried  his  wife  a  hundred  miles  up  the 
Zambesi  from  the  sea,  that  the  other  Churches  de- 
layed action.  But  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stewart,  of  Lovedale, 
when  he  h<id  hardly  ceased  to  be  a  divinity  student, 
was  encouraged  by  some  Scottish  friends  to  join 
Dr.  Livingstone  in  his  next  expedition.  On  the  16th 
September,  1859,  the  great  Christian  explorer  re- 
vealed the  waters  of  Lake  Nyassa  for  the  first  time 
to  Europe  and  America.  There,  1,522  feet  above  the 
sea,  the  overjoyed  missionary  beheld  the  fresh-water 
sea  stretching,  as  it  proved,  350  miles  to  the  north, 
towards  Tanganika,  the  two  Nyanzas  and  the  Nile, 
with  an  average  breadth  of  twenty-six  miles,  and 
a  depth  of  more  than  one  hundred  fathoms.  A  se- 
cond time,  in  1861,  he  returned  to  its  southern  end, 
with  his  brother  and  Dr.  Kirk,  only  to  have  his  con- 
viction strenofthened  that  here  was  the  centre  whence 
the  great  Light  should  shine  forth  upon  the  peoples 
of  Central  Africa.  Filled  with  this  thought  he  ad- 
dressed these  letters  to  the  successive  conveners  of 
the  Free  Church  Foreign  Missions  Committee  in 
Edinburgh,  before  Dr.  Duff's  return  from  India  and 
from  his  tour  of  inspection  in  South  Africa. 

"River  Shire,  2ncl  Nov.,  186L 

{Private.)  "My  Dear  Dr.  Twkedie, — On  returning  from  the 
Rovuma  I  had  nothing  to  say  about  it  as  anew  missionary  field, 
and  therefore  no  heart  to  write  at  all.  I  indulged  the  hope  also 
that  information  such  as  you  desire  might  soon  be  obtained  by 
looking  down  that  river  from  Lake  Nyassa,  from  the  attempt  to 
do  which  we  are  now  returning.  We  left  the  Pioneer  in 
August  last,  and  in  three  weeks  carried  a  boat  past  Murchison'a 
cataracts.  When  we  embarked  on  the  Upper  Shire  we  were 
virtually  on  the  lake,  though  still  about  sixty  miles  from  Nyassa, 
as  that  part  of  the  river  is  all  smooth  and  deep.  The  lake  proper 
is  over  200  miles  in  length,  from  twenty  to  sixty  miles  wide, 
and  very  deep.     It  lies  on  one  meridian  of  longitude,  and  gives 


452  LIFE   OP   DE.    DUFF.  l86i. 

access  to  a  very  large  tract  of  slave-producing  country.  Our 
mission  has  a  special  reference  to  this  gigantic  evil ;  but 
without  the  co-operation  of  such  missions  as  your  Church  con- 
templates ours  must  prove  a  failure.  You  must  then  take  it 
for  granted  that  my  information  may  be  tinged  by  my  great 
anxiety  for  the  establishment  of  Christian  Missions,  and  en- 
deavour to  form  a  calm  and  dispassionate  judgment  for  your- 
self. 

"  We  entered  Lake  Nyassa  in  the  beginning  of  September 
and  during  the  prevalence  of  the  equinoctial  gales.  We  be- 
lieve that  we  felt  bottom  in  one  of  the  bays  in  the  north  at  600 
feet.  As  in  all  narrow  deep  seas  suri'ounded  by  mountains, 
tremendous  seas  get  up  in  about  twenty  minutes.  In  many 
gales  we  witnessed  no  open  boat  could  live.  We  were  obliged 
to  beach  our  boat  every  night,  and  sometimes  sat  for  days 
together  waiting  for  the  storm  to  cease ;  on  this  account  we 
could  not  accomplish  all  we  intended  in  the  way  of  exploration. 
We  followed  the  western  shore^  and  received  nothing  but  the 
most  contradictory  reports  about  Rovuma.  Oue  asserted  that 
we  could  sail  out  of  the  lake  into  the  river ;  another,  that  we 
must  lift  the  boat  a  few  yards ;  another,  fifty  miles  or  a  month. 
We  durst  not  cross  the  frequently  raging  sea  to  ascertain  for 
ourselves.  There  was  a  thick  haze  in  the  air  all  around,  and 
it  was  only  by  sketches  and  bearings  as  the  sun  rose  behind 
mountains  that  we  were  enabled  at  different  latitudes  to 
measure  the  width.  Our  information  is  therefore  unsatis- 
factory. But  leaving  the  physical  geography  till  we  get  more 
light,  we  turn  to  the  population.  That  is  prodigious  :  no  part 
of  Africa  I  have  seen  so  teems  with  people  as  the  shores 
of  Lake  Nyassa.  This  may  have  been  the  fishing  season,  for 
all  were  engaged  in  catching  fish  with  nets,  creels,  hooks  or 
poison ;  when  the  rains  call  them  off  to  agriculture  they  may 
be  much  fewer  in  number.  In  some  cases  disturbances  in  their 
own  countries  had  caused  an  influx  of  population  to  these  sea- 
coasts.  As  we  saw  them  their  numbers  excited  our  constant 
wonder,  and  we  appeared  to  be  great  curiosities  to  them. 
They  were  upon  the  whole  civil,  and  seldom  went  the  length 
of  lifting  up  the  edge  of  the  sail  which  we  used  as  a  tent,  as 
boys  do  to  see  the  beasts  of  a  travelling  menagerie ;  no  fines 
were  levied  nor  dues  demanded.  When  about  half-way  up  the 
lake  an  Arab  dhow  lately  built  fled  away  to  the  eastern  shoro 


^t.  55.  LETTER   PROM    DR.    LIVINGSTONE.  453 

when  we  came  near ;  slio  did  the  same  on  our  return  south : 
their  trade  is  in  slaves.  When  we  came  within  the  spliere  of 
this  vessel's  operation  the  people  became  worse.  They  crept  up 
to  our  sleeping  places  at  that  hour  of  the  morning  when  deep 
sleep  falleth  upon  man,  and  ran  oiF  with  what  they  could  lay  their 
hauds  on.  It  was  the  first  time  we  had  been  robbed  in  Afi'ica. 
We  had  a  few  Makololo  with  us  who  had  been  reared  among 
tho  black  races  and  imbibed  all  their  vices;  their  cowardly 
and  bad  conduct  increased  any  difficulty  we  had.  The  slave 
traders  seem  to  have  purchased  all  the  food,  and  when  we  got 
beyond  their  beat  we  came  to  the  borders  of  a  tribe  of  Zulus, 
called  Mavite,  from  the  south ;  and  this  presented  a  scene  of 
great  desolation,  nothing  was  to  be  seen  but  human  skeletons 
or  putrid  bodies  of  the  slain.  We  had  a  laud  party  in  case 
of  any  accident  to  the  boat.  They  wei'e  terrified  at  the  idea  of 
meeting  the  inflicters  of  the  terrible  vengeance  of  which  the 
evidence  everywhere  met  the  eye,  without  a  European  in  their 
company;  so  I  left  the  boat,  and  by  some  mistake  was  separated 
from  it  for  three  and  a  quarter  days.  We  met  seven  Mavito 
or  Zulus,  and  when  I  went  to  them  unarmed,  they  were  as 
much  frightened  of  me  as  the  men  were  of  them.  Tliey  rattled 
their  spears  on  their  shields,  and  seeing  that  had  no  effect, 
refused  to  take  me  either  to  the  boat  or  to  their  chief,  and 
then  sped  up  the  hills  as  we  may  suppose  seven  Scotch  gomcr^ 
als  would  do  after  they  had  seen  a  ghost.  Want  of  food 
compelled  ns  to  tuim  after  ascertaining  that  the  lake  reaches 
the  southern  borders  of  the  tenth  degree  of  south  latitude. 

"  We  found  a  chief  called  Mai-enga  about  11°  44'  S.,  a  very 
fine  fellow.  He  laded  us  with  all  the  different  kinds  of  food 
he  possessed.  He  seemed  an  eligible  man  for  missionaries  to 
settle  with,  but  very  probably  there  are  fine  situations  and 
people  on  the  adjacent  highlands  which  we  could  not  explore. 
Nyassa  is  surrounded  with  mountains  and  elevated  plateaux 
like  that  on  which  Bishop  Mackenzie  is  located.  Now  wo 
have  already  a  pathway  to  the  lake  with  but  thirty-five  or 
forty  miles  of  land  carriage.  We  have  had  no  difficulties  with 
tho  Portuguese  as  yet.  When  we  took  Bishop  Mackenzie  up 
to  the  highlands  east  of  the  cataracts,  we  discovered  that  tho 
Portuguese  had  instituted  an  extensive  system  of  slave-hunt- 
ing in  the  very  country  to  which  we  had  brought  him.  They 
had  induced  a  marauding,  party  of  Ajawa  to  attack  village  after 


454  MFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1861. 

village  of  Mauganja^  kill  the  men  and  sell  tlie  women  and 
children  to  them.  The  first  party  we  met  had  eighty-four  cap- 
tives. The  adventurers  fled  and  left  the  whole  on  my  hand,  so 
I  gave  them  over  to  the  Bishop  to  begin  school  with ;  other 
Portuguese  companies  were  found,  and  about  one  hundred  and 
forty  handed  over  to  the  Bishop^s  mission.  Unfortunately  the 
Manganja  are  as  ready  to  sell  people  as  the  Ajawa,  but  at  this 
time  the  Manganja  were  all  fleeing  before  the  employes  of  the 
Portuguese.  Believiog  that  the  effusion  of  blood  might  be 
stopped,  and  also  the  slaving,  as  they  received  but  five  yards 
of  calico  for  the  best  captives — value  out  here,  two  shillings  and 
sixpence — and  only  a  shilling's  worth  for  a  woman,  we  went  to 
hold  a  parley  with  the  Ajawa.  We  came  upon  them  in  a  moment 
of  victory  :  they  were  in  the  act  of  burniug  three  villages,  and 
some  Manganja  followers  spoiled  all  our  protestations  of  peace 
by  calling  out  that  one  of  their  great  genei-als  and  sorcerers 
had  come.  They  rushed  on  us  like  furies,  poured  poisoned 
arrows  among  our  small  company  at  fifty  paces  distance 
from  every  point,  and  compelled  us  to  act  in  the  defensive. 
The  Portuguese  are  at  the  bottom  of  the  whole  affair,  and  they 
seem  to  gather  new  vigour  in  their  inveterate  slaving  by  follow- 
ing in  our  footsteps.  Had  we  been  all  cut  off",  the  loss  of 
mission  and  expedition  would  have  been  entirely  attributable 
to  them.  I  was  unarmed,  and  the  men  had  but  a  few  rounds  of 
ammunition  when  this  slave  trade  episode  occurred. 

"  With  regard  to  Govei'nment  protection,  none  would  be 
promised.  Every  member  of  the  Government  would  indi- 
vidually be  glad  to  hear  of  the  extension  of  Christianity,  and  it 
would  gratify  them  to  find  that  officers,  without  detriment  to 
their  own  service,  had  assisted  missionaries ;  but  as  a  Govern- 
ment they  could  not  come  under  any  formal  obligation  to 
protect  British  subjects  in  distant  and  uncivilized  countries. 
This  is  my  private  opinion  only.  The  Bishop  here  is  not,  so 
far  as  I  can  learn,  a  recognised  dignitary  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Government.  I  render  every  assistance  I  can,  and  would  do 
the  same  to  the  missionaries  of  any  other  body,  but  I  have  no 
orders  so  to  do.  Some  instructions  in  favour  of  giving  the 
Bishop's  party  a  passage  were,  I  believe,  sent  to  the  Admiral ; 
but  you  could  not  depend  on  the  same  unless  Lord  Panmure 
were  in  office  again.  A  mission  to  be  effective  must  h&ve  a 
steamer  of  its  own,  and  made  capable  of  being  unscrewed  at 


Ait.  55.  LETTER   FilOM    DE.    LIVINGSTONE.  455 

the  bottom  of  the  cataracts  and  carried  past  them  iu  Scotch 
carts.  This  would  be  the  least  arduous  part  of  the  undertak- 
ing. Don't  imagine  that  a  mission  right  in  the  slave  market 
will  allow  much  sailing  about  your  studies  in  flowing  dressing 
gowns  and  slippers.  A  great  ditficulty  is  the  did'erent  way 
in  which  missionaries  look  at  the  work  when  at  home  and 
when  they  come  actually  to  soil  their  hands.  You  could  mannge 
all  about  the  steamer  with  ease  ;  some  of  your  own  people  would 
do  the  thing  better  than  any  government  contractor.  The 
Burnses  of  Glasgow^  younger  and  elder,  offered  to  do  anything 
in  their  line  for  me  :  I  hereby  make  over  all  my  interest  in  their 
offer,  and  I  am  sure  they  meant  what  they  said. 

The  Bishop  has  the  best  place  in  the  country  for  a  mission — 
cool,  airy  and  abounding  in  flowing  streams  of  deliciously  cool 
water.  At  one  time  I  feared  that  another  mission  might  bo 
deemed  an  intrusion,  as  time  has  not  yet  diluted  the  home 
prejudices ;  but  any  one  seeing  the  prodigious  population  on  the 
lake  must  confess  that  there  is  more  work  there  than  can  be 
reached  l)y  one  body  of  Christians,  however  powerful  or  wealthy. 
Very  likely  as  soon  as  we  get  our  little  steamer  on  the  lake  we 
shall  be  able  to  speak  more  positively  about  a  healthy  residence. 
At  present  the  slave  trade  meets  us  everywhere  ;  the  people 
are  clothed  with  the  inner  bark  of  trees,  and  calico  is  so  valu- 
able that  it  decides  the  only  trade  now  in  existence.  We 
hope  to  alter  this  by  buying  their  cotton,  but  the  most  effectual 
means  of  eradicating  the  trade  entirely  is  the  introduction  of 
Christianity. 

"  {Private  and  confidential.)  The  country  between  Cape 
Delgado  and  Delagoa  Bay  was  committed  to  the  Portuguese 
by  the  slave-trade  treaties  on  the  understanding  that  they 
would  put  down  slave-trading  therein.  Instead  of  this  they 
have  uniformly  acted  on  the  principle  of  converting  the  terri- 
tory aforesaid  into  a  private  slave  '  preserve.'  Their  claims  of 
sovereignty  rest  on  the  treaty  which  they  have  so  shamefully 
misread.  The  governorships,  with  a  mere  nominnl  salary,  are 
the  rewards  which  the  court  of  Lisbon  distributes  to  its 
favourites.  Hence  the  King  of  Portugal  must  know  that  he 
directly  perpetuates  slavery  and  slave-trading  by  making  the 
emoluments  arising  therefrom  the  chief  part  of  the  dole  which 
he  deals  out.  They  have  no  more  right  to  keep  out  other  nations 
from  lawful  commerce  than  England  has  to  keep  traders  out  of 


456  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1862. 

China.  Each  nation  possesses  a  few  forts  on  the  coast  of  a 
continent.  Yet  a  ship  was  seized  belonging  to  Mr.  Sunley, 
H.M.  Consul  at  the  Comoro  Islands,  and  sold  by  the  Portu- 
guese because  he  attempted  to  establish  lawful  trade  in  the 
Angoshe  River  where  a  Portuguese  dare  not  enter.  I  mention 
these  things  in  the  hope  that  some  of  your  friends  of  the 
public  press  may  take  notice  of  them  and  render  aid  in  opening 
the  country.  The  Bishop  informs  me  that  when  Prince  Albert 
was  applied  to  in  order  to  lend  his  name  as  '  Patron '  of  the 
Oxford  and  Cambridge  Mission  he  declined,  on  the  ground  that 
'  Dr.  Livingstone's  expedition  might  compromise  the  rights 
of  the  Portuguese  crown.'  It  is  understood  that  he  is  the 
chief  stickler  for  the  Portuguese  pretensions,  and  unless  power- 
ful public  opinion  be  brought  to  bear  on  the  Government,  these 
pretensions  will  be  urged  as  successfully  as  they  were  in  the 
case  of  Mr.  Sunley's  ship  and  the  trading  station  Amberiz  on 
the  West  Coast.     Believe  mej  affectionately  yours, 

"  David  Livingstone, 

"Nov.  18th. — Since  writing  the  foregoing  we  have  seen  the 
Bishop,  and  find  that,  disregarding  my  advice  to  keep  to  his 
own  place  and  act  simply  on  the  defensive,  he  has  been  induced 
to  go  and  attack  the  Ajawa  twice.  I  hoped  that  the  Ajawa 
might  become  friends  with  the  English  after  they  understood 
the  objects  of  our  comiug,  when  they  refused  all  negotiation 
and  attacked  us,  but  this  will  make  them,  I  fear,  enemies  of  the 
English.  In  speaking  of  the  view  that  would  be  entertained 
of  this  at  home,  the  Bishop  and  I  have  totally  different  antici- 
pations. It  is  probable  that  his  views  and  those  of  a  rathei 
hot-headed  missionary  who  figured  at  Bryan  King's,  in  St. 
George's  in  the  East,  will  be  given  in  a  high  church  paper 
called  the  Ouardian.  Your  young  friend  will  think  our 
horizon  rather  cloudy,  but  it  is  well  if  he  understands  the 
whole  of  our  affairs  though  written  in  a  way  that  will  not  bear 
publication.  I  shall  be  thankful  if  you  favour  me  with  the 
judgment  you  have  foi'med. 

"March  1st,  1862. — We  have  no  daily  post  here.  I  have 
shown  this  to  Mr.  Stewart  who  is  now  with  us  ;  and  I  would  add 
that  my  remarks  are  framed  to  meet  the  eyes  of  the  ordinary 
run  of  missionaries,  and  perhaps  to  screen  myself  from  blame 
if  such  men  should  come  out ;   but  for  such  as  a  man  as  Mr. 


^t.  56.  LETTER    FROM    DR.    LIVINGSTONE.  457 

Stewart  I  would  say  there  are  no  very  serious  obstacles  in  the 
way.  I  would  not  hesitate  to  commence  a  mission  myself,  but 
Mr.  Stewart,  will  give  you  liis  own  impressions  when  he  has 
seen  all  with  his  own  eyes.  If  you  get  many  of  as  long  tangled 
epistles  as  this  from  the  mission  field  I  pity  you. 

"  David  Livingstone.'^ 

"  SuuPANQAj  Zambesi,  12th  March,  1862. 

"Rev.  Dk.  Candlish. 

"My  Dear  Sir, — lam  happy  to  inform  you  that  Mr.  Stewart 
arrived  off  the  mouth  of  this  river  on  the  last  day  of  January, 
and  as  it  appeared  that  the  most  satisfactory  way  of  going  to 
work  would  be  for  him  to  come  and  see  the  country  and  people 
with  his  own  eyes,  I  invited  him  to  accompany  us  while  trying 
to  take  a  steamer  up  to  Lake  Nyassa.  By  the  kind  assistance 
of  Captain  Wilson,  of  H.M.S.  Gorgon,  we  soon  had  most  of  the 
hull  aboard  the  Pioneer,  but  soon  found  out  that  she  could 
not  carry  thirty-five  tons  of  her  sister,  so  we  are  forced  to  put 
the  lake  steamer  together  here,  and  then  tow  her  up  to  the 
cataracts.  We  did  not  anticipate  this  detention  of  two  months. 
Mr.  Stewart  will  however  be  employed  in  picking  up  what  ho 
can  of  the  language,  and  supposing  him  to  be  successful  in  his 
noble  purpose  of  organizing  a  mission,  this  will  pi'ove  no  loss 
of  time.  The  language  is  unreduced,  and  if  you  have  never 
tried  to  write  down  the  gibberish  that  seems  to  be  bluttered 
out  of  the  people's  mouths,  you  will  scarcely  believe  that  the 
reduction  of  a  language  is  such  a  gigantic  task  as  it  is.  The 
tongue  is  spoken  at  Senna  and  Tette  on  the  Zambesi,  and  up 
to  the  end  of  Lake  Nyassa,  400  miles  to  the  north.  The  Bishop 
Mackenzie  is  working  at  it,  but  years  must  elapse  before  it 
can  become  a  proper  or  copious  vehicle  of  religious  thought. 

"  I  have  given  Mr.  Stewart  a  cordial  and  hearty  welcome,  and 
rejoice  in  the  prospect  of  another  mission  where  there  is  so 
very  much  room  for  work.  Nineteen  thousand  slaves  pass 
annually  through  the  custom-house  of  Zanzibar,  and  according 
to  Colonel  Rigby,  H.M.  Consul  there,  the  chief  portion  of  them 
comes  from  Lake  Nyassa.  We  hope  to  do  something  towards 
stopping  this  traffic,  but  it  is  only  by  Christian  missions  and 
example  that  the  evil  can  be  thoroughly  i-ooted  out.  From  all 
I  have  observed  of  Mr.  Stewart  he  seems  to  have  been  specially 
raised  up  for  the  work,  and  specially  well  adapted  for  it.     Be- 


458  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1875. 

fore  becoming  acquainted  witli  liim  I  spoke  cautiously^  perhaps 
gave  too  much  prominence  to  difficulties  of  which  I  myself 
make  small  account,  and  may  have  been  led  to  it  by  having 
seen  missionai-ies  come  out  with  curious  notions,  willing  to 
endure  hardships,  but  grumbling  like  mountains  in  labour 
when  put  about  by  things  that  they  did  not  expect ;  but  to 
such  a  man  I  would  say  boldly.  Go  forward,  and  with  the 
Divine  blessing  you  will  surely  succeed.     I  am,  etc., 

"  David  Livingstone. 

"Though  I  had  not  the  pleasure  of  meeting  you  at  Dr. 
Buchanan's  I  met  your  daughters  there,  and  beg  to  present 
kind  salutations. 

"Ibth  March. — The  Bishop  Mackenzie  and  Rev.  H.  Burrup 
died  in  January  and  February.  Came  down  to  meet  us  in  a 
canoe  which  was  overturned,  clothes  and  medicines  lost;  fever 
and  diarrhoea  proved  fatal — a  sad  blow ;  but  whatever  eflFect  it 
may  have  at  home,  not  one  hair's-breadth  will  I  swerve  from 
my  work." 

Dr.  Stewart  returned  to  Scotland  to  urge  the  pro- 
posal that  his  Church  should  found  a  mission  settle- 
ment on  Cape  Maclear,  the  promontory  at  the  south  end 
of  the  lake  to  be  called  by  Livingstone's  name.  Dr. 
Livingstone  himself,  during  his  two  subsequent  visits 
to  Bombay,  took  Dr.  Wilson,  the  Free  Church  mission- 
ary there,  into  his  counsels,  and  the  public  of  Western 
India  supplied  him  with  funds  for  the  last  expedition. 
His  death,  in  April,  1873,  on  his  knees  in  prayer  amid 
the  swamps  of  Ilala,  gave  to  the  Free  Church  a  new 
motive  for  at  once  carrying  out  the  trust  which  he 
laid  upon  it.  Dr.  Duff  had  sent  out  Dr.  Stewart 
to  Lovedale,  after  the  disasters  of  the  Universities 
Mission,  to  be  ready  from  that  base  to  advance  to 
Nyassa.  Sir  Bartle  Frere  had  returned  from  his 
mission  to  the  slave- trading  Muhammada,n  powers 
along  the  littoral  of  the  Red  Sea,  the  Persian  Gulf 
and  the  Indian  Ocean,  which  Dr.  Kirk's  treaty  with 


ALL  69.  FIRST    EXPEDITION    TO    LAKE    NYASSA.  459 

the  Sultan  of  Zanzibar  happily  completed,  leaving  the 
worst  offenders,  Turkey  and  l^gypt,  alone  to  be  dealt 
with  directly  by  the  Foreign  Office.  After  conferences 
with  him  in  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow  in  1874  Dr.  Duff 
and  James  Stevenson,  Esq.,  of  Glasgow,  launched 
the  Livingstonia  Mission,  the  greatest  national  enter- 
prise, it  has  been  truly  said,  since  Scotland  sent  forth 
the  very  different  Darien  expedition.  In  the  new 
responsibilities  and  burdens  which  this  added  to  the 
last  five  years  of  his  life,  he  was  assisted  by  Dr.  M. 
Mitchell,  as  the  official  secretary  of  the  committee. 

All  the  churches  and  cities  of  Scotland,  but  especially 
the  Reformed  and  United  Presbyterian  Churches  and 
the  merchant  princes  of  Glasgow,  gathered  round 
Dr.  Duff.  At  the  request  of  the  Established  Church 
co-operating  with  it  in  Africa  as  in  India,  he  gave 
it  the  most  brotherly  facilities  for  founding  a  station, 
called  Blantyre,  on  the  healthy  heights  just  above 
the  Murchison  cataracts  of  the  Shire.  In  the  absence 
of  Dr.  Stewart,  Mr.  Young,  R.N.,  who  had  satisfac- 
torily led  the  "  Livingstone  Search  Expedition,"  was 
lent  by  the  Admiralty  to  command  that  organized 
to  found  Livingstonia.  The  first  large  party  of 
Scottish  missionaries  and  artisans  left  the  London 
docks  in  May,  1875.  Dr.  Goold  tells  us  how  Dr.  Duff 
led  the  devotions  of  the  departing  evangelists  with 
such  fervent  absorption  and  earnest  supplication,  all 
heedless  of  the  last  warning  bell,  that  the  steamer  was 
already  on  its  way  down  the  Thames  before  he  could 
be  got  on  shore.  It  was  on  the  12th  of  October,  just 
eight  years  after  Livingstone's  discovery  of  it,  that 
Nyassa's  waters  burst  on  the  view  of  the  delighted 
missionaries,  as  the  sun  rose  over  the  high  eastern 
range  and  bathed  in  the  light  that  symbolized  a  better 
Sun  the  seven  hundred  miles  of  coast  then  desolated 
by  the   slave-trade  and  demon-worship.     Writing  of 


460  LIFE    OP   DR.    DUFF.  1 87 7. 

morning  worship  that  day,  the  Rev.  R.  Laws,  M.B., 
now  head  of  the  Mission,  remarked,  *'  The  hundredth 
psalm  seemed  to  have  anew  beauty  and  depth  of  mean- 
ins:  as  its  notes  floated  over  the  blue  waves." 

Next  year  a  second  party  went  out  with  reinforce- 
ments under  the  Rev.  Dr.  Black,  as  yet  the  only  and 
the  ever  to  be  lamented  victim  in  this  Mission  to  the 
climate  of  tropical  Africa.  Dr.  Stewart  took  com- 
mand at  the  lake,  and  circumnavigated  it  for  the 
second  time,  with  the  object  of  finding  a  sanitarium 
at  its  northern  end,  and  completing  our  geographical 
knowledge  of  its  coasts  and  the  country  which  it 
drains.*  Not  only  at  Livingstonia  but  in  Marenga's 
country  on  the  west  coast,  and  on  Kaningina  table- 
land in  the  interior,  hundreds  of  natives  have  come 
under  our  protection  and  Christian  instruction.  Dr. 
Stewart  has  assisted  in  similar  good  work  at  Blantyre. 
The  Chinyanja  speech  of  the  western  Kaffirs  has  been 
reduced  to  writing,  a  grammar  and  vocabulary  have 
been  formed,  and  portions  of  St.  John's  Gospel  and 
hymns  have  been  translated  into  it,  being  printed  by 
the  Kaffir  compositors  at  Lovedale.  The  machinery 
has  been  completed  by  a  medical  mission  for  the 
women,  under  Miss  Waterston,  L.M.,  with  Kaffir  sub- 
ordinates from  Lovedale.  The  Mission  has  been 
relieved  of  the  purely  commercial  concerns  by  some  of 
its  Glasgow  founders,  who  have  formed  a  Central 
Africa  Trading  Company,  and  have  made  several 
miles  of  a  road  from  Kilwa  towards  the  northern  end 
of  the  lake,  towards  which  the  Royal  Geographical 
Society's  Expedition  also  is  working.  From  Lovedale 
to  the  Nile,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  map,  the  four  missions 
of  the  Free  Church,  the  London  Society,  the  Church 
Society  and  the  Universities  have  taken  possession  of 

*  Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  10th  March,  1879. 


^t.  71.  LONGINGS    FOR   AFRICA.  46 1 

Africa  for  Christ.  On  tlie  west  the  Baptist  Society 
are  pushing  towards  them  up  the  Kongo,  Aided  by 
a  bequest  of  a  million  of  dollars  the  American  Board 
of  Missions,  which  has  done  much  already  in  Natal,  is 
about  to  join  the  noble  army  from  St.  Paul  de  Loanda. 
Meanwhile,  the  easiest  access  to  the  heart  of  Africa  is 
by  the  Free  Church  route,  by  the  little  Lady  Nyassa 
up  the  Zambesi  and  Shire  to  the  cataracts,  by  a  road 
of  seventy  miles  round  these,  cut  by  the  Livingstone 
and  Blautyre  Missions,  and  by  the  Ilala,  a  fine  sea 
steamer  of  forty-horse  power,  right  up  to  the  E-om- 
bashe,  or  northern  end  of  Lake  Nyassa.  Dr.  Duff's 
oflBcial  and  private  correspondence  with  all  concerned, 
and  especially  with  Dr.  Stewart,  marks  a  breadth  of 
Christian  statesmanship  and  administrative  foresight 
which  his  whole  Lidian  and  African  experience  from 
1830  would  lead  us  to  expect.  Let  this  heroic  sen- 
tence suffice,  written  from  Guernsey  as  his  last  illness 
was  creeping  upon  him,  to  Dr.  Stewart  on  the  25th 
July,  1877  :  "  Livingstonia  is  virtually  your  own  mis- 
sion, and,  humanly  speaking,  the  success  of  the  future 
will  depend  much,  under  God,  on  the  wisdom  with 
which  the  foundations  are  now  solidly  laid.  I  wish  I 
could  join  you  for  a  year,  if  it  were  only  to  cheer  by 
sympathy  and  hearty  earnestness  in  seeing  the  outward 
prosperity  of  the  work." 

Dr.  Duff  bad  a  keen  eye  and  a  reverent  regard  for 
"  providences,"  alike  in  his  own  life  and  in  the  history 
of  the  Church  and  the  world.  But  even  he  never 
knew  that  the  last  new  mission  which  he  was  called  on 
to  superintend,  in  the  closing  years  of  his  life,  owed  its 
existence  to  himself.  When  the  old  Cameronians,  the 
venerable  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  united  with 
the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  in  1876,  it  brought  under 
the  joint  managemuut  of  the  Foreign  Missions  com- 
mittee a   portion  of  the   Mission   in  the  Melanesian 


462  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1877. 

group  of  tlie  New  Hebrides.  When,  in  1837,  Dr.  Duff 
was  addressing  tlie  members  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land at  Stranraer,  he  httle  thought  that  a  Cameroniau 
minister  was  hstening  to  him  whom  he  was  uncon- 
sciously stirring  up  to  found  that  mission  to  the  can- 
nibals of  the  South  Pacific.  The  Rev.  A.  M.  Syming- 
ton, of  Birkenhead,  has  lately  published  this  extract 
from  the  diary  of  his  father.  Dr.  William  Symington : 

October  27th,  1837. — '^Had  this  day  the  unspeakable  satis- 
faction and  delight  of  hearing  Dr.  Duff  advocate  tlie  General 
Assembly's  scheme  for  christianizing  India.  His  statements 
are  clear,  his  reasoning  sound,  and  his  eloquence  surpassing 
anything  I  ever  heard.  Notwithstanding  a  weak  frame  and  a 
bad  voice,  his  appeals  are  most  impassioned  and  thrilling.  He 
touches  the  springs  of  emotion,  lays  down  the  path  of  duty 
with  unceremonious  fidelity,  and  rebukes  the  apathy  and  nig- 
gardliness of  professing  Christians  with  fearless  independence. 
I  reckon  it  a  great  privilege  to  have  heard  and  met  with  this 
great  and  good  man.  May  it  be  blessed  for  increasing  my 
zeal  for  the  conversion  of  the  heathen. 

January  \2th,  1838. — ''  Being  old  New  Year^'s  Day,  which 
is  foolishly  observed  as  an  idle  day  in  this  quarter,  I  called 
together  the  youth  of  the  congregation,  read  some  missionary 
intelligence,  and  delivered  an  address  on  the  obligation  of 
Christians  to  diffuse  the  gospel  among  the  heathen.  After- 
wards a  juvenile  association  for  missionary  purposes  was 
formed.  Nearly  sixty  appended  their  names,  and  about  £10 
was  subscribed  on  the  spot.  May  this  be  the  commencement 
of  a  mission  to  the  heathen  from  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Scotland.^' 

The  whole  group  of  forty  islands,  with  a  population 
of  a  hundred  thousand,  is  evangelized  by  five  Presby- 
terian Churches,  whose  children  maintain  a  missionary 
ship.  The  Dayspring,  to  keep  up  communication  among 
the  stations,  and  with  Sydney  as  their  base  fourteen 
hundred  miles  to  the  south-west.  Of  the  twelve 
missionaries  four  are  sent  forth  by  the  Free  Church  to 


/Ct.  71.  THE    MELANESIAN    MISSION.  463 

Aneityiim  and  Aniwa,  now  wholly  cliristianizod,  Ipare 
and  Fiituna.  In  the  century  that  has  passed  since 
Captain  Cook  discovered  those  paradises  of  the  Pacific, 
even  in  the  half-century  since  their  cannibals  murdered 
John  Williams  on  Eromanga  and  some  of  his  suc- 
cessors, both  Molanesians  and  Polynesians  have  been 
formed  into  Christian  churches  so  vigorous  that  Dr. 
Duff  lived  lonof  enousrh  to  learn  how  the  once  cannibal 
Aneityumcso  were  paying  £700  for  an  edition  of  the 
whole  Bible  in  their  own  language.  Thus  all  through 
his  career,  from  first  to  last,  his  influence  overflowed 
to  other  Churches,  and  the  fruit  returned  to  himself  in 
a  way  rarely  seen  in  the  kingdom  one  law  of  which 
is  thus  expressed,  "Ye  have  laboured,  and  others  have 
entered  into  your  labours." 

When,  in  1878,  the  forty-ninth  year  of  the  Mission 
which  he  had  founded  and  extended  closed  with  his 
own  life,  introducing  the  time  of  jubilee  in  the  Jewish 
sense,  what  did  Dr.  Duff  see  ?  Apart  from  the  missions 
he  had  given  to  the  Established  Church  of  Scotland, 
and  the  missionaries,  European,  American  and  Asiatic 
he  had  influenced  or  trained  for  other  Churches,  we 
may  thus  coldly  sum  up  results  which  in  all  their 
spiritual  consequences  and  even  historical  ramifications 
no  mere  biographer  can  attempt  to  estimate.  The  one 
boy-missionary  ordained  by  Chalmers,  and  sent  forth 
by  luglis,  in  1829,  is  represented  by  a  staff  of  115 
Scottish  and  44  Hindoo,  Parseo  and  KaflSr  missionaries 
in  the  half-century.  Of  these  nearly  half  have  passed 
to  their  eternal  rest,  leaving  at  present  38  Scottish 
and  18  native  ministers  ordained  or  licensed  to  preach 
the  gospel,  after  a  careful  literary  and  theological 
education,  besides  five  medical  missionaries — one  a 
lady — eleven  lay  professors  and  evangelists  and  several 
students  of  divinity.  The  two  primary  English  schools 
of  1830   at  Calcutta  and  Bombay  have  become  210 


t 


464  LIFE   OF   DE.    DUFF.  1878. 

colleges  and  schools  in  wliich,  every  year,  more  than 
15,000  youths  of  both  sexes  receive  daily  instruction 
in  the  Word  of  God  underlying,  saturating,  conse- 
crating all  other  knowledge.  English  has  become  the 
common  language  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  the 
educated  natives  of  India  and  Africa.  But  a  pure  and 
Christian  literature  has  been  created  in  their  many 
vernaculars  and  even  classical  tongues,  based  on  and 
applying  the  translated  Bible.  The  Free  Church  con- 
verts alone  have  numbered  6,458  adults,  who,  from 
almost  every  false  creed,  impure  cult  and  debasing 
social  system  in  the  East  and  the  South,  have  sat 
down  in  the  kingdom,  many  through  much  tribu- 
lation of  which  Christendom,  as  it  at  present  is, 
has  no  experience.  These  with  their  families  have 
not  only  created  Christian  communities  which  sweeten 
the  society  around  them  and  are  thus  used  gradually 
to  leaven  its  whole  lump,  but  they  form  twenty-eight 
congregations  which,  after  many  members  have  passed 
away  to  their  eternal  reward,  number  3,500  communi- 
cants, 4,100  baptized  adherents,  and  800  catechumens, 
all  under  ministers  of  their  own  race.  In  1878  they 
subscribed  £750  to  evangelize  their  countrymen,  though 
themselves  poor  after  much  self-sacrifice.  No  mission 
can  show  so  many  converts,  or  nearly  so  many  native 
missionaries,  gathered  from  the  ranks  of  educated 
Hindooism  and  used  to  break  down  the  mighty  mass 
of  Brahmanism,  as  the  India  Mission  of  Dr.  Duff,  who 
was  ever  ready  to  abase  himself  while  magnifying 
his  ofiQce  and  defending  his  method.  Each  reader 
may  judge  for  himself  what  share  that  method  has 
had  in  all  that  makes  the  India  of  1878  differ  from 
that  of  1829  especially  in  the  significant  fact  that 
in  that  period  the  Protestant  Christians  of  India 
have  increased  from  twenty-seven  thousand  to  half  a 
million. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

1865-1878. 
BB.   BUFF  AT  HOME. 

As  a  Friend. — Mrs.  Duff. — Dr.  Duff  on  her  Death. — Mourning  of 
the  Bengalee  Converts. — Solitude  Thenceforth. — His  Favourite 
Authors,  Literary  and  Theological. — Hooker  and  Scott  the 
Commentator. — On  Anglo-Indian  Partings. — College  Work. — At 
Auchcndennan  on  Loch  Lomond. — At  Patterdale  on  Ulleswater. 
— On  Dr.  Cotton  and  the  Bi.shops  of  Calcutta. — To  Sir  Henry 
Duraud  and  Lady  Durand. — The  Dovrager  Countess  of  Aber- 
deen.— Influence  of  Bengalee  Converts  on  the  Punjab. — Colonel 
Yule. — Sir  Henry  Maine. — Mr.  John  Marshman. — Dr.  Moffat. — 
Free  St.  George's  and  Barclay  Churches. — Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury.— Mi.ss  Florence  Nightingale. — Lord  Shaftesbury, — Lord 
Halifax. — Dr.  Duff's  Unselfishness. 

Turning  aside  from  the  public  conflicts  and  the 
official  cares  of  the  Missionary's  life,  let  us  rest  awhile 
with  him,  so  far  as  the  stranger  may  do  so,  amid  the 
sanctities  of  home  and  the  intercourse  of  friendship. 
Of  domestic  joy  and  social  delight  he  knew  less  than 
most  public  men,  less  even  than  most  Anglo-Indian 
exiles,  although  his  nature  yearned  for  the  one  with 
a  Celtic  intensity,  and  was  drawn  out  after  the 
other  with  a  chivalrous  impulsiveness.  In  this  he 
was  like  the  first  of  missionaries,  who  in  solitude 
turned  from  the  scoffing  philosophers  of  Athens  to 
the  seething  mass  of  sinning  idolaters  in  Corinth, 
determined  not  to  know  anything  save  Jesus  Christ 
and  Him  crucified.  Absorbed  in  daily  and  nightly 
toil  after  the  highest  quest  and  the  divinest  ideal,  he 
could  give  to  wife  and  child,  friend  and  society,  only 
the  time  which  the  exhausted  body  forced  him  to  steal 

VOL.    II.  H    H 


-f 


466  LIFx^-    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1865. 

from  incessant  energising.  What  to  most  men  forms 
tlie  sum  of  life,  was  with  him  an  accident  in  livino-. 
This  and  the  method  of  his  work,  the  exacting  punctu- 
ality which  marked  all  his  duties,  enabled  him  to  live 
many  lives,  making  his  fine  physique  the  ready  slave 
of  his  impetuous  spirit. 

Hence,  as  no  one  desired  the  solace  of  family  and 
friends  more,  the  fervour  with  which  all  his  relations 
with  those  he  loved  were  surcharged,  and  the  fascina- 
tion which  he  exercised  over  the  men  and  women  whom 
he  grappled  to  his  soul.  Hence,  too,  the  comfort 
wherewith  he  could  comfort  the  many  strangers  as  well 
as  friends  who  sought  from  him  spiritual  consolation 
or  guidance.  His  face,  his  form,  his  bearing,  the  iron 
grasp  and  frequent  shake  of  his  hand,  his  sympathetic 
voice,  his  delicately  suggested  counsels  or  warmly 
urged  advice,  his  emphatic  rebuke  or  more  enthusiastic 
approval,  drew  to  him  his  equals,  bound  to  him  the 
converts,  the  students,  the  orientals  whom  he  at  the 
same  time  awed.  His  was  a  nature  born  to  rule, 
while  the  grace  of  God  humbled  him  into  ruling  by 
love.  His  will,  directed  by  a  desire  loftier  and  a 
knowledge  more  complete  than  others  possessed,  some- 
times bore  down  opposition  and  silenced  criticism. 
But  he  whose  aim  was  equally  lofty,  and  experience 
not  very  inferior,  rejoiced  in  co-operation  with  a  friend — • 
even  in  working  under  a  master — who  never  failed  in 
anything  he  undertook  for  the  Master  of  all.  In  spite 
of  the  parity  of  an  ecclesiastical  system  which  is 
strong  by  this  very  weakness,  he  and  his  many  col- 
leagues in  Calcutta,  for  thirty-three  years,  acted  to- 
gether not  only  in  unbroken  harmony  but  in  loving 
fellowship.  Young  theologians,  frightened  for  a  timo 
from  the  mission-field  by  misrepresentations  of  his 
masterfulness,  were  amazed  to  observe  when  they 
reached   Calcutta   the    unselfish    skill  with  which  he 


/Et.  59.  AS    A    HUSBAND.  467 

found  out  tlieir  specialities  and  encouraged  tlioir  inde- 
l^endent  development.  From  John  Macdonald  in  1838 
to  those  sent  out  in  1862  this  was  tlie  case.  The  commu- 
nion between  Duff  and  Mackay,  E  wart  and  Dr.  T.  Smitli 
was  perfect,  because  they  were  all  in  different  ways 
worthy  of  each  other.  So  it  was  in  the  wider  bonds 
of  friendship  with  the  best  men  of  his  generation  both 
in  India  and  in  the  West.  Like  drew  to  like  all  through 
his  life,  from  the  students'  benches  at  St.  Andrews. 

Next  to  the  life  hid  with  Christ  in  God,  Duff  found 
his  solace  and  his  inspiration  in  his  wife.  From  her 
quiet  but  unresting  devotion  to  him,  and  his  excessive 
reticence  regarding  his  most  sacred  domestic  feelings, 
many  failed  to  appreciate  the  perfection  of  her  service 
not  merely  to  her  husband  but  to  the  cause  for  which  he 
sacrificed  his  whole  self.  The  extracts  which  we  have 
given  from  his  letters  during  their  frequent  separations, 
reveal  more  than  was  apparent  at  the  time,  save  to 
those  who,  like  the  earlier  converts,  were  the  inmates  of 
the  home  in  Cornwallis  Square.  But  it  was  when  the 
hour  came  for  the  missionary  9,nd  his  wife  to  part  for 
ever  here  below  that  the  value  of  Mrs.  Daff  to  his  work 
as  well  as  to  himself  could  be  realized.  He  had  been 
welcomed  homo  in  July,  1864,  after  the  prolonged 
tour  in  South  Africa,  by  her  who  had  preceded  him. 
He  had,  in  the  intervals  of  missionary  ordinations,  ad- 
dresses and  visits,  enjoyed  the  ineffable  peace,  to  the 
Anglo-Indian,  of  rest  and  then  activity  in  the  society  of 
wife  and  children,  for  six  brief  months.  Then,  after  a 
brief  illness,  tenderly  nursed  by  them  and  by  the  new- 
made  widow  of  Dr.  Mackay,  Anne  Scott  Duff  was 
taken  away.  To  the  son  whom  he  had  left  behind  him 
in  India,  that  source  of  endless  partings  for  the  sake 
of  noblest  work,  the  widowed  father  wrote  an  epistle 
of  heart-breaking  yet  triumphant  words,  from  which 
we  take  these  sacred  extracts  : 


46S  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1S65. 

"Edinburgh,  2ith  Feb.,  1865. 
''  I  at  once  write  the  fulness  of  my  own  sorrow  and  yours, 
when  I  say  that  I  am  now  writing  as  a  wifeless  husband 
to  a  motherless  son;  and  at  the  same  time  the  fulness  of 
my  joy  and  yours,  when  I  say  that,  through  faith  in  the 
atoning  blood  and  righteousness  of  the  Lamb  of  God  for 
sinners  slain,  the  most  loving,  lovable,  and  beloved  of  wives 
and  mothers  is  now  one  of  the  bright  spirits  that  shine 
in  white  array  in  the  realms  above,  where  there  is  no 
night  of  ignorance,  or  error,  or  wandering ;  no  more  sorrow, 
or  crying,  or  pain,  or  tears;  no  more  curse  of  a  condemning 
law  ;  no  more  death,  because  no  more  sin  which  is  its  sting  : 
Christ  the  Lord  having  redeemed  all  His  own  from  the  curse 
of  the  law  and  enabled  them  to  triumph  gloriously  over  the 
last  enemy  here  below.  Praised  be  God  then,  there  is  no 
incompatibility  between  the  fulness  of  natural  sorrow  and  the 
fulness  of  gracious  joy.  God,  the  tender  and  compassionate 
God,  has  not  forbidden  us  to  sorrow  over  depai'ted  friends — • 
and  least  of  all  over  the  departure  of  one  who  has  been  the 
desire  and  the  light  of  my  eyes  and  a  vitalizing  element  of  my 
life.  Oh,  no  !  only  we  are  not  to  indulge  in  sorrow  to  excess, 
which  would  be  to  murmur  against  the  dispensation  of  an  all- 
wise,  all-gracious  Providence.  The  aged  Abraham  mourned 
and  wept  over  the  aged  Sarah  when  numbered  with  the  dead ; 
and  then  proved  his  strength  of  faith  and  character  by  forth- 
with proceeding  to  the  discharge  of  needful  duties.  And  if 
the  very  father  of  the  faithful  could  thus  mourn  and  weep 
over  the  remains  of  the  partner  of  his  life-long  joys  and  sorrows, 
it  cannot  be  unbecoming  in  me  to  do  the  same  as  a  widowed 
husband  over  the  remains  of  the  most  faithful  and  devoted 
partner  of  my  life-long  joys  and  sorrows  in  many  climes  and 
amid  many  eventful  scenes.  And  true  it  is,  that  though 
endeavouring  to  restrain  and  control  my  feelings  to  the  utmost 
before  others,  I  have  again  and  again  found  relief  in  a  burst 
of  tears,  while  in  my  solitary  musings, — ah  !  how  solitary  and 
lonely  now  ! — my  eyes  have  become  sore  with  weeping.  And 
what  I  have  yielded  to  myself,  though  I  trust  in  God  within 
the  limits  of  undue  excess,  I  cannot  ask  my  darling  not  to 
yield  to  in  due  and  allowable  measure.  For  such  yielding  in 
due  measure  to  the  outbursting  of  natural  sorrow  is  consecrated 
by  a  higher,  nobler,  grander  example  than  even  that  of  the 


.Et.  59.  ON   HIS   WIFE.  469 

fiitlier  of  the  faithful,  even  the  example  of  the  eternal  Son 
of  God  Himself,  when  incarnate  as  our  Immanuel  Kinsman- 
Kedeemer — partaker  of  our  essential  humanity,  but  without 
its  sin,  which  is  not  essential  to  it  but  a  vilo  superinduced 
excrescence  upon  it.  Yes  !  the  most  touching,  the  most  affect- 
ing verse  in  the  whole  Bible,  as  an  embodiment  of  the  fulness 
and  overflow  of  natural  feeling,  is  the  short  solitary  one,  'Jesus 
wept,^  wept  at  the  tomb  of  His  beloved  friend,  where  others 
were  weeping  too,  mingling  His  tears  in  sympathy  with  theirs 
— and  that  too  at  the  very  moment  when  He  knew  as  no  other 
one  did  or  could  that  a  marvellous  resurrection  work  was  to 
be  by  Himself  achieved. 

"  Heaven  ought  now  to  have  new  attractions  for  you  and  for 
us  all ;  for  it  is  the  region  of  unending  day,  of  fulness  of  joy, 
of  perpetual  smiles,  of  everlasting  rest,  of  ineffable  glory.  It 
is  the  place  of  gathering  for  all  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord  from 
righteous  Abel  downwai'ds.  Oh !  to  see  and  converse  with 
Noah,  Abraham,  Moses,  David,  Isaiah,  Peter,  John  and  Paul, 
Luther,  Calvin,  Knox,  with  the  noble  army  of  faithful  witnesses 
in  every  age  and  clime.  And  above  all,  to  enjoy  the  beatific 
vision  of  the  glorious  Triune  Jehovah,  Father,  Son  and  Holy 
Spirit  1  These,  these  will  be  the  primary  attractions  for  all  the 
redeemed.  But  among  the  secondary  ones  must  be  the  meeting 
and  the  greeting  of  loved  ones  on  earth  in  their  glorified  forms. 
In  this  sense  it  is  that  I  have  ventured  to  say  that  heaven  itself 
has  new  attractions  for  you  and  mo  and  the  other  members  of 
our  now  desolated  family.  My  own  father  and  mother,  saintly 
as  they  were  on  earth,  were  there  before.  Your  little  brother, 
who  had  'not  sinned  after  the  similitude  of  Adam's  trangres- 
sion,*  was  there;  your  sister,  dear  little  sweet  gentle  Annie, 
through  grace,  I  trust  was  there.  And  now  my  faithful  loving 
spouse — my  other  half,  who  sustained  and  cheered  and  com- 
forted me,  and  was  herself  not  merely  the  light  of  my  dwelling, 
but  my  very  home  itself;  and  your  precious  mother,  who  so 
fondly  nursed  and  cherished  you,  ever  ready  to  deny  and  sacri- 
fice herself  if  she  could  only  minister  to  your  comfort  and  joy 
and  happiness — she  too  is  gone.  She  is  not,  for  God  hath 
taken  her,  taken  her  to  the  temple  above,  to  serve  Him  and 
enjoy  Him  for  ever  there. 

"  It  tended  to  soothe  us  exceedingly  to  find  that  during  the 
last  twelve  hours,  at  least,  she  had  no  pain  whatever,  and  that 


470  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1865. 

life  went  gradually,  gradually  ebbing  away,  till  slie  literally  fell 
asleep  in  Jesug.  As  there  was  no  pain  you  cannot  imagine  the 
singularly  sweet,  placid  and  tranquil  expression  of  her  coun- 
tenance even  in  the  paleness  of  death.  To  us  it  was  a  heart- 
rending spectacle.  But  our  prayer  was  that  the  Lord  might 
give  us  the  spirit  of  simple,  absolute  resignation  to  His  holy 
will.  And  our  prayer  has  been  wonderfully  answered.  What 
my  own  feelings  are,  I  dare  not  venture  to  attempt  to  describe; 
nor  would  I  if  I  could.  They  are  known  to  the  Searcher  of 
hearts,  and  can  only  find  relief  in  prayer.  The  union  cemented 
by  upwards  of  thirty-eight  years  of  a  strangely  eventful  life  in 
many  climes  and  amid  many  perils  and  trials  and  joys,  so  sud- 
denly, so  abruptly  brought  to  a  final  close  in  this  world — oh  ! 
it  is  agony  to  look  at  it  in  itself.  But  when  I  turn  to  the 
Saviour  and  the  saintly  one  now  in  glory,  I  do  see  the  dark 
cloud  so  lustred  with  the  rainbow  of  hope  and  promise,  that  I 
cannot  but  miugle  joy  with  my  sorrow,  and  we  can  all  unite  in 
praising  the  Lord  for  His  goodness.  His  marvellous  loving- 
kindnesses  towards  us  in  our  hour  of  sore  trial.     .     ." 

Those  wbo,  out  of  her  own  home,  knew  Mrs.  Du:ff 
best,  were  the  Bengalee  Christians  of  Cornwallis 
Square.  When  the  news  of  her  removal  reached,  them 
their  sorrow  found  expression  through  their  minister, 
the  Rev.  Lai  Behari  Day,  from  the  pulpit  of  the  mission 
church.  The  testimony  has  a  meaning  in  this  Bio- 
graphy, not  only  because  it  shows  what  Christianity- 
makes  a  people  of  whom  it  has  been  most  ignorantly 
said  that  their  language  has  no  word  for  gratitude. 
The  passage  vividly  reflects  the  influence  which  Mrs. 
Duff  exercised  over  the  whole  career  of  her  husband. 
The  preacher  declared,  as  the  result  of  his  twenty-two 
years'  experience  since  his  baptism,  that  he  had  not 
seen  "  a  more  high-minded  and  pure-souled  woman,  of 
loftier  character  or  greater  kindliness."  "  Her  distin- 
guished husband  was  engaged  in  a  mighty  work,  and  she 
rightly  judged  that,  instead  of  striking  out  a  path  for 
herself  of  missionary  usefulness,  she  would  be  doing 


.^.t.  59.   SYMPATHY  OF  THE  BENGALEE  CONVERTS.     47 1 

her  duty  best  by  upliolding  and  strengthening  him  in 
his  great  undertaking.  Mrs.  Duff  rightly  judged  that 
her  proper  province  was  to  become  a  ministering 
angel  to  her  husband  who  was  labouring  in  the  high 
places  of  the  field,  who  had  to  sustain  greater  conflicts 
than  most  missionaries  in  the  world,  and  who,  there- 
fore, required  more  than  most  men  the  countenance, 
the  attentions,  the  sympathy,  and  the  consolations  of  a 
loving  companion.  And  it  is  a  happy  circumstance 
for  our  Mission  and  for  India  at  lars^e  that  Mrs.  Duff 
thus  judged.  The  great  success  of  the  memorable 
father  of  our  Mission  is  owing,  under  God,  doubtless 
to  his  distinofuishcd  talents  and  fervent  zeal ;  but  it  is 
not  too  much  to  say  that  that  success  would  have  been 
considerably  less  than  it  has  been  had  his  hand  not 
been  strengthened  and  his  heart  sustained  by  the  dili- 
gent and  affectionate  ministrations  of  his  partner  in 
life.  I  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  the  deepest 
sympathy  for  the  venerable  patriarch  of  our  Mission. 
The  recollections  of  a  long  period  of  life  spent  together 
in  the  sweet  interchange  of  kind  offices  must  be  deeply 
affecting.  The  angel  of  love  who  so  long  ministered 
to  our  revered  spiritual  father,  and  who  was  his 
companion  and  solace  in  these  wilds  of  heathenism, 
upholding  his  arms  in  the  time  of  conflict,  comforting 
him  in  distress,  watching  over  him  in  sickness,  and 
ever  pouring  into  his  mind  the  balm  of  consolation, — 
that  ministering  angel  has  been  removed  from  his  side, 
and  Dr.  Duff  has  now,  in  the  decline  of  his  life,  to  pass 
the  remainder  of  his  days  alone.  What  can  we,  his 
children  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges,  do  further  than 
express  our  profoundest  sympathy  with  him,  and 
commend  him  to  the  fatherly  care  of  Him  who  is  em- 
phatically the  God  of  all  comfort  ?" 

Such  sympathy  following  such  experience   went  as 
far  as  human  effort  could  go  to  heal  the  wound.     Six 


472  UVE   OF   DR.    DUFF.  1870. 

years  after,  wlien  we  met  him  for  the  first  time  in  the 
famiHar  drawing-room  in  Lauder  Eoad,  and  admired 
the  rich  landscape  of  hill  and  dale  as  seen  from  the 
southern  window,  the  old  man  burst  into  tears,  for 
her  favourite  view  recalled  the  tender  days  of  old  and 
all  the  Calcutta  memories. 

Thenceforth  Dr.  Duff  was  emphatically  alone,  though 
ever  cared  for  with  filial  devotion  and  friendly  affection. 
His  spiritual  experience  became  still  deeper,  his  power 
to  comfort  sufferers  like  himself  more  remarkable  and 
more  sought  after.  In  all  his  correspondence  to  the 
close  of  his  life,  and  in  his  personal  intercourse  with 
those  he  loved,  there  is  now  a  touch  of  tenderness, 
ever  before  felt  but  now  more  freely  expressed.  As 
the  tall  figure  began  to  stoop  more  visibly,  and  the 
expressive  mouth  came  to  be  concealed  under  a  still 
more  eloquent  beard  of  venerable  whiteness,  and  the 
voice  soon  became  wearied  into  an  almost  unearthly 
whispering,  new  love  went  forth  to  one  whose  chival- 
rous simplicity  was  daily  more  marked.  The  flash 
of  the  eye  and  the  rapid  remark  told  that  there  was  no 
abatement  of  the  intellectual  force  or  the  spiritual  fire ; 
while  the  pen  was  never  more  ready  for  action  in  every 
good  cause  and  for  every  old  friend,  especially  in  the 
cause  he  had  made  his  own  all  through  life.  As  grand- 
children climbed  on  his  knees,  and  grew  up  around 
him,  at  school  and  college,  he  renewed  his  youth.  All 
children  he  delighted  in ;  with  all  he  was  a  favourite. 
Few  had  such  inner  reasons  as  he  to  rejoice  alway. 

The  deepened  solitude  of  his  life  after  1865,  into 
which  even  the  most  loving  and  sympathetic  could 
not  penetrate,  showed  itself  in  a  renewed  study  of  the 
word  of  Grod  and  of  those  master-pieces  of  theological 
literature,  practical  and  scientific,  in  which  truly  devout 
and  cultured  souls  take  refuge  from  the  ecclesiastical 
as  well  as  literary  sensationalism  of  the  day.     He  had 


^t.  64.         niS  FAVOURITE  AUTHORS.  473 

always  cultivated  the  highest  of  all  the  graces — the  grace 
of  meditation,  which  feeds  the  others.  He  increasingly- 
loved  to  muse,  shutting  himself  up  for  hours  in  his 
study,  or  retiring  for  weeks  to  a  friendly  retreat,  now 
in  the  Scottish,  now  in  the  English  lakes.  He  was 
catholic  in  his  tastes,  literary  and  theological.  He  had 
found  a  strong  impulse  in  the  works  of  Thomas  Carlyle, 
as  they  appeared,  declaring  on  one  occasion  to  the 
writer  that  no  living:  author  had  so  stimulated  him. 
He  enjoyed  the  majestic  roll  and  exquisite  English  of 
De  Quincey's  sentences,  finding  in  him,  moreover,  a 
definiteness  of  faith  and  even  dogmatic  conviction  as 
to  the  divine  source  of  all  duty  and  action  which,  like 
many  admirers  of  Carlyle,  he  hungered  for  in  the  ori- 
ginal of  "  Sartor  Resartus."  Milton  and  Cowper  were 
never  long  out  of  his  hands.  He  was  a  rapid  reader 
and  a  shrewd  and  genial  critic  of  current  literature. 
But  he  transmuted  all,  as  the  wisely  earnest  man  will 
always  do,  into  the  gold  of  his  own  profession.  The 
essayist  and  the  poet,  the  historian  and  the  politician, 
the  philosopher  and  the  theologian,  while  giving  the 
purest  pleasure  and  the  best  of  all  kinds  of  recreation 
at  the  time,  became  new  material,  literary,  ethical  and 
spiritual,  for  the  one  end  of  his  life,  the  bringing  of 
India  and  Africa  into  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  Let 
these  two  of  his  hundreds  of  letters  to  wife  and 
children  suffice  to  illustrate  the  higher  uses  of  his 
solitude.  The  first  was  addressed  to  his  daughter, 
the  second  to  a  daughter-in-law  on  the  eve  of  one  of 
those  sore  partings  which  are  the  lot  of  Anglo-Indians. 

"  Oct.  9lh,  1870.  It  is  Sabbath  evening.  I  am  alone;  and 
yet  in  a  high  and  true  sense,  not  alone — for,  oh  solemn  truth  ! 
God  is  here,  here,  to  note  the  inmost  thoughts,  feelings  and 
desires  of  the  heart.  And  what  weakness,  imperfection,  defile- 
ment must  His  pure  and  searching  eye  discern  in  them  all ! 
What  absolute  need  of  the  application  of  the  blood  that  cleanscth 


474  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1870. 

from  all  sin  !  Here,  too,  to  note  the  secret  struggles,  fears, 
hopes,  joys  of  the  soul,  under  fresh  discoveries  of  its  awful 
shortcomings^  and  yet  fresh  discoveries  too  of  the  unsearchable 
riches  of  God's  forbearance,  grace  and  love  !  Though  my 
thoughts  daily  resort  to  the  members  of  my  singularly  scattered 
family,  I  have  at  times  to-day  been  more  than  usually  affected 
in  thinking  of  them  all.  Shall  we  ever  all  meet  here  below 
again  ?  Grandfather  (grandmother  being  privileged  with 
visions  of  glory  before  us  all),  children  and  grandchildren  ! 
Oh,  it  were  to  me  a  joyous  and  a  happy  spectacle,  if  it  could 
be  realized.  But  if  not  here  below,  in  earth's  changing 
climes,  why  not  above  ?  Ah,  would  not  the  assured  prospecb 
of  that  be  unspeakably  more  joyous  and  happy  !  Then  why 
not  strive,  through  grace,  to  make  it  sure  ?  The  invitation  is 
to  all — old  and  young — sheep  and  lambs  together.  Why, 
then,  not  welcome  it  ?  Why  not  joyfully  respond  to  it  ?  Here 
it  is  compendiously  expi-essed :  *  The  Spirit  and  the  Bride  say. 
Come.  And  let  him  that  heareth  say.  Come.  And  let  him  that 
is  athirst  come.  And  whosoever  will,  let  him  take  of  the  water 
of  life  freely.'  Oh,  then,  let  all  parents  come.  And  let  them 
by  faithful  and  assiduous  instruction,  godly  consistent  example, 
and  fervent  wrestlings  in  prayer,  strive,  through  grace,  to  bring 
their  children  along  with  them  into  the  fold  of  the  Good  Shep- 
herd here  below,  that  all  hereafter  may  be  re-united  in  His 
kingdom  of  glory  above,  where  they  shall  cease  to  suffer  and 
to  sin,  but  never  cease  to  be  happy,  singing  perpetual  hal- 
lelujahs unto  Him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne  and  to  the 
Lamb  !  Amen.  Oh,  that  the  purport  of  such  a  vision  of  glory 
could  be  entertained  hopefully  by  us  all  now  !  How  it  would 
tend  to  cheer,  revive  and  animate  amid  all  the  clouds  and 
shadows,  trials  and  perplexities,  sorrows  and  anxieties  of  this 
strangely  chequered  probationary  scene  ! 

"  What  was  chiefly  in  my  mind  when  I  began  was  this — 
the  fearful  blindness,  ignorance  and  apathy  which  characterize 
our  estate  by  nature,  and  which  nature  cannot  apprehend  or 
feel,  so  as  even  faintly  to  desire  to  get  rid  of  them.  I  was 
particularly  led  to  think  of  this  subject  to-day,  from  having 
taken  up  and  read  a  small  volume,  which  was  much  esteemed 
and  read  in  my  younger  days,  but  which  of  late  years  has 
fallen  entirely  out  of  sight,  amid  the  sensational  trash  and 
trumpery  of  an  unspiritual,  materialistic,  degenerate  age.     I 


^t.  64.  HOOKER   ON    JUSTIFICATION.  475 

mean,  Scott  tlie  Coinraentalni-'s  'Force  of  Truth/  It  is  a  short 
personal  narrative  of  the  author's  state  of  mind  and  conscience, 
while  unrenewed  by  grace,  and  of  the  remarkable  series  of 
steps  and  incidents  by  which  at  length  he  became  '  a  new 
creature  in  Christ  Jesus  ^j  and,  as  all  the  world  has  long  ac- 
knowledged, one  of  the  godliest  of  saints.  The  style  of  the 
work  would,  in  this  florid,  ambitious  and  pretentious  age,  be 
reckoned  heavj^  dull  and  such-like.  But  it  is  solid,  massive 
and  fraught  with  condensed  spiritual  thought  and  experience, 
the  perusal  of  which  could  not  fail  to  interest  and  profit 
any  one  who  was  really  in  earnest  about  the  salvation  of 
his  soul.  One  principal  charm  of  the  work  consists  in  this— 
that  after  such  a  signal  example  of  God's  marvellous  forbear- 
ance and  the  power  of  Divine  grace,  no  one  need  despond. 
(Dr.  DufT  then  goes  on  to  analyse  the  work.)  Scott  was  not 
then  able  to  receive,  as  he  afterwards  fully  received,  the  fal- 
lowing statement  by  Hooker,  concerning  justification :  '  But 
the  righteousness  wherein  we  must  be  found,  if  we  will  be 
justified,  is  not  our  own  ;  therefore  we  cannot  be  justified  by 
any  inherent  quality.  Christ  hath  merited  righteousness  for 
as  many  as  are  found  in  Him.  In  Him  God  fiudeth  us  if  we 
be  faithful ;  for  by  faith  we  are  incorporated  into  Christ. 
Then,  although  in  ourselves  we  be  altogether  sinful  and  un- 
righteous, yet  even  the  man  who  is  impious  in  himself, 
full  of  iniquity,  full  of  sin;  him,  being  found  in  Christ, 
through  faith,  and  having  his  sin  remitted  through  repent- 
ance ;  him  God  upholdeth  with  a  gracious  eye,  putteth  away 
his  sin  by  not  imputing  it ;  takcth  quite  away  the  punish- 
ment due  thereunto  by  pardoning  it ;  and  accepteth  him  in 
Jesus  as  perfectly  righteous,  as  if  he  had  fulfilled  all  that 
was  commanded  him  in  the  law.  Shall  I  say,  more  perfectly 
righteous  than  if  himself  had  fulfilled  the  whole  law?  I  must 
take  heed  what  I  say ;  but  the  Apostle  saith,  "  God  made 
Him  to  be  sin  for  us  Who  knew  no  sin,  that  we  might  be 
made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  Him.*''  Such  are  we  in  the 
sight  of  God  the  Father,  as  is  the  very  Son  of  God  Himself. 
Let  it  be  counted  folly,  or  frenzy,  or  fury,  whatsoever;  it  is 
our  comfort  and  our  wisdom  ;  we  care  for  no  knowledge  in  the 
world  but  this,  that  man  hath  sinned  and  God  hutli  suffered; 
that  God  hath  made  Himself  the  Son  of  man,  and  that  men 
are  made  the  righteousness  of  God.' 


476  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1S75. 

"Scott  says,  that  if  at  that  time  he  had  met  with  such 
passages  in  the  writings  of  dissenters,  or  many  of  those  modern 
publications  which,  under  the  brand  of  methodistical,  are  con- 
demned without  reading  or  perused  with  invincible  prejudice, 
he  should  not  have  thought  them  worth  regard,  but  should  have 
rejected  them  as  wild  enthusiasm.  But,  he  says,  'I  know  that 
Hooker  was  deemed  perfectly  orthodox  and  a  standard  writer 
by  the  prelates  of  the  Church  in  his  own  days.  I  had  never 
lieard  that  it  had  been  insinuated  that  he  was  tinctured  with 
enthusiasm ;  and  the  solidity  of  his  judgment  and  acuteness 
of  his  reasoning  faculties  needed  no  voucher  to  the  attentive 
reader.  His  opinion,  therefore,  carried  great  weight  with  it ; 
made  me  suspect  the  truth  of  my  former  sentiments,  and  put 
me  upon  serious  inquiries  and  deep  meditation  upon  this 
subject,  accompanied  with  earnest  prayers  for  the  teaching  and 
direction  of  the  Lord  therein/  The  result  ultimately  was,  that, 
'after  many  objections  and  doubts,  and  much  examination  of 
the  word  of  God,'  he  came  wholly  to  accede  to  Mr.  Hooker's 
sentiments  on  justification  and  all  other  vital  doctrines. 

"I  have  felt  that  I  could  not  have  been  better  engaged  during 
a  portion  of  the  evening  of  the  day  of  hallowed  rest  than  in 
copying  the  preceding  precious  extracts — in  connection  with 
the  remarkable  autobiography  of  so  eminent  a  man  as  Scott, 
the  Commentator,  In  your  own  case  they  will  simply  and 
happily  tend  to  confirm  scriptural  truths  with  which  you  have 
long  been  familiar.  The  perusal  of  them  may  also  be  found 
useful  in  the  case  of  any  friend  or  acquaintance,  whose  soul 
may  have  never  been  agitated  by  the  tempest  of  conviction 
under  an  overwhelming  sense  of  the  inflexible  demands  of 
God's  violated  law,  so  as  to  be  constrained  in  agony  to  cry, 
'  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ? '  or  experienced  the  transports 
of  joy,  security  and  rest,  in  the  peaceful  haven  of,  '  Believe  on 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ' — Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified,  as 
He  is  freely  oft'ered  in  the  gospel — '  and  thou  shalt  be  saved !'  " 

"30^/i  Aug.,  1875. — To-morrow  is  likely  to  prove  to  you 
both,  as  parents,  one  of  the  most  trying  in  your  married  life, 
more  particularly  to  you,  as  a  mother  has  peculiar  feelings 
towards  '  the  infant  whom  she  bore,'  with  which  even  a  father 
cannot  well  intermeddle.  To-morrow,  as  I  understand,  you 
are  to  part  with  your  five  chiklren.     And  though  it  be  not, 


ALt.  69.  ON    ANGLO-INDIAN    PARTIXG.S.  477 

tliank  God,  for  an  indefinite  period,  yet  for  a  period  lonj^ 
enougli  to  impart  a  wrench  to  natural  feelings.  I  desire,  there- 
fore, to  mingle  my  own  sympnthies  with  your  intenser  emotions 
on  the  occasion.  Well  do  I  remember  still  a  similar  parting 
and  separation  as  far  back  as  thirty-six  years  ago,  at  the  close 
of  1839,  when  my  dear  partner  (than  whom  there  never  was  a 
tenderer  and  more  aflfectionute  mother)  deliberately,  and  on 
principle,  made  up  her  mind,  as  an  act  of  duty  under  the 
over-ruling  providence  of  God,  to  parfc  with  four  children — the 
youngest  your  own  husband,  a  lovely  and  captivating  infant 
of  only  eleven  months  old.  In  connection  with  the  vocation 
to  which  God  had  called  me  I  felt  it  to  be  my  duty  to  return 
to  India ;  she,  as  a  faithful  wife,  felt  it  to  be  her  duty  to 
accompany  me.  Having  been  in  India,  she  was  keenly  alive 
to  the  peculiar  difficulties  connected  with  climate,  native 
servants,  etc.,  in  training  children.  Her  mind,  therefore, 
was  made  up,  however  sore  and  bitter  the  trial,  to  parfc  with 
her  children  for  the  sake  of  their  real  benefit,  if  only  a  fitting 
home  could  be  found  for  them.  The  separation,  in  our  case, 
proved  to  be  for  eleven  years  ! 

"Now,  my  dearest,  it  may  tend  to  mitigate  though  it  can- 
not annihilate  the  pain  of  parting  with  your  dear  ones,  when 
you  reflect  on  the  exceeding  goodness  of  God  in  providing  for 
them  such  a  home  as  they  will  have  with  tender,  loving,  and 
judicious  relatives.  There  are  singularly  mitigating  circum- 
stances under  the  unavoidable  painfulncss  of  the  situation, 
circumstances  which  I  have  no  doubt  will  evoke  from  your 
sensitive  motherly  heart  feelings  and  corresponding  expres- 
sions of  gratitude  to  the  great  God,  from  Whom  cometh  down 
'every  good  and  perfect  gift/  whether  temporal  or  spiritual; 
circumstances  which,  I  trust,  will  enable  you  at  parting  to 
mingle  a  joyous  cheerfulness  with  the  inward  experiences  of 
natural  heart-sadness;  and  which  will  enable  you  too,  not 
only  bravely  and  in  faith  to  bear  up  under  the  trial,  but  even 
to  speak  words  of  cheering  to  the  dear  children,  though  it  may 
be  amid  a  flood  of  tears — nature's  grand  outlet  and  relief  for 
the  burden  of  nature's  sorrows — on  either  side. 

*'  Regard  it  all  as  the  overruling  of  a  good  and  gracious  God, 
who  evermore,  in  Cowper's  beautiful  words, — 

'  Behind  a  frowning  Providence 
Hides  a  smilino;  face.' 


478  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1875. 

"  This  temporary  parting  is  only  part  of  tlie  cross  whicli 
you  have  to  bear;  and  if  borne  in  the  self-denying,  elevating 
Chinstian  spirit,  will  yield  you  a  reversion  of  blessings.  We 
all  would  naturally  cleave  to  our  own  individual  likings ;  for- 
getting that  the  grandeur  of  a  living  faith,  a  realizing  trust  in 
God,  consists  in  our  readiness  to  shape  and  mould  our  likings 
in  entire  accordance  with  His  holy  will,  and  in  entire  con- 
sistency with  the  obvious  requirements  of  duty.  The  present 
life  is  designedly  one  of  trial  or  probation,  in  which  souls  are 
trained  and  disciplined  for  glory.  It  is  therefore  a  mixture  of 
light  and  darkness,  clouds  and  shadows,  pains  and  consolations, 
or  a  constant  alternating  interchange  of  these.  The  grand 
thing,  then,  is  to  find  out  the  true  Refuge — Christ — and  to 
betake  oneself  wholly  and  absolutely  to  it,  so  as  to  be  able 
intelligently,  sweetly  and  confidently  to  appropriate,  as  one^s 
own,  the  words  of  such  well-known  and  favourite  hymns 
as  '  Rock  of  Ages,^  '  Jesus,  Lover  of  my  soul,'  etc.  It  is 
confidence  in  an  almighty,  all-willing,  all-loving  Saviour, 
which  will  strengthen  the  soul  for  all  the  contingencies,  vicissi- 
tudes and  trials  of  life;  and  inspire  with  abounding  confidence 
in  the  midst  of  them  all ;  yea,  and  enable  one  to  take  up  and 
triumphantly  appropriate  'the  exceeding  great  and  precious' 
promises  of  such  a  Psalm  as  the  91st,  and  other  porcions  of 
Scripture,  which  are  all  'yea,  and  amen'  in  Christ,  and,  being 
Christ's,  become  the  true  believer's  heritage. 

"  It  is  a  great  matter  to  arrange  for  keeping  up  a  frank, 
lively  and  constant  correspondence  with  the  children.  No 
rigid  or  systematic  rule  on  this  subject  can  be  laid  down. 
But,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  perhaps  the  best  and  most 
likely  way  of  permanently  sustaining  correspondence  may  be, 
not  for  the  children  to  write  spasmodically,  by  fits  and  starts, 
or  for  two  or  three  of  them  to  write  by  the  same  mail,  but  for 
one  to  write  regularly  each  successive  week.  In  this  way  the 
turn  of  each  would  come  round  in  about  once  every  month.  In 
this  way  the  period  of  one's  turn  to  write  would  be  looked  for- 
ward to  as  an  event ;  for  which  materials  would  be  found  from 
lessons,  or  domestic  matters,  or  incidents  in  the  course  of  the 
daily  walk,  and  thus  encourage  the  development  and  exercise  of 
the  faculty  of  observation.  For  this  latter  I  wish  that  the  old 
children's  work  '  Evenings  at  Home '  could  be  got ;  as  in  it  are 
some  effective  stories,  and  one  which  made  a  deep  impression 
en  my  own  mind  when  a  boy,  '  Eyes  and  No  Eyes.' 


^t.  69.  THE    TOIL    OF    HIS    LATER    YEARS.  479 

"  111  spirit  I  shall  bo  with  you  and  yours  daily.  And  lioro  [ 
may  be  forgiven  f(ir  telling  you  what  I  have  never  told  any  ono 
else  before,  either  orally  or  in  writing,  viz.,  that  for  years  past, 
as  I  am  a  wakeful  sleeper  and  am  always  awake  long  before 
the  usual  hour  for  rising  (six  o'clock),  my  habit  has  been  in- 
vai'iably  to  remember  in  ray  meditations  and  prayers  on  my 
bed  all  those,  separately  and  collectively,  who  are  nearest  and 
dearest  to  mo,  including  of  course  yourself  and  W.  and  tho 
dear  children.  This  does  not  preclude  ray  remembering  them 
at  other  times  as  well;  but  from  this  invariable  practice  of 
mine,  all  are  sure  to  be  remembered  in  my  humble  supplica- 
tions at  least  once  every  day.  Will  you  both  kindly  not  forget 
me  in  your  daily  approaches  to  a  throne  of  grace  !  And  may 
Jehovah's  banner  over  you  all  be  love." 

The  University  session  of  each  year  after  his  ap- 
pointment as  Professor  of  Evangelistic  Theology  was 
a  period  of  unusual  toil  and  even  hardship  to  Dr.  Daff. 
Besides  the  often  harassing  and  always  anxious  cares 
arising  from  his  management  of  the  foreign  office  of 
his  Church,  and  the  multitudinous  calls  of  committees, 
societies,  and  other  organizations,  which,  while  neces- 
sary for  average  men,  are  often  obstructive  to  the 
experienced,  he  had  to  discharge  his  college  duties  in 
the  three  cities  of  Edinburgh,  Glasgow,  and  Aberdeen 
successively.  At  the  last  two  he  found  a  temporary 
home  with  the  venerable  widow  of  his  old  friend.  Dr. 
Lorimer,  and  with  Princi[)al  Lumsden  or  his  brother. 
Much  travelling  in  a  Scottish  winter  and  spring,  after 
the  extremes  of  Bengal,  was  not  favourable  either  to 
comfort  or  health.  Hardly  had  April  set  him  free  from 
lecturing,  when  May  brought  on  the  fatigues  of  the 
General  Assembly.  After  that  he  would  flee,  not  for 
rest  but  for  solitude  in  his  work,  to  the  friendly  shades 
now  of  Auchendennan  then  of  Patterdale.  Or  he 
would  gratify  the  Anglo-Indian  crave  for  travel  by  a 
tour  on  the  continent,  out  of  the  beaten  track  and 
alone,  till  the  "  commission  "  of  Assembly  called  hin^ 
back  in  the  middle  of  August. 


480  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1869. 

In  no  home,  after  liis  wife's  deatli,  was  he  so  happy 
as  in  that  of  George  Martin,  Esq.,  of  Auchendennan. 
It  was  not  only  that  he  was  embosomed  in  the  natural 
beauties  of  Loch  Lomond,  living  on  its  southern  shores, 
gazing  every  hour  of  the  day  at  its  mighty  Ben,  visit- 
ing its  wooded  islands,  or  strolling  through  gardens 
in  which  art  has  only  revealed  the  luxuriant  beauty  of 
nature.  Nor  was  it  only  that  he  felt  himself  in  his 
native  Highlands,  and  became  once  more  the  friend  of 
every  peasant  on  the  estate,  ministering  to  them  in  the 
hall  on  the  Sabbath  evening,  and  winning  them  by  his 
familiar  gentleness  in  his  walks,  so  that,  when  he  left 
them  each  year,  they  congregated  of  their  own  accord 
to  bid  him  a  farewell  of  which  a  monarch  might  have 
been  proud.  He  found  in  his  hostess  and  host  that 
perfection  of  Christian  hospitality  which  leaves  each 
guest  alone  within  the  simplest  regulations  of  the 
household,  yet  gathers  all  together  in  the  loving  circle 
of  social  and  spiritual  sympathies.  Hence  such  lan- 
guage as  this  in  his  letters,  especially  in  the  earliest, 
written  eiQ:hteen  months  after  his  wife's  death  :  Ever 
since  "  I  have  felt  keenly  that  I  have  no  longer  a  home 
in  this  world  below.  But  in  the  bosom  of  your  family 
I  really  experienced  somewhat  of  the  indescribable 
genial  glow  that  made  me  feel  as  if  once  more  at 
home."  Again,  on  the  second  day  of  1869,  "  In  my- 
self I  only  feel  conscious  of  endless  shortcomings,  so 
that  my  refuge  is  in  1   John  i.   8-9,  and  the    latter 

clause  of  verse  7."     "  The  text  quoted  by (Isaiah 

1.  10)  was  the  passage  of  Scripture  which  first  gave 
me  relief,  after  months  of  darkness  and  despondency, 
one  summer  after  I  had  become  a  student  of  theology." 
After  being  nursed  through  a  painful  illness  in 
Auchendennan,  he  wrote,  "  Humanly  speaking,  from 
the  peculiar  state  of  my  health,  I  would  not  have  been 
able  to  carry  on  ray  official  duties  in  the  college  (Glas- 


^:t.  63.  AT   PATTERDALE.  4ST 

gow)  had  it  uot  been  for  sucli  a  refuge  from  the  wear 
and  tear  of  city  life." 

As  Auchendennan  was  his  spring  retreat,  the  old 
hotel  at  Patterdalo  generally  found  him  its  occupant 
before  the  end  of  June.  For  eight  years  he  found 
there  a  quiet  spot,  not  too  far  from  his  office  in  Edin- 
burgh, and  yet  removed  from  solicitations  to  preach 
and  speak  and  work  in  public.  The  rooms  looking  out 
on  the  garden  and  the  water  came  to  be  regarded  as 
his  ;  and  there  he  was  rather  the  honoured  guest  than 
the  ordinary  visitor.  The  stream  of  tourists  every 
season  passed  by  the  quaint,  comfortable  house  for  the 
new  hotel,  leaving  him  to  its  sequestered  delights, 
broken  in  upon  only  occasionally  by  a  friend.  There 
he  found  leisure  for  the  arrears  of  correspondence 
which  the  College  and  the  General  Assembly  had  piled 
up,  and  calm  to  meditate  new  enterprises  for  his 
Master.  When  the  afternoon  post  hour  set  him  free  ho 
gave  the  summerevening  hours  to  rambles  and  musings 
amid  the  glories  of  Ulleswater  and  Helvellyn.  Walk- 
ing up  Birk  Fell  or  Place  Fell  to  the  slate  quarry  from 
which  the  lake  is  best  seen,  roaming  among  the  woods 
of  Patterdale  Hall  courteously  opened  to  him  at  all 
times,  chatting  to  the  people  in  the  village  who  learned 
to  love  him,  or  examining  and  giving  his  own  prizes 
to  the  school,  he  was  ever  the  same  kindly  old  man, 
who  half  awed,  half  drew  the  little  ones,  while  he 
lifted  the  old  to  a  higher  level  of  thought  and  feeling. 
Official  entries  in  the  visitors'  book  of  the  school,  the 
chatter  of  the  children  and  the  talk  of  their  parents, 
and  not  a  few  most  pathetic  letters  among  his  papers 
from  both,  tell  of  a  life  of  simple  invigoration  to 
himself  and  beneficence  to  all  around.  Once  when 
residing  at  Patterdale,  more  than  six  moutlis  after  the 
loss  of  his  voice  during  the  May  meetings,  he  rode  up 
Helvellyn  and  walked  over  Striding  Edge  at  the  most 
VOL.    II.  I  I 


482  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1872. 

dangerous  part  of  the  ridge.  In  tlie  evangelical  services 
of  the  little  church  of  Patterdale  he  was  a  grateful 
worshipper.  Much  travel  and  knowledge  of  Christ  and 
of  his  own  heart  had  given  him,  while  ever  an  earnest 
Presbyterian  in  secondary  matters,  a  true  catholicity 
in  all  essentials.  "  We  all  pray  you  may  long  be  spared 
to  visit  us  and  to  bless  children  in  many  lands — God 
bless  you,"  is  the  closing  sentence  of  an  acknowledg- 
ment of  his  annual  gifts  to  the  school,  by  one  of  the 
children  in  the  midsummer  of  1872. 

But  the  Anglo-Indian  has  no  friends  like  those  who 
have,  by  his  side,  fought  the  battles  of  Christ  and  of 
civilization  in  the  East.  With  many  such  Dr.  Duff's 
correspondence  was  regular,  free  and  full.  In  the 
year  after  his  wife's  death  the  Indian  telegraph — so 
often  the  messenger  of  unforeseen  disaster — flashed  the 
news  of  the  sudden  disappearance  of  Bishop  Cotton  in 
the  treacherous  waters  of  the  Ganges,  on  his  j-eturn 
to  his  barge  in  the  darkness  after  consecrating  the 
cemetery  of  Kooshtea.  That  Scotland,  where  the 
greatest  of  the  Metropolitans  of  India  was  little  known, 
might  learn  what  sort  of  standard-bearer  in  the  one 
army  of  the  Evangel  he  was  who  had  thus  fallen,  Dr. 
Duff  published  in  the  official  Record  of  his  Church 
an  eloge  of  rare  tenderness  and  intensity  as  used  of 
one  ecclesiastic  by  another  of  a  different  organisation. 
"  It  was,"  he  wrote,  "  the  felicity  of  the  writer  of  these 
lines  to  enjoy  the  intimate  friendship  and  fellowship  of 
the  last  three  of  the  Metropolitan  Bishops  of  India — 
Turner,  Wilson,  and  Cotton ;  while,  from  their  me- 
moirs and  the  revelations  of  personal  friends,  he  had 
become  familiar  with  the  lives  and  characters  of  the 
first  three — Middleton,  Heber,  and  James.  He  has, 
therefore,  no  hesitation  in  saying  that,  in  many  re- 
spects. Bishop  Cotton  was  greater  tlian  the  greatest  of 
his  predecessors.     It  is  true  that,  in  the  development 


^t.  66.  THE  METliOrOLITANS  OF    INDIA — BISHOr  COTTON.    483 

of  some  one  talent  or  faculty,  and  in  the  culture  of 
some  one  department  of  literature,  science,  or  theology, 
he  might  have  been  surpassed  by  one  or  another  of 
them.  But  it  was  his  happy  lot  to  possess,  in  fair 
measure  and  proportion,  some  of  the  distinguishing 
excellencies  of  them  all,  unaccompanied  by  any  of 
those  countervailing  qualities  which  might  tend  to 
neutralize  their  force  or  mar  their  brilliancy.  He  had 
the  strong,  masculine  judgment,  the  ripe,  classical 
scholarship,  the  legislative  and  organistic  faculty  of 
Middleton ;  the  gentle,  kindly,  amiable,  conciliatory 
manners  of  Heber ;  the  calm,  quiet,  practical  sense  of 
James  and  Turner;  the  warm  attachment  and  love  for 
the  essential  verities  of  the  evangelical  system  which 
distinguished  "Wilson.  But,  in  his  case,  he  was  learned 
and  scholarly  without  pride  or  pedantry  ;  firm  and 
determined  in  the  maintenance  of  what  he  believed  to 
be  right,  without  arrogance  or  dogmatism ;  calm,  for- 
bearing and  placid  in  his  temperament,  without  that 
impotence  of  will  or  general  forcelessness  of  character 
which  might  betray  him  into  undue  compliances ;  sin- 
cere and  unaffected  in  his  piety,  without  that  impetuous 
fervour  which  might  hurry  him  into  unadvised  utter- 
ances, or  untoward  courses  of  action.  In  his  religious 
sentiments  he  was  tolerant  and  charitable,  without 
latitudinarianism  ;  orthodox,  without  rancour  or  bigo- 
try. Too  conscientious  and  enlightened  to  stoop  to 
any  unworthy  compromise,  he  was  ever  temperate, 
ever  deferential  to  the  opinions  of  others — respecting 
their  liberty  of  conscience,  and  right,  under  responsi- 
bility to  God,  of  judging  in  all  matters  for  themselves. 
Sincerely  devoted  to  the  principles,  the  order  and 
government  of  his  own  Church,  he  yet  breathed  that 
spirit  of  true  Christian  charity  wdiich  could  hail  mem- 
bers of  all  the  evangelical  Churches  as  brethren  in  the 
Lord.     Hence  the  truthful  remark  of  the  correspondent 


484  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1870, 

of  tlie  Thti  Times,  that,  '  wliile  advancing  tlie  interests 
of  the  Clmrcli  of  England  in  India,  he  had  the  happy 
art  of  winning  the  confidence  of  all  sects  of  Christians, 
so  that,  more  than  any  of  those  "who  preceded  him,  he 
was  the  bishop,  not  of  his  own  people  only,  but  of  all 
Christian  men.'" 

Still  more  keenly  did  Dr.  Duff  feel  the  almost  equally 
sudden  and  no  less  lamentable  death  of  his  companion 
in  his  first  voyage  to  India,  Henry  Durand.  Notwith- 
standing the  coldness,  the  opposition,  the  misrepre- 
sentations of  self-seeking  officials  and  the  defenders 
of  administrative  or  political  abuses,  Durand  had 
risen  to  be  Lieutenaut-Grovernor  of  the  Punjab.  It 
was  left  to  Lord  Mayo,  tardily,  to  confer  on  him  the 
ofiice  which  Lord  Canning  would  have  given  to  the 
Christian  soldier,  the  righteous  statesman,  the  im- 
placable foe  of  wrong-doing.  The  whole  Indian  empire 
was  rejoicing,  for  its  own  sake,  when  at  the  opening  of 
1871,  on  the  very  frontier  which  he  would  have  guarded 
from  the  follies  of  later  times,  this  best  representative 
of  the  Percies  was  struck  down  in  the  discharge  of 
duty.*  On  learning  Durand's  appointment,  Dr.  Duff 
thus  had  written  to  him.  Sir  Henry's  remark  to  the 
present  writer,  on  receiving  the  epistle,  was  that, 
compared  with  Duff's  career  for  others,  his  life  had 
been  but  "  a  flash  in  the  pan." 

"  Harrow-on-the-Hill,  24<th  June,  1870. 

"  My  Dear  Sir  Henry, — After  an  absence  of  three  months 
in  Syria,  whither  I  had  gone  on  a  special  mission  of  inquiry,  I 
returned  last  evening  to  this  place,  where  my  daughter  and 
family  reside,  in  eight  days  from  Constantinople,  including  a 
sojourn  of  two  days  in  Pesth — such  are  the  faciHties  of  travel 
in  these  latter  days.     Owing  to  my  being  chiefly  in  postlcss 

*  See  his  son's  sketch  in  the  introduction  to  the  distinguished 
Engineer  oflficer's  First  Afghan  War  and  its  Causes,  1879. 


^t.  64.  SIB   HENRY    DUUAND.  485 

regions,  as  well  as  the  uncertainty  of  my  movements,  I  was  for 
nearly  two  months  without  letters  or  papers  from  home  or 
friends,  so  that  on  arrival  hei-e  I  hail  almost  everything  to 
learn.  One  of  the  first  items  communicated  was  that  ot"  your 
appointment  to  the  Punjab.  Need  1  say  with  what  heartfelt 
joy  the  communication  was  received  ?  Hundreds  of  con- 
gratulations will,  I  am  sure,  bo  showered  in  upon  you,  all  of 
them  1  doubt  not  sincere ;  but  from  no  one  will  any  one  of 
them  have  come,  flowing  from  a  more  warmly  attached  heart 
than  mine,  or  from  a  more  sincere  and  intense  admiration  of 
great  talents,  linked  with  high-toned  Christian  principle,  un- 
bending rectitude  and  pure  patriotic  unselfish  motives.  This, 
my  dear  old,  and  I  may  even  add,  almost  life-long  friend,  is 
not  vain  flattery ;  God  knows  it  is  otherwise.  It  is  only  a 
feeble  expression  of  the  profound  conviction  of  my  head  and 
heart.  And  being  a  truthful  expression  so  far  as  it  goes,  I 
cannot,  in  the  very  interest  of  truth  and  honesty,  withhold  it. 
I  say,  '  so  far  as  it  goes,'  because  were  I  writing  of  you  to 
another,  and  not  to  yourself,  I  could  and  would  say  much  more 
in  the  same  strain.  Few,  if  any,  had  the  same  opportunities 
as  I  have  enjoyed  of  knowing  the  extraordinary  nature  of  the 
trials,  opposition,  and  obloquy  to  which,  in  the  Aristides-liko 
resolution  to  discharge  duty,  wholly  irrespective  of  personal 
consequences,  you  have  been  subjected;  your  noble,  heroic 
Christian  bearing  and  demeanour  under  them  all.  And  what 
I  strongly  felt  I  have  often  strongly  spoken — and  that  too,  at 
times,  in  high  places  and  before  high  personages.  And  let 
me  say  that,  from  my  general  confidence  in  the  overruliugs  of 
a  righteous  Providence,  I  never  did  despair  of  something  like 
justice  being  done  to  you  some  day,  sooner  or  later.  This 
conviction  of  mine  I  have  also  been  often  led  to  express  ;  and 
now  with  my  whole  heart  I  thank  the  God  of  Providence  for 
having  put  it  into  the  hearts  of  those  in  high  places  (however 
unconsciously  on  their  part)  to  fulfil  His  righteous  purposes 
and  behests.  In  the  case  of  any  tried  one,  like  yourself,  who 
in  the  main  has  put  his  trust  in  the  Lord,  I  have  never  yet 
failed  to  note,  at  one  time  or  other,  and  in  one  way  or  other, 
the  verification  of  the  precious  words  of  the  Psalmist :  '  Trust 
in  the  Lord  and  do  good;  so  shalt  thou  dwell  in  the  land,  and 
verily  thou  shalt  be  fed.  Delight  thyself  also  in  the  Lord, 
and  He  shall  give  thee  the  desires  of  thine  heart.     Commit 


486  LlIE    or   DR.    DUFF.  1 871. 

thy  way  unto  tlie  Loi'd;  trust  also  in  HiiU;  and  He  shall  bring 
it  to  pass,  and  He  shall  bring  forth  thy  righteousness  as  the 
light,  and  thy  judgment  as  the  noon-day/  Putting  your 
trust,  therefore,  in  the  Lord,  as  in  times  past,  go  on,  dear 
friend,  go  on ;  and  may  it  be  seen  in  the  issue  that  the  disci- 
pline and  preparation  of  forty  years  of  varied  trial  have  been 
mercifully  ordained  only  to  ensure  a  consummation  of  blessed 
fruitfulness  during  your  five  years'  government  of  the  Punjab  ! 
"This  being  Indian  mail-day  here,  I  have  snatched  a  few 
moments  to  convey,  at  the  earliest  possible  date  for  me,  my 
warmest  and  most  heartfelt  congratulations  on  your  high  and 
noble  and  well-earned  appointment  to  the  government  of  the 
country  of  the  five  rivers.  Yours,  with  sincerest  esteem  and 
much  affection,  "Alexander  Ddfp." 


"The  Grange,  Edinburgh,  January  hth,  1871. 

"  My  Dear  Lady  Durand, — How  can  I  sufficiently  thauk  you 
for  your  deeply  affecting  note  of  yesterday^s  date  !  Yours 
truly  is  sorrow  of  a  peculiar  kind,  into  which  no  one  else  can 
adequately  enter.  But  my  sorrow,  I  assure  you,  is  such  that 
I  cannot  express  it.  That  dear,  pi-ecious,  revered,  beloved 
friend,  whose  rare  and  sterling  qualities,  in  their  earliest  bud- 
dings, I  could  not  but  discern  on  boai'd  the  vessel  in  which  we 
were  both  wrecked,  in  our  first  voyage  to  India ;  whose  noble 
career  I  could  not  then  help  predicting,  and  continued  to  watch 
with  growing  interest  till  it  culminated  in  his  appointment  to 
the  governorship  of  the  Punjab — gone  !  as  regards  this  world, 
no  more  to  be  seen,  conferred  with,  or  written  to  !  I  cannot 
yet  realize  it.  Gone,  too,  at  a  crisis  when  India  most  needed 
the  services  of  such  a  man — a  man  of  such  eminent  talents 
and  accomplishments,  such  multiplied  experiences  in  civil  and 
military  affairs,  such  sagacity  in  counsel  and  resolute  determi- 
nation in  execution,  and  above  all  such  inflexible  integrity  and 
disinterestedness  in  every  position  and  relationship  of  life. 
All,  all,  as  I  do  believe,  founded  on  and  cemented  by  '  the  fear 
of  God '  in  the  true  scriptural  sense  of  that  expression.  How 
mysterious,  to  our  poor  narrow  conceptions,  the  removal  of 
such  a  man  at  such  a  time  as  this  ! 

"  Yesterday  morning  at  breakfast  our  first  post  was  de- 
livered.    My  only  daughter  who  is   with  me  at  present  on  a 


^t.  65.  DEATH    OP    SIR   ITENRT    DURAND.  487 

short  visit  from  Glasgow,  began  to  read  a  letter  from  her 
husband^  in  the  middle  of  which  was  the  remark,  '  How  sliocked 
your  father  will  be  to  hear  of  the  death  of  Sir  Henry  Durand.' 
'  What ! '  I  could  not  help  crying  out  in  the  anguish  of  my 
spirit.  '  What!  Read  that  again.'  She  read  it  again,  and  all 
that  could  be  added  was  that  the  intelligence  had  reached  by 
telegram.  Well  I  was  not  only  stunned,  but  could  not  help 
bursting  into  tears ;  and  when  I  somewhat  recovered,  my  first 
remark  was,  '  Well,  ajiart  from  sorrow  at  the  loss  of  one  of 
.the  truest  and  best  of  friends,  in  him  India  has  lost  the 
greatest,  wisest,  ablest  and  most  upright  of  her  public  men — 
a  loss,  at  this  crisis,  really  greater  than  if  it  had  been  the  death 
of  the  Governoi'-Geueral  that  was  reported.' 

"■  Excuse  mo  for  entering  into  these  little  details — my  own 
heart  is  so  full  of  it  that  I  can  scarcely  think  of  anything  else. 
Into  the  higher  and  more  spiritual  views  of  the  subject  I  now 
refrain  from  entering.  But  my  fervent  prayer  has  been,  is,  and 
will  be  that  you  may  be  mightily  upheld,  and  sustained  in  this 
trying  hour,  by  the  consolation  of  God's  Holy  Spirit,  which 
alone  can  truly  comfort  and  satisfy.  May  He  who  so  tenderly 
condescends  to  call  Himself  the  Father  of  the  fatherless  and  the 
Husband  of  the  widow,  be  with  you  and  yours.  And  may 
grace  be  vouchsafed,  even  in  the  midst  of  your  crushing  sor- 
row, to  enable  you  to  say  in  faith  and  humble  resignation, 
'  Even  so.  Father,  for  so  it  seemeth  good  in  Thy  sight.'  If  I 
w^ere  at  all  within  your  reach,  speedily  would  I  find  my  way  to 
mingle  my  condolences  with  your  great  sorrow  in  person." 

To  tbe  day  of  his  death  ho  continued  to  be  the 
affectionate  counsellor  of  Lady  Durand  and  her  children. 
Very  similar  was  his  relation  to  the  Dowager  Countess 
of  Aberdeen  and  the  Gordon  family.  We  have  seen 
this  on  its  missionary  side.  Lady  Polwarth  and  Lady 
Balfour  still  recall  the  pleasure  with  which,  as  children, 
they  hailed  his  visits  to  Haddo  House  because  of  his 
bright  and  kindly  treatment  of  them  and  his  loving 
counsels. 

In  the  spring  of  1871,  when  they  were  residing  in 
Edinburgh,  Lady  Aberdeen  informs  us,  Dr.  Duff  "took 


488  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1875. 

the  two  little  girls  to  see  the  Castle,  Mons  Meg,  etc.,  and 
afterwards  down  through  the  old  town  to  the  '  Heart 
of  Mid  Lothian,'  John  Knox's  house,  Haddo's  Hole 
and  other  places  of  interest.  All  of  these  he  described 
to  them  in  a  way  they  could  understand,  and  they 
came  home  delighted  with  their  expedition.  On  an- 
other occasion,  when  I  was  of  the  party,  Dr.  Duff  went 
with  us  round  the  Queen's  Drive,  and  though  far  from 
well  at  the  time  he  insisted  on  walking  with  us  up  to- 
a  particular  spot  where  there  was  a  remarkable  echo. 
He  could  not  find  it  just  at  first,  and  climbed  eagerly 
up  and  down  till  he  came  upon  the  exact  place.  As 
his  own  voice  was  not  strong  enough  to  bring  out  the 
double  echo  to  full  advantage,  he  called  our  servant  up 
and  made  him  repeat  the  sentences  he  dictated,  to  the 
extreme  amusement  of  the  whole  party.  He  seemed 
tired  after  we  returned  to  the  carriage,  but  recovered 
in  a  few  minutes,  and  the  rest  of  the  drive  was  spent 
in  listening  to  his  ever  interesting  and  eloquent  con- 
versation." 

To  such  correspondents,  and  to  many  others  whom 
he  had  first  pointed  to  peace  in  Christ  and  joy  in  the 
Holy  Ghost,  his  spiritual  counsels  are  still  too  sacred 
for  publication.  To  native  converts  and  Hindoo 
students  his  letters  were  frequent.  One  whom  he 
had  baptized  in  1847  and  had  given  to  another  mission, 
tells  him  in  1875  how  some  of  his  other  spiritual  sons 
are  scattered  in  the  Punjab,  passing  on  the  torch  of 
truth  which  he  had  put  in  their  hands.  There  is 
hardly  an  annual  report  of  any  evangelical  mission  in 
the  wide  extent  of  Northern  India  which  does  not 
record  the  spiritual  harvest  now  being  reaped  by  his 
ordained  converts.  In  that  of  the  Board  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United  States,  for  1878, 
we  find  the  Rev.  Goluk  Nath,  long  in  spiritual  charge 
of   Jhelundur,  and   his    son-in-law,    the    Rev.    K.    0. 


/Et.  69.  HIS    CONVEliTS    AND   THEIR    CONVERTS.  489 

Chatteijoa,  of  Iloshiarpore.     This  note  of  Dr.  Duffs 
explains  the  significant  fact. 

"  Yes  ;  that  was  a  most  seasonable  and  remarkable 
document  from  Jhelundur.  I  trust  it  has  been  allowed 
to  carry  its  proper  weight  with  it.  Goluk  Nath  got 
his  first  knowledge  and  impression  of  Christianity  in 
our  Calcutta  Institution — left  us  with  his  head  full  of 
knowledge,  but  his  heart  devoid  of  grace ;  fell  in  witli 
my  beloved  son  in  the  gospel,  Gopeenath  Nundi,  in 
the  North  West ;  and  nnder  his  further  teaching, 
became  a  convert  to  the  faith  of  Jesus  and  was  baptized. 
He  has,  on  the  whole,  rendered  great  and  important 
services  to  the  cause  of  Christ  in  the  Punjab.  God  be 
praised  for  it  all !  " 

One  Christian  Brahman  is  in  Bhawulpore,  one  in 
Delhi  college,  one  a  Government  engineer  at  XJmballa, 
one  in  the  Mission  at  Moradabad,  one  in  that  at  Saha- 
runpore,  two  in  that  at  Umritsur,  one  in  that  at 
Lahore,  one  in  the  Government  school  at  Goojrat,  one 
in  the  Mission  school  at  Goojranwala,  and  one  in  the 
Government  school  at  Mooltan.  "  They  are  all,  with 
the  blessing  of  God,  doing  well.  I  shall  feel  greatly 
obliged  by  one  of  your  photographs,  *Dr.  Duff  as  he  is 
in  his  seventieth  year,'  "  wrote  one.  What  vistas  such 
facts  as  these  open  up,  alike  of  the  influence  which 
Dr.  Duff  and  his  system  have  exercised  in  the  past, 
and  of  the  growth  from  the  one  foundation  of  the  one 
Church  of  India. 

On  other  public  only  less  than  on  missionary 
questions  did  Dr.  Duff  keejD  up  a  correspondence  to 
the  last.  From  Palermo,  Colonel  Henry  Yule,  C.B., 
now  of  the  Council  of  India,  writes  to  him  on  the 
Bengal  Famine  on  the  last  day  of  1873  :  "  This  is  a 
time  of  great  anxiety  to  all  old  Indians  watching  this 
dark  cloud  of  famine  over  Bengal.  The  great  interest 
in  the  subject  shown  by  The  Times  it  is  a  satisfaction 


490  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1875 

to  see.  I  only  at  rare  intervals  see  the  Friend  of  India 
now,  generally  when  my  friend  Colonel  Maclagan  sends 
me  a  number.  The  paper  seems  as  good  or  better 
than  I  remember  it  for  many  years."  To  a  congratu- 
latory letter  from  Dr.  Duff,  Sir  Henry  S.  Maine  re- 
plied : 

"  It  gave  me  very  sincere  pleasure  that  you,  whose 
services  to  India  so  vastly  exceed  mine  in  dignity  and 
amount,  should  feel  yourself  able  to  apply  to  me  the 
language  you  have  employed.  I  heard  of  you  the 
other  day  from  a  former  acquaintance  of  mine  and  old 
friend  of  my  wife's.  Dr.  H.  Bonar,  and  I  gathered 
from  him  that  you  are  still  unremitting  in  your  labours 
for  the  country  to  which  you  have  given  so  much  of 
your  life.  A  good  deal  which  is  now  going  on  in 
India  must  be  interesting  and  gratifying  to  you.  The 
admission  now  tacitly  made  by  the  Government,  that  it 
has  fostered  a  too  artificial  system  of  education,  and 
has  done  too  little  for  the  education  of  the  people,  is,  I 
think,  in  conformity  with  views  you  have  long  held. 
You  will  be  glad,  too,  to  hear  that  the  Act  of  mine,  in 
which  I  perhaps  took  more  interest  than  any  other — 
the  Native  Converts'  Re-marriage  Act — is  working  in 
the  best  possible  way.  It  is  very  rarely  called  into 
action,  but  the  mere  knowledge  of  its  existence  serves 
almost  always  to  prevent  the  wife's  family  from  ob- 
structing her  joining  her  husband.  Durand's  melan- 
choly death  must  have  caused  you  great  pain." 

We  find  Mr.  Marshman  corresponding  with  Dr. 
Duff  on  all  Indian  questions,  old  and  new.  In  1872 
the  late  Frances  Mary  Mackenzie,  of  the  Seaforth 
family,  delighted  him  with  a  long  communication  on 
spiritual  work  among  European  settlers  in  India,  from 
her  distinguished  uncle,  the  Hight  Honourable  Holt 
Mackenzie,  then  upwards  of  eighty-five  years  of  age. 
Forty-one  years  before  that.  Holt  Mackenzie  had  left 


/Et,  69.  MISS  FLORENCE  NmilTlXnALE.  49  I 

India,  after  services  which  Dr.  Duff  knew  well,  al- 
though the  present  generation  may  have  forgotten 
them.  The  fervour  of  ^Yesleyan  Methodism  had 
caught  the  bright  intellect  of  the  Bengal  civilian — son 
of  the  'Man  of  Feeling' — who  had  used  to  give  all 
his  ability  and  his  time  to  questions  of  land  revenue 
and  political  administration. 

In  1874  Miss  Florence  Nightingale  consulted  Dr. 
Duff,  as  "the  first  authority  living  on  the  state  of  the 
population  in  Bengal,"  submitting  to  him  a  proof  of 
one  of  her  many  earnest  papers  on  the  sanitary  and 
economic  condition  of  India.  His  reply  called  forth 
from  her  this  acknowledgement. 

35,  South  Street,  Park  Lane,  W.,  19 fh  Aug.,  1874. 
"  My  Dear  Sir, — I  cannot  thank  you  enough  for  your  long, 
most  wise  and  kiud  letter  :  full  of  hints  invaluable  to  me.  I 
am  the  more  obliged,  because  I  fear  that  you  could  ill  afford 
the  time  and  strength  to  write  it.  I  could  have  wished  that  it 
had  been  otherwise,  and  that  I  might  have  reaped  a  little  more 
of  your  unique  experience  about  our  poor  Ryots.  But  what- 
ever you  do  must  be  of  such  incalculable  importance  in  God's 
world  and  God's  work,  that  I  can  only  pray  for  God's  blessing 
on  whatever  work  you  are  doing,  and  not  wish  it  otherwise. 
This  is  merely  a  word  of  grateful  acknowledgment.  I  hope 
that,  more  than  uncertain  as  my  life  is,  it  may  not  be  the  last 
time  that  I  may  enjoy  some  communication  with  one  whom  I 
have  ever  considered  as  one  of  the  most  favoured  of  God's 
servants,  and  in  His  name  I  ask  for  your  prayers  and  blessing. 
I  am,  ever  yours  faithfully  and  gratefully, 

"  Florence  Nightingale." 

Dr.  Duff's  influence  with  friends  in  high  office,  and 
even  with  officials  who  knew  him  only  through  his 
work,  was  all-powerful.  But  for  his  family,  as  for  him- 
self, he  steadily  refused  to  use  his  position  in  ludia, 
where  all  through  his  career  he  was  at  the  fountain- 
head  of  great  patronage.     One  instance  may  illustrate 


492  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1875. 

tlie  principle  which  guided  his  relation  to  official 
friends.  When  his  eldest  son  was  compelled  to  retire 
from  the  Indian  medical  service  from  ill-health,  in- 
duced by  exposure  during  the  Mutiny  campaigns, 
Lord  Halifax,  then  Sir  Charles  Wood,  thus  wrote  to 
Dr.  Duflf:— 

,  Belgeave  Square,  Feh.  22nd,  186G. 

"Dear  Dr.  Duff, — I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  the  very 
kind  note  which  I  have  received  from  you  to-day.  It  is  indeed 
a  source  of  great  gratification  and  pride  to  me  to  read  such 
approbation  of  my  conduct  as  an  Indian  Minister  as  your  letter 
contains.  Your  knowledge  of  India,  your  high  and  impartial 
character,  render  your  opinion  of  more  than  usual  value,  and 
I  assure  you  that  I  appreciate  it  as  it  deserves.  Many  kind 
things  have  been  said  and  written  to  me  since  my  accident.* 
There  is  no  testimony  in  my  favour  on  which  I  set  a  higher 
value.  I  am  sorry  to  hear  that  you  have  been  suffering  so 
much,  and  I  trust  that  you  may  soon  be  perfectly  restored,  as 
I  hope  myself  to  be  by  a  couple  of  months'  rest  and  quiet  on 
the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean. 

"  I  had  no  time  to  write  to  you  the  other  day,  to  say  that 
we  had  given  a  special  allowance  to  your  son.  His  case  could 
not  be  brought  under  any  rule,  or  precedent,  or  principle,  on 
which  any  pension  had  ever  given  before,  but  the  universal 
respect  for  you  boi'ne  by  every  member  of  the  Council  carried 
the  day,  and  as  a  special  and  exceptional  case,  the  allowance 
was  awarded  to  him. 

"  Yours  very  truly, 

"C.  Wood." 

Lord  Shaftesbury  thus  wrote  to  Dr.  Duff  in  April, 
1871  :  "  Will  you  allow  your  honoured  and  illustrious 
name  to  be  placed  on  the  lists  of  the  Vice-presidents 
of  the  Bible  Society  ?  "  which  he  addressed  in  Exeter 
Hall  soon  after. 

In  1872,  it  caused  the  Indian  missionary  great 
delight  to  meet,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  William  Dickson, 

*  A  fall  in  the  hunting-field. 


/Et.  69.  THE    ARCHBISHOP    OF    CANTKRBURT.  493 

the  still  surviving  patriarcli  of  African  Missions,  Dr. 
IMoffat.  At  a  time  when  Free  St.  George's,  Edin- 
burgh, is  about  to  be  completed  by  the  erection  of  its 
campanile,  it  is  interesting  to  chronicle  the  fact  that 
Dr.  Duff  proposed  that  all  the  members  of  the  Free 
Church  should  unite  thus  to  give  the  building  a 
monumental  character.  He  desired  that  it  should 
thus  be  made  worthy  of  Dr.  Candlish,  as  the  man  then 
living  who  had  "rendered  the  most  varied,  dis- 
interested, and  pre-eminent  services  to  the  Church  at 
large,"  and  of  the  congregation  which,  from  first  to 
last,  had  contributed  with  most  "  royal  munificence  to 
the  sustentation  of  the  Christian  ministry  and  the 
support  of  all  our  home  and  foreign  evangelistic 
enterprises."  Since  that  was  written,  the  benevolence 
of  St.  G-eorge's,  under  Dr.  Candlish's  successor,  the 
Rev.  A.  Whyte,  has  nearly  doubled  and  must  yet 
greatly  increase.  In  the  same  spirit,  and  at  the  same 
time,  he  privately  sent  a  subscription  to  the  Rev.  J. 
H.  Wilson,  of  Barclay  Church,  as  an  example  to  e very- 
con  frregfation  to  clear  off  debt. 

With  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  when  Bishop  of 
London,  he  had  much  pleasant  intercourse  there  and 
at  Ardrishaig  ;  and  was  anxiously  consulted  by  him  on 
the  project,  since  carried  out  in  Dr.  French's  consecra- 
tion, of  a  Bishopric  of  Lahore.  The  Ardrishaig  inter- 
course his  Grace  thus  recalls,  "  I  was  glad  of  the 
opportunity  of  seeing  Dr.  Duff  there,  as  I  remembered 
well  the  impression  produced  by  Dr.  Chalmers'  address 
when  he  was  sent  forth  as  a  missionary ;  and  I  had 
heard  also  from  time  to  time  of  the  friendly  intercourse 
which  took  place  between  him  and  my  much  esteemed 
brother  and  former  colleague  at  Rugby,  Bishop  Cotton 
of  Calcutta.  It  was  a  great  pleasure  to  me  to  see  the 
man  himself,  of  whom  I  had  heard  so  much ;  to  witness 
his  frank  and  manly  bearing,  and  to  feel  the  influence 


494  I^Il^'E    OF    DR.    DUFP.  1S75. 

of  that  zeal  which  had  enabled  him  to  give  his  life  to 
missionary  work.  It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  we 
could  quite  agree,  even  where  he  felt  no  barrier  pre- 
sented by  the  differences  between  the  episcopal  and 
presbyterian  systems,  for  I  found  him  full  of  admira- 
tion of  the  way  in  which  the  late  Bishop  of  Capetown 
had  endeavoured  to  shake  his  church  free  from  all 
connection  with  the  state.  I  can  however  truly  say 
that  it  has  ever  since  been  a  pleasant  memory  that  we 
were  thus  thrown  together." 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

1870-1878. 

PEACEMAKING. 

The  Indian  contrasted  with  the  Home  Ccircer. — Ecclesiastical  En- 
tanglement.— The  Free  Church  seeks  Union. — Dr.  DuQ'  joins  the 
United  Committee. — His  '  Eirenicon  '  and  Ideal. — Moderator  of 
the  General  Assembly  for  the  Second  Time. — Letter  on  the  Two 
Parties. — A  Compromise  adopted  and  Schism  prevented. — "  The 
World-Wide  Crisis." — National  Education. — The  office  of  Prin- 
cipal of  the  Iscw  College  vacant. — Letter  from  Dr.  W.  Hanna. — 
To  secure  peace  Dr.  Duff  abandons  his  first  intention  to  prevent 
his  name  from  being  proposed. — Correspondence  with  the  eleventh 
Earl  of  Dalhousie. — Magnanimity  of  Dr.  Duff. — His  relation  to 
the  case  of  Professor  Robertson  Smith. — To  the  new  departure 
of  Vaticanism. — To  Bible  Colportage  and  a  Pure  and  llobust 
Literature. — Summer  Tours  in  Holland. — Russia  and  the  Baltic. 
— Norway. — Righteousness  and  Peace. 

The  contrast  between  life  and  work  in  India  and  life 
and  work  at  home  is  so  marked  as  to  be  keenly  felt 
by  the  oflGicial,  the  merchant  and  the  missionary  when 
they  bid  a  final  farewell  to  the  East.  There  the 
governing  class,  whatever  be  the  motives  of  individuals 
among  them,  live  for  others  ;  here  the  mass  struggle  for 
themselves.  There  the  contact  of  differing  civilizations, 
the  conflict  of  civilization  with  barbarism,  the  light 
and  the  colour  of  oriental  peoples  and  customs,  the  ex- 
hilaration caused  by  the  fact  of  ruling,  call  forth  latent 
powers,  suggest  great  ideas,  kindle  the  imagination 
into  creative  action,  and  of  middle-class  Englishmen 
make  an  aristocracy  in  the  highest  or  ethical  sense  of 
the  word.  Here,  on  the  plane  level  of  stay-at-home 
life,  varied  only  by  occasional  glimpses  at  the  parallel 


49^  I-IFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.       •  1870. 

civilization  of  the  continent  of  Europe,  there  is  no 
elbow-room,  there  are  few  careers  save  those  in  pursu- 
ing which  the  finer  powers  are  blunted  by  the  struggle 
for  success.  Competition  in  its  worst  as  well  as  best 
forms  sours  the  nature,  starves  the  fancy,  and  ob- 
structs the  energies  of  the  men  whom  it  helps  above 
their  fellows.  Men  who  would  be  statesmen  and  rulers 
abroad  remain  narrow  and  unknown  at  home.  And  if 
this  contrast  is  in  the  main  true  of  the  professional  and 
trading  classes  of  our  country,  as  they  are  abroad  and 
at  home,  it  is  emphatically  so  of  the  clergy,  of  ministers 
and  missionaries.  The  Churches  of  the  West  may 
have  so  little  faith  as  now  to  send  few  of  their  best 
men  to  the  foreign  or  colonial  field,  but  the  self-sacri- 
fice of  his  life,  the  breadth  of  his  experience,  and  the 
nobility  of  his  calling  go  far  to  make  even  the  average 
missionary  an  abler  and  more  useful  human  being  than 
the  minister  who  cares  for  the  third  part  of  a  village, 
or  the  tenth  part  of  a  town,  or  the  hundredth  part  of 
a  city.  The  missionary,  moreover,  is  a  permanent 
growing  force  in  the  country  of  his  adoption,  while 
officials  and  merchants  pass  away  in  brief  generations 
of  little  more  than  seven  years  in  each  place.  The 
historical  divisions  of  the  Churches,  the  sectarian  parties 
or  schisms  of  each  Church,  too  often  absorb  the  charity, 
waste  the  energy  and  neutralise  the  action  which, 
abroad,  are  united  in  the  one  end  of  aggression  on 
the  common  enemy. 

Thus  it  was  that  to  come  home  from  India  to  Eng- 
land, to  leave  for  ever  the  catholicity  and  elevation  of 
the  mission  field  for  entanglement  among  the  eccle- 
siastical divisions  of  Scotland,  was,  for  Dr.  Duff  of  all 
men,  to  move  on  a  lower  level.  In  his  temporary 
visits  he  had  won  all  parties  and  all  churches  to  the 
support  of  Foreign  Missions.  Making  these  not  only 
"a  truce  of  God,"  but  the  highest  source  and  test  of 


^t.  64.  EVIL    OF    ECCLESIASTICAL    DIVISIONS.  497 

spiritual  revival,  lie  had  left  behind  him  the  pleasant 
fragrance  of  those  who  love  to  dwell  together  in  unity. 
In  the  ardour  with  which  he  leaped  into  the  contro- 
versy of  the  Disruption  of  the  Kirk,  so  soon  as  the 
sacrifice  became  inevitable,  and  in  the  co-operating 
charity  with,  which  he  continued  to  assist  those  who 
differed  from  him  thereafter,  he  showed  in  the  most 
Christian  fashion  the  foresight  and  the  devotion  to 
spiritual  principle  wliich,  in  1874,  the  Parliament  and 
the  residuary  establishment — penitent  too  late  and  un- 
just in  practice  still — formally  recognised.  And  when, 
after  1864,  he  became  identified  more  closely  with  the 
home  policy  and  organization  of  the  Free  Church,  he 
continued  to  be  the  peacemaker  between  parties,  not 
only  for  the  sake  of  the  one  missionary  end  of  his  life, 
but  because  he  felt  the  danger  of  allowing  his  own 
broader  personality  and  experience  to  be  dragged  into 
controversies  from  which  none  emerge  unscathed.  If 
the  ecclesiastical  atmosphere,  not  in  Scotland  only  but 
still  more  elsewhere,  seemed  confined  after  the  free 
air  and  sunshine  of  his  crusades  in  Asia  or  Africa, 
he  could  at  least  play  his  part  by  letting  into  it  new 
currents  and  sometimes  electric  discharges  of  light 
and  life. 

The  time  of  his  final  return  to  Scotland  seemed 
favourable  for  Church  union.  Freed  from  the  evil 
legacies  of  history  the  United  States  had  set  the  world 
an  example  of  ecclesiastical  equality  and  spiritual 
freedom.  The  Scottish  Disruption  of  1843,  following 
secessions  from  the  Kirk  in  the  previous  century,  had 
supplied  another  national  argument  and  model  of  the 
same  kind.  Speaking  as  Moderator  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  1843,  Dr.  Chalmers  told  these  and  other 
nonconformist  churches  that  their  congratulations 
pointed  in  the  first  instance  to  union,  and  then  incor- 
poration as  soon  as  was  "  possible  and  prudent."     Re- 

VOL.    II.  K    K 


498  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUFF.  1873. 

ferriiig  to  the  only  question  wliich  at  tlaat  early  time 
divided  tlie  Free  from  the  seceding  Cliurches — the 
abstract  theory  of  the  endowment  of  one  sect  by  the 
State — Dr.  Candlish  asked  if  schism  was  to  be  kept 
up  by  a  question  as  to  the  duty  of  another  party  over 
whom  they  had  no  control.  Even  Dr.  Cunningham 
returned  from  America  in  1844  of  the  same  mind.  So 
soon  as  the  Free  Church  had  organized  itself,  in  1863, 
the  Assembly  unanimously  took  the  first  step  towards 
incorporation  with  the  United  Presbyterian  Churcli, 
itself  the  result  of  previous  unions.  In  1867  Dr.  Duff 
was  appointed  to  a  seat  in  the  committee  of  the  lead- 
ing men  of  both  Churches  and  all  parties  in  these 
Churches,  who  invited  him  to  join  them.  "  I  saw  Dr. 
Cairns  and  Dr.  Andrew  Thomson,  who  hail  your  com- 
ing among  us  with  joy  and  thankfulness,"  wrote  the 
convener  to  him.  And  none  delighted  more  in  the 
catholic  spirit  and  lofty  ideals  of  Dr.  Duff  than  the 
fathers  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  as  the 
years  of  negotiation  passed  on. 

Dr.  Duff's  accession  to  the  ranks  of  the  union  divines 
was  considered  important  for  another  reason.  None 
who  know  ecclesiastical  history  will  be  surprised  that, 
so  early  as  1867,  the  fair  prospects  of  union  with 
the  United  Presbyterian  Church,  at  least,  began  to  be 
clouded.  Retaining  his  unique  position  aloof  from 
parties  Dr.  Duff  yet  felt  constrained,  publicly  and 
privately,  to  use  all  the  influence  of  his  character  and 
his  power  of  moral  suasion  in  favour  of  union.  To 
have  done  otherwise,  between  two  Churches  of  the 
same  origin,  confession,  ritual,  race,  and  histor}'-,  dif- 
fering in  nothing  but  in  a  speculative  opinion  as  to 
an  impracticable  theocracy  but  both  holding  the  dogma 
as  to  the  principle  of  that  theocracy,  would  have  been 
to  prove  false  to  his  Master  and  to  his  whole  life. 
But  he  ever  used  this  influence  in  a  way  which  did  not 


JEt  67.  UEGBD    TO    BE    MODERATOR    AGAIN.  4C9 

alienate  tlie  anti-unionists,  and  wliicli  so  far  prevailed 
with  them  as  to  result  in  a  comproniise,  and  in  the 
eEforfc  after  a  still  wider  union  proceeding  on  more 
national  lines. 

By  1870  the  division  between  the  union  majority 
and  the  separatist  minority  had  become  so  wide  that 
the  Assembly  committed  the  subject  for  discussion 
to  each  of  the  seventy  presbyteries.  In  that  of 
Edinburgh,  towards  midnight  in  November,  Dr.  Duff 
discharged  from  the  fulness  of  his  whole  nature  an 
*  eirenicon '  which  shared  the  immediate  fate  of  all 
attempts  at  peace-making  during  the  white  heat  of 
controversy,  but  bore  fruit  when  the  hour  of  reflec- 
tion came.  Called  for  by  the  public  it  was  written  out 
from  the  reporter's  notes.  The  Reformed  Presby- 
terian Church,  oldest  of  the  non-established  churches 
in  Scotland,  had  meanwhile  joined  the  negotiations  and 
was  ultimately  incorporated  with  the  Free  Church. 
This  one  passage  may  serve  as  an  illustration  of  the 
spirit  that  animated  the  first  missionary  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland  in  his  impassioned  advocacy  of  union  : 
"  What  is  the  design  of  the  present  negotiations  ? 
Is  it  not  to  bring  into  closer  corporate  alliance  the 
three  largest  of  the  non-established  Presbyterian 
Churches  of  Scotland,  between  whom  there  seem  to 
exist  no  real  differences  on  grand,  vital,  essential, 
doctrinal  points,  and,  by  so  doing,  to  repair  at  least 
some  of  the  widest  breaches  in  our  once  happily  united 
Scottish  Zion  ;  and  that,  too,  not  as  an  end  in  itself, 
however  blessed,  but  as  a  means  to  a  more  glorious 
end — even  that  of  the  more  effective  evangelization  of 
the  sunken  masses  at  home,  and  of  the  hundreds  of 
millions  of  heathen  abroad?  Such  being  the  central 
object,  and  grand  ultimate  end  in  view,  who  would 
envy  the  sorry  vocation  of  any  one  that  laboured  to 
throw    obstacles   in    the   way,   instead  of    helping   to 


500  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1873. 

remove  sucli  as  may  now  exist ;  or  strove  to  widen 
instead  of  lessening  the  breaches  which  all  deplore  ; 
or  to  magnify  any  differences  which  may  be  discovered, 
instead  of  attempting,  without  any  unworthy  compro- 
mise, to  reduce  them,  in  their  intrinsic  and  relative 
proportions,  to  the  very  uttermost  ?  But  the  work 
of  reconstruction  and  reconsolidation  would  not  be 
completed  until,  in  some  practicable  way,  by  which 
any  '  wood,  hay,  or  stubble,'  in  our  respective  edifices, 
or  any  '  untempered  mortar '  in  their  walls,  being  wisely 
disposed  of,  the  present  established  and  non-established 
churches  might  be  all  reunited  on  a  common  platform, 
in  one  Reformed  National  Church — national,  at  least, 
in  the  sense  of  embracing  within  its  fold  the  great 
bulk  of  our  Scottish  population." 

When  the  G-eneral  Assembly  of  1873  was  approach- 
ing, the  controversy  had  become  so  embittered  that 
the  separatist  minority  plainly  hinted  they  would  secede 
if  the  majority  exercised  its  constitutional  right  by 
legislatively  carrying  out  union.  Now  was  the  time 
for  the  peacemaker.  The  whole  Church  turned  to 
Dr.  Duff  as  the  one  man  who  could  avert  the  crisis. 
To  the  present  writer,  then  in  India,  he  sent  this 
among,  other  communications,  marked  by  all  the  frank 
affection  of  confidential  friendship  : 

"Patterdale,  24ith  Ajpril,  1873. 

" .  .  You  may  have  noticed  by  what  a  strange 
evolution  of  Providence  I  am  to  be  proposed  a  second 
time  for  the  Assembly's  chair.  When  first  asked  to 
allow  myself  to  be  nominated,  it  took  me  so  aback 
that  I  was  not  only  staggered  but  almost  convulsed. 
I  could  not  possibly  all  at  once  say  '  yes,'  it  was  so 
utterly  repugnant  to  all  my  own  tastes,  wishes,  and 
inclinations,  that  I  could  not  see  my  way  at  all  to 
respond    to  such  a  call ;   besides,  ihQ  state,  the  very 


^t.  67  A    COMPROMISE.  501 

peculiar  and  precarious  state  of  my  licaltli  alone  would 
be  enough  to  forbid  compliance.  On  the  other  hand, 
such  a  proposal,  coming  from  such  a  meeting,  said  to 
be  cordial  and  unanimous  on  the  subject,  I  could  not  all 
at  once  peremptorily  reject.  After  a  day  or  two's  terri- 
ble mental  struggle  I  felt  myself  thrust  up,  by  a  singular 
concurrence  of  Providence,  into  a  readiness  to  comply, 
provided  no  opposition  from  any  quarter  were  mani- 
fested. Being  assured  on  all  sides  that  my  acceptance 
would,  for  various  reasons  assigned,  be  felt  rather  as 
a  relief  by  all  parties,  I  at  last  consented.  For  weeks 
I  have  been  strujjorlinor  hard  to  hit  on  some  middle 
measure — such  as  passing  the  '  mutual  eligibility  ' 
scheme,  accompanied  with  a  strong  declaration  of 
resolute  adherence  to  the  doctrine  of  Christ's  kingship 
over  the  nations  and  the  other  great  fundamental 
doctrines  for  which  the  anti-union  party  have  been 
contending,  as  if  they  alone  upheld  them,  but  which 
in  reality  have  been  equally  maintained  by  the  union 
party — a  measure,  therefore,  which  would  not  com- 
promise the  union  party,  and  might  secure  the  passive 
acquiescence,  at  least,  of  the  anti-union  party.  The 
union  party  are  quite  prepared  to  accompany  the 
passing  of  the  mutual  eligibility  measure  with  such  a 
strong  declaration,  but  the  utterly  unreasonable  anti- 
union party  as  yet  have  rejected  such  a  proposal,  and 
demand  the  rejection  of  the  mutual  eligibility  measure 
simjyliciter ;  and  this,  of  course,  the  union  party  can- 
not in  honour  concede. 

"  Many,  however,  of  the  moderate  men  on  the  anti- 
union side  have  been  shaken  by  the  above  proposal, 
and  will  not,  if  the  mutual  eligibility  measure  be 
passed  (as  it  is  sure  to  be)  leave  the  Church,  but  be 
satisfied  with  a  dissent  or  protest.  .  .  Some  half- 
dozen  or  dozen  men  seem,  as  yet,  to  be  determined  on 
a  disruption  if  the  mutual  eligibility  measure  be  passed. 


502  LIFE    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1873. 

no  matter  with  wliat  declaration,  however  strong— 
though  it  really  concede  to  them  all  they  are  con- 
tending for — showing  clearly  that  it  is  not  the  preser- 
vation of  principle  that  any  more  actuates  them,  but 
a  desire  for  personal  victory  and  triumph  over  their 
opponents.     .     •" 

This  "  middle  measure "  was  carried,  as  a  com- 
promise, so  that  ministers  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church  have  ever  since  been  eligible  and  have  been 
called  as  ministers  of  the  Free  Church,  and  vice  versa. 
The  system  has  worked  well,  but  it  is  neither  union 
nor  incorporation.  The  majority,  yielding  for  the 
sake  of  peace  and  to  avoid  a  small  schism  while  healing 
a  larger,  yet,  "  for  the  exoneration  of  our  consciences 
and  for  the  sake  of  posterity,"  entered  on  the  records 
of  the  Assembly  an  explanatory  statement,  the  first 
signature  attached  to  which  was  that  of  "  Alexander 
Duff,  D.D."  That  statement  solemnly  recognises  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  in  the  origin  and  progress  of  the 
union  movement,  and  the  duty  and  responsibility  of 
prosecuting  it,  till  the  necessity  arose  of  "  deferring 
to  the  scruples  of  beloved  fathers  and  brethren."  It 
thus  concluded  :  "  AVe  acknowledge  in  this  dispensa- 
tion the  evidence  of  much  sin  and  shortcoming  on  the 
part  of  the  human  agents  concerned,  the  guilt  of 
which  we  take  largely  to  ourselves,  earnestly  hoping 
for  the  concurrence  of  our  brethren  with  us,  in  the 
prayer  that  the  Lord  may  search  us  and  try  us  all, 
that  He  may  see  what  wickedness  is  in  us,  and  lead  us 
in  the  way  everlasting,  the  only  way  in  which  real 
union  can  be  sought  and  found."  Since  that  time 
the  cause  of  union  has  made  rapid  strides,  but  along 
another  road — in  the  Act  of  Parliament  of  1874,  and 
the  declaration  of  the  Moderator  of  the  Established 
Church,  acknowledging  the  wrong  done  in  1843 
though    not    making    restitution    as    Mr.    Gladstone 


^t.  67.        THE    TEOE    CONCEPTION    OF   CHURCH    WOKK.         503 

pointed  out;  in  the  union  in  1876  of  the  Free  and 
Reformed  Presbyterian  Churches  ;  and  in  the  advance 
all  over  Europe,  but  chiefly  in  Italy,  France  and 
Scotland,  of  the  principle  of  the  spiritual  independence 
of  the  Church  of  lay  communicants  in  si)iritual  things, 
with  loyal  submission  to  the  State  in  all  others.  The 
dream  of  one  reconstructed  and  united  Kirk  in  the 
little  bit  of  a  small  island  called  Scotland  is  fast 
approaching  realization,  and  Dr.  Duff  rejoiced  in  the 
prospect.  Even  ecclesiastics  have  come  to  feel  that 
the  divisions  are  "ludicrous"  as  well  as  sinful.  Ho 
promoted  and  delighted  in  tlie  removal  of  ecclesiastical 
sectarianism  from  public  instruction  in  Scotland,  so 
as  to  make  it  national  again.  The  free  national  Kirk 
will  follow  the  open  national  school  the  moment  the 
people  insist  that  right  shall  be  done.  Then  foreign  as 
well  as  home  missions  will  enter  on  a  new  era. 

As  Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1873  Dr. 
Duff  delivered  in  part,  and  published  in  full,  his  opening 
and  closing  addresses,  under  the  title  of  The  World- 
Wide  Crisis.  As  partially  reported  at  the  time  they 
had  caused  much  discussion  in  the  daily  newspapers. 
Surveying  the  world  as  it  is,  and  the  history  of  the 
race  in  the  light  of  God's  truth  ever  and  again  arrest- 
ing the  degeneracy  of  men  left  to  themselves,  he  said 
in  effect  to  his  own  distracted  Church  and  to  all  the 
divided  Churches  of  Christendom  :  "  Cease  your  petty 
strifes ;  unite  and  fight  against  your  one  enemy."  Far 
removed  from  the  shallow  sensationalism  of  the  pro- 
phecy-expounders whose  only  use  is  to  destroy  each 
others'  theories,  he  yet  spake  as  a  seer  who  felt  the 
world  growing  evil  because  the  Church  had  become  cold. 
With  an  imperial  insight  he  swooped  down  the  ages 
upon  the  conscience,  he  traced  the  increasing  purpose 
of  God  in  Christ  which  runs  through  them  all,  he 
niai'shalled  in  Miltonic  array  the  force's  of  darkness,  and 


504  LIFE    OJP   DR.    DUFF.  1873. 

he  closed  his  opening  address  by  setting  against  each 
man's  "  neglect  of  duty,  its  terrible  doom,"  a  con- 
summation of  glory  in  the  heavens.  The  Spectator 
pronounced  the  address  a  "  plea  for  a  true  conception 
of  Church  work  by  comparison  with  the  trifle  which 
engrossed  his  auditors.  It  struck  the  right  key-note 
and  it  did  not  go  without  its  reward."  The  closing 
address  was  as  practical  as  that  was  elevated.  The 
Education  Act  he  pronounced  an  "  equitable  compro- 
mise," such  that  "  it  will  now  be  the  fault  of  the  local 
boards  and  of  the  electors  of  the  boards  if  every- 
where we  shall  not  have  a  religious  education  with  the 
free  use  of  the  Bible  and  Shorter  Catechism."  Citing 
his  own  experience  of  the  introduction  of  optional 
examinations  on  the  evidences  of  revealed  religion, 
of  Butler  and  Paley,  into  the  University  of  Calcutta, 
he  pleaded  for  the  endowment  of  such  a  free  or  open 
lectureship  in  the  Scottish  Universities,  on  the  model 
of  that  established  by  Jefferson  in  Virginia,  as  would 
gather  into  one  the  whole  Bible  teaching  of  the  schools 
in  all  their  grades  from  the  first  standard  to  the  degree 
of  Master  of  Arts. 

The  death  of  Dr.  Candlish  in  1873  once  more  left 
vacant  the  ofiice  of  Principal  of  the  New  College, 
Edinburgh,  which  that  distinguished  preacher  had  held 
along  with  the  pulpit  of  Free  St.  George's  since  the 
death  of  Dr.  Cunningham.  Thirty-six  years  before, 
the  sudden  removal  of  Dr.  Chalmers  had  led  many, 
who  valued  home  work  more  though  they  would  have 
it  that  they  did  not  love  foreign  missions  less,  to  desire 
Dr.  Duff's  recall  that  he  might  then  fill  the  Principal's 
seat.  Now  that  he  was  not  only  at  home  but  a  Pro- 
fessor in  the  College,  it  seemed  natural  as  well  as  be- 
coming that  one  so  venerable  and  of  such  reputation 
in  all  the  'Churches  as  well  as  in  his  own,  should 
preside  in  the  senatus  and  discbarge  the  other  duties 


^t.  67.  PEACE    AGAIN    THREATENED.  505 

of  a  more  honorary  than  exacting  kind.  Even  in  1862, 
Dr.  Hanna,  when  convener  of  the  Foreign  Missions 
Committee,  bad  tlms  written  to  him  :  "  Had  the  Church 
thought  of  calhng  you  home  it  could  only  have  been 
to  occupy  such  a  position  as  that  heki  by  the  Late 
himented  Principah  Other  arrangements  have  been 
made  to  fill  that  vacancy,  and  I  do  not  foresee  the 
opening  of  any  other  position  sucb,  in  its  station  of 
command  and  influence,  as  to  lead  to  your  being  invited 
to  occupy  it.  .  .  It  has  been  your  privilege  to 
devote  such  a  life  of  labour  and  such  an  amount  of 
consecrated  genius  to  the  mission  field  in  India,  that, 
with  failing  health,  it  seems  not  unnatural  that  you 
should  retire  from  much  at  least  of  the  labour  of  your 
present  position,  and  it  ought  to  be  the  Church's  part 
to  consider  in  what  way  she  can  best  show  lier  sense 
of  the  worth  of  the  services  you  have  rendered,  and 
best  promote  the  comfort  and  usefulness  of  your  re- 
maining years.  I  can  quite  sympathise  with  all  the 
feelings  you  have  expressed  as  to  an  unwillingness  in 
present  circumstances  to  return  home." 

But  wdien  the  office  of  Principal  became  vacant  in 
1873,  it  did  not,  at  first,  occur  to  Dr.  Duff  to  think  of 
filling  it.  He  lost  no  time  in  letting  this  be  known 
privately,  with  the  frankness  that  had  marked  all 
personal  considerations  in  his  case.  But  the  com- 
promise of  the  previous  General  Assembly  had  not 
removed  party  bitterness.  Dr.  Duff  had  loyally  ac- 
cepted it,  and  had  been  drawn  somewhat  more  closely 
to  the  anti-union  leaders  than  had  been  possible 
before.  As  the  duty  of  the  peacemaker  had  induced 
him  to  become  ]\roderator  at  a  crisis  which  he  had 
successfully  warded  off",  he  came  to  see  that  the  same 
duty  required  him  to  sacrifice  his  first  intention.  If 
Dr.  Rainy,  whom  Dr.  Caudlish's  death  had  made  the 
leader  of  the  old  union  majority,  had  been  unanimously 


506  LIFE    OP    DE.    DUFF.  1874. 

accepted  by  the  Cliurcli  as  Principal,  Dr.  Duff  would 
have  been  delighted  to  see  the  son  of  an  old  personal 
friend  in  the  seat.  Even  if  the  usual  course  of  sending 
the  proposal  down  to  presbyteries,  for  their  opinion, 
had  been  followed,  he  would  have  been  satisfied  that 
justice  had  been  done  to  both  parties,  while  regretting 
the  want  of  complete  unanimity.  This  was  the  very 
first  opportunity  for  testing  the  reality  of  the  recon- 
ciliation between  the  two  parties.  The  unionists  had, 
most  reluctantly  but  generously,  surrendered  their 
rights  as  a  large  majority — had  sacrificed  even  their 
duty,  as  their  explanatory  statement  half  confessed — ■ 
in  perpetuating  what  many  considered  to  be  schism. 
The  separatists  expected,  rightly  or  wrongly,  that 
their  old  opponents  would  in  all  matters  take  them 
into  their  confidence.  Dr.  Duff  had  believed  that  the 
compromise  between  them  would  bear  a  more  sevcie 
strain  than  this.  But  when  he  learned  that  the  ap- 
pointment of  Dr.  Rainy  would  rouse  the  old  anti-union 
bitterness  into  violent  opposition,  he  became  willing 
again  to  throw  himself  into  the  breach.  He  had 
agreed  to  the  earnest  request  of  the  union  majority  so 
far  as  to  become  Moderator  a  second  time.  He  yielded 
to  the  entreaties  of  the  old  separatist  minority  so  far 
as  to  abandon  his  desire  not  to  be  nominated  for 
Principal,  expressed  at  a  time  when  he  had  been 
incorrectly  assured  that  Dr.  Rainy's  appointment 
would  be  unanimous.  In  the  interests  of  the  peace 
he  had  seemed  to  brino-  about  as  Moderator,  he  was 
willing  to  be  appointed  Principal.  In  both  cases  he 
underestimated  the  strength  of  ecclesiastical  partisan- 
ship, even  when,  for  the  unity  of  Christ's  Church,  it  is 
directed  to  the  purest  ends.  Who  doubts  that,  but 
for  the  existence  of  such  partisanship,  the  Free  Church 
of  Scotland  would  have  unanimously  compelled  its 
noblest  son  to  take  the  seat  of  Chalmers,  Cunningham, 


-^t,  68.  LETTER   TO    LORD    DALHOUSIE.  507 

and  Candlish,  even  as  it  liad  a  second  time  made  him 
Moderator  ? 

From  the  controversy  in  the  newspapers  and  the 
General  Assembly  of  1874,  which  resulted  in  Dr.  Duff 
resigning  his  two  offices,  and  withdrawing  the  resig- 
nation after  a  deputation  of  its  leading  members  on 
both  sides  had  conveyed  to  him  the  Assembly's  loving 
message,  we  take  this  one  letter  as  most  fully  express- 
ing his  views.  It  was  written  a  month  before  the 
meeting  of  Assembly  in  reply  to  a  communication 
from  the  late  Lord  Dalhousie,  who,  alike  as  Mr.  Fox 
Maule,  M.P.,  Lord  Panmure  and  the  eleventh  Earl,  had 
always  been  an  active  elder  of  the  Free  Church  : 

"Patterdale,  I8th  April,  1874. 

"Dear  Lord  Dalhousie, — Having  about  tliree  weeks  ago 
left  Aberdeen  for  the  South,  your  Lordslnp's  letter  addressed 
to  me  there  has  reached  me  in  this  retired  corner  of  England, 
and  I  now  beg  most  respectfully  to  acknowledge  the  receipt 
of  it. 

"  Fully  appreciating  the  motives  which  prompted  you  to 
write  it,  I  can  only  say  that,  from  my  strong  impression  of 
the  candour,  independence  of  mind  and  impartiality  of  judg- 
ment for  which  you  have  been  noted,  if  the  opinion  of  any  man 
with  a  full  and  accurate  statement  of  all  the  facts  of  the  case 
before  him  could  influentially  weigh  with  me,  yours  assuredly 
would.  I  am,  however,  satisfied  that  with  much  of  what  has 
occurred,  and  of  which,  without  any  inquiry  or  solicitation  on 
my  part,  I  have  from  time  to  time  been  made  more  or  less 
cognisant^  of  a  nature  amply  sufficient  to  account  for  the 
passive  attitude  which,  in  consistency  with  the  principles  on 
which  I  have  acted  throughout  my  whole  life,  I  have  been 
literally  constrained  to  assume,  your  Lordship,  owing  to  your 
great  distance  from  the  scene  of  action,  must  in  a  great 
measure  be  unacquainted;  otherwise,  I  cannot  help  thinking 
that  some  portions  of  your  letter  would  have  been  withheld,  or 
expressed  in  a  somewhat  modified  form.  Having,  by  the  force 
of  circumstances  beyond  my  control,  been  in  a  manner  driven 
into  the  position  I  now  occupy  I  cannot  but  deliberately  adhere 


508  LIFE    OF    DE.    DUFF.  1874. 

to  it;  unless  more,  or  better,  light  be  shed  upon  the  wholo 
subject  than  I  now  happen  to  possess. 

"  Had  your  Lordship,  who  has  so  long  generously  honoured 
me  with  your  friendship,  written  as  an  old  friend  to  me, 
desiring  to  learn  my  own  mature  views  relative  to  the  recent 
movement — accompanied,  it  might  be,  with  a  friendly  ex- 
pression of  your  own,  according  to  the  light  then  enjoyed — 
instead  of  assuming  the  correctness  0/  the  representation  of  these, 
by  other  and  mayhap  interested  parties — a  representation,  in 
some  cases  at  least,  to  my  certain  knowledge  one-sided,  partial, 
or  wholly  erroneous — and  acting  without  any  inquiry,  as 
concerns  me,  on  that  assumption — most  gladly  would  I  have 
entered  into  any  needful  explanations  on  the  entire  subject. 
But  after  all  that  has  already  transpired,  I  regret  that  I  do  not 
feel  at  liberty,  in  writing,  to  enter  into  any  fuller  explanatory 
details  as  regards  the  past.  Nor  is  it  necessary  now.  My  own 
view  of  the  natui'e  and  origin,  the  objects,  the  merits  and  the 
possible  results  of  the  movement  appears  to  differ  from  that  of 
your  Lordship;  I  think  it  therefore  quite  enough,  in  the  mean- 
time, to  direct  a  copy  to  be  sent  you  of  a  memorandum  which 
I  had  wiitten  some  time  ago  in  answer  to  iuquiries  addressed 
to  me,  for  the  information  of  such  as  it  might  concern,  briefly 
setting  forth  the  views  which  I  was  then  led  to  entertain,  and 
which  I  still  continue  to  entertain  on  the  subject. 

"  One  thing,  however,  I  must  say — it  is  this :  that  the 
manner  in  which,  according  to  current  report  and  belief,  certain 
parties  went  about  their  favourite  object  at  the  outset,  and 
subsequently  prosecuted  it — with  no  regard  for  the  unbroken 
continuance  of  the  peace  and  harmony  of  our  Church,  which, 
as  we  fondly  hoped  and  believed,  had  been  happily  restored  at 
last  Assembly — was  well  calculated  painfully  to  wound  my 
moral  and  religious  sensibilities. 

"  If  on  accouut  of  my  remaining  passive  in  the  matter  which 
is  now  agitating  the  Church,  and  freely  allowing  its  members, 
BO  far  as  I  am  concerned,  to  think  and  act  according  to  their 
own  judgment,  I  should  be  regarded  and  treated  as  an  offender 
by  certain  parties,  and  incur  their  serious  displeasure  and  the 
alienation  of  their  feelings  towards  me — seeing  that  it  has  been 
their  own  unworthy  and  objectionable  proceedings  alone  which 
in  honour  and  consistency  constrained  me  to  assume  the  passive 
attitude — I   cannot  help  it.     The  sin  and  the  shame,  if  such 


^t.  68.  LETTER   TO    LORD    DALUOrsiE.  509 

they  be,  will  be  theirs,  not  mine;  and  the  forfeiture  of  their 
friendship  in  such  case,  from  a  moral  poiut  of  view,  will  be 
really  no  loss,  but  positive  gain,  by  unmasking,  if  not  the 
hollowness,  at  least  the  shallowaess  of  former  professions. 
A.nyhow,  deeply  conscious  as  I  am  of  my  own  integrity  of 
motive  and  i-ectitude  of  intention — which  if  driven  to  it,  when 
the  proper  time  comes,  I  shall  be  prepared  fully  to  vindicate 
before  the  world — I  foel  intensely  that  it  is  a  small  matter  for 
me  to  be  judged  or  misjudged  by  man's  Aillible  judgment: 
He  that  judgeth  me  is  God,  and  to  my  own  Master  I  stand  or 
fall ; — while  there  will  be  furnished  to  me  a  new  and  striking 
illustration  of  the  beauty,  wisdom  and  force  of  the  prophet's 
warning  exhortation,  '  Cease  ye  from  man,  whose  breath  is  in 
his  nostrils;  for  wherein  is  he  to  be  accounted  of?  ' 

"  As  to  the  dreaded  effect  upon  Missions  of  any  event  that 
can  happen,  I  have  no  fear  whatever — the  God  of  Missions 
will  see  to  them.  If  the  zeal  of  the  Church  in  that  sacred 
cause  draws  its  inspiration  from  anything  connected  with 
man's  theories  of  ecclesiastical  policy,  or  aught  else  of  earthly 
kind — and  not  from  the  love  of  Christ,  the  love  of  souls  and 
the  glory  of  God — it  is  a  spurious  and  worthless  zeal,  which 
the  Holy  Ghost,  Whose  supreme  function  it  is  to  'convince 
the  world  of  sin,  of  righteousness  and  of  judgment,^  cannot  be 
expected  to  bless  or  prosper.  As  to  my  humble  self,  my  life, 
from  the  outset  of  my  ministerial  career,  has  by  a  '  solemn 
league  and  covenant'  with  my  God  been  devoted  to  the 
promotion  of  the  Mission  cause,  in  some  one  way  or  other,  as 
the  Lord  might  direct.  Whatever  situation,  therefore,  I  may 
occupy  here  below,  or  whether  or  not  I  occupy  any  situation 
at  all,  my  unalterable  purpose,  by  the  help  of  God's  grace,  till 
the  expiration  of  my  latest  breath,  will  be  to  spend  and  be 
spent,  as  best  I  may,  in  its  advocacy,  whether  men  will  heai', 
or  whether  they  will  forbear. 

"  With  regard  to  any  possible  or  probable  issue  of  the  recent 
movement,  my  sole  trust  is  in  the  God  of  providence  and 
grace,  whose  sovereign  prerogative  it  is  to  bring  light  out  of 
darkness,  order  out  of  confusion,  and  good  out  of  evil.  And 
my  fervent  prayer  is,  that  in  due  time  and  in  some  good  and 
o-racious  way  or  other,  He  may  be  pleased  to  interpose  and 
overrule  the  present  untoward  state  of  things  for  the  ultimate 
furtherance  of  His  own  all- wise  and  beneficent  designs. 


5IO  LIFE   OF   DR.    DUFF.  1873. 

"  Thanking  your  Lordship  very  warmly  for  the  seasonable 
and  solemn  remembrancer  about  the  advance  of  old  age,  from 
which  I  earnestly  desire  to  profit,  by  endeavouring  more 
assiduously  than  ever,  through  the  aids  of  the  heavenly  grace, 
to  prepare  to  meet  my  God ;  and  thanking  you  very  cordially 
for  all  the  kind  attentions  of  the  past,  whatever  may  be  in 
store  for  the  future, — I  remain,  etc., 

'^Alexandek  Doff." 

The  conclusion  of  the  affair  formed  an  occasion  for 
the  display  of  simple  Christian  magnanimity  on  the 
part  of  the  venerable  missionary.  Principal  Rainy  hap- 
pened to  be  absent  from  the  first  meeting  of  senatus 
after  his  appointment.  Dr.  Dufi"  at  once  consented 
to  preside.  Again,  when  the  session  of  1875  had 
opened,  Dr.  Duff  took  occasion  to  allude,  before  all 
the  students,  to  the  introductory  address,  in  terms 
which  we  find  Dr.  Rainy  thus  reciprocating  in  a 
private  letter  to  him,  dated  the  25th  November  :  "  My 
absence  was  accidental.  Rut  I  can  hardly  regret  it, 
having  heard  of  the  very  kind  way  in  which  you  took 
occasion  to  speak  of  my  address.  I  set  it  down  en- 
tirely to  your  own  generosity  of  feeling,  but  I  do  not 
value  it  the  less  on  that  account."  Dr.  Duff's  long 
friendship  with  the  writer's  father,  Dr.  Harry  Rainy, 
became  still  closer.  After,  as  before,  the  controversy 
it  was  plainly  seen  that  the  Principalship  was  nothing 
to  the  man  whose  whole  life  had  been  a  self-sacrifice, 
save  as  a  means  to  the  end  of  the  unity  of  his  Church 
and  the  consequent  enlargement  of  its  missionary  zeal 
and  enterprise. 

In  1876  some  of  the  anti-union  party,  joined  by 
others  as  the  discussion  went  on,  fastened  the  charge 
of  "  unsoundness  "  on  the  Rev.  W.  Robertson  Smith, 
Professor  of  Oriental  Languages  and  the  Exegesis  of 
the  Old  Testament  in  the  Free  Church  College  of  Aber- 
deen, and  a  member  of  the  Committee  for  the  Revision 


Alt.  69.  A   MOMENTOUS    ISSUE.  5  I  I 

of  the  Old  Testament  version.  The  cause  lay  chiefly  in 
the  article  "  Bible,"  which  hud  appeared  the  year  before, 
signed  by  him,  in  the  new  edition  of  the  Encyclojjcedia 
Britannica.  The  college  committee,  to  whose  juris- 
diction he  was  subject  in  the  first  instance,  formally 
reported  that  they  found  no  grounds  for  a  "  libel,"  or 
judicial  charge,  against  the  writer ;  but  they  expressed 
disapprobation  at  the  absence  of  explanations  as  to  the 
relation  of  his  critical  views  to  the  Protestant  doctrine 
of  Scripture,  and  because  of  his  theory  of  the  literary 
side  of  what  he  fully  admitted  to  be  the  inspired  book 
of  Deuteronomy.  The  case  came  before  the  General 
Assembly  of  1877,  which,  by  a  majority,  instructed 
the  Professor's  own  presbytery  of  Aberdeen,  as  the 
court  of  first  instance,  to  take  it  up  judicially.  It  has 
gone  on  ever  since,  in  Presbytery,  Synod,  and  General 
Assembly.  The  first  two  by  large  majorities  have 
followed  the  college  committee.  The  last  General 
Assembly,  by  a  majority  of  one  in  a  house  of  641 
members  who  voted,  instructed  the  Presbytery  to 
charge  the  Professor  formally  with  holding  opinions 
on  the  authorship  of  Deuteronomy  contrary  to  the 
Confession  of  Faith.  This,  by  large  majorities,  both 
Presbytery  and  Synod  have  conscientiously  found 
themselves  unable  to  do,  and  the  difficulty  will  again 
come  up  before  the  General  Assembly  of  1880. 

Strictly  abstaining  from  expressing  an  opinion  on 
a  case  which  is  still  suh  judice,  we  may  briefly  state 
Dr.  Dufl^'s  relation  to  a  question  which  occupied  his 
thoughts  and  his  correspondence  till  his  death.  Know- 
ing it  only  in  its  early  stages,  when  the  Professor  was 
charged  with  holding  the  rationalism  of  Kuenen,  which 
he  combats,  and  with  impugning  the  inspiration  and 
canonicity  of  all  Scripture,  whicli  he  upholds  and 
preaches,  Dr.  Duff"  shared  the  alarm  of  those  who  con- 
sidered that  **  the  most  momentous  issue  was  involved 


512  LIFE   OF   DB.    DUFF.  1875. 

in  the  crisis."  In  his  eyes  that  issue  was  not  one 
of  Hebrew  scholarship  and  criticism  on  the  recent  field 
of  the  literary  origin  and  structure  of  one  of  the  sacred 
books,  that  its  inspiration  and  canonicity  might  be 
established  against  the  rationalist  and  the  anti-super- 
naturalist,  as  each  stage  of  the  procedure  has  since 
shown.  The  historical  veracity,  infallible  truth,  and 
divine  authority  of  Scripture  seemed  to  him  to  be  at 
stake,  and  to  the  defence  of  that  all  his  antecedents 
and  all  his  principles  summoned  him.  His  experience  in 
Calcutta,  where  he  had  declared  that  of  all  learned  men 
the  Biblical  critic  ought  to  be  the  most  learned,  his 
own  method  there,  and  his  plea  for  learned  as  well  as 
pious  missionaries  before  the  General  Assembly,  proved 
that  he  would  have  been  the  last  to  restrain  the  freedom 
of  legitimate  criticism,  the  first  to  see  that  what  has 
been  called  the  life  of  the  Church's  scholarship  was 
not  threatened  by  a  judicial  condemnation  of  opinions 
which  misfht  afterwards  be  found  to  be  not  inconsistent 
with  the  Reformed  doctrine  of  Holy  Scripture.  But 
before  the  inquiry  and  discussion,  now  of  four  years, 
had  revealed  the  details  of  this  particular  investi- 
gation, it  was  natural  that  Dr.  Duff  should  look  first 
at  what  Professor  Robertson  Smith  has  since  re- 
peatedly declared  he  holds  in  common  with  all  the 
Reformed  Churches, — the  divine  inspiration  and  au- 
thority of  Deuteronomy  and  all  the  canonical  books  of 
Scripture.  Dr.  Duff  had  ever  been  foremost  in  the 
defence  of  the  evans^elical  doctrine  of  the  Bible  as  the 
Word  of  God,  which  was  the  root  of  all  his  missionary 
methods  and  successes. 

These  years  of  controversy,  forced  on  him  in  the 
interests  of  peace,  were  none  the  less  busy  in  other 
good  work  of  a  catholic  kind.  The  same  events  which, 
in  1874,  roused  Mr.  Gladstone  to  expose  what  he 
called   the  monstrous   exaggeration  of  Church  power 


JE\..6().  VATICANISM — PURE    LITERATURE.  513 

into  papal  power,  by  publishing  bis  work  on  the  Vati- 
can decrees  in  their  bearing  on  civil  allegiance,  which, 
with  other  two,  has  since  appeared  under  the  title  of 
"  Rome  and  the  Newest  Fashions  in  Religion,"  sum- 
moned Dr.  Duff  to  take  part,  with  Dr.  Thompson  of 
Berlin  and  others,  in  the  great  Glasgow  meeting  on 
Vaticanism  of  the  5th  October,  1 875.  There  the  old 
fire  burst  forth  again  as  he  addressed  himself  to  the 
popular  exposition  of  the  resolution,  "  That  the  re- 
appearance of  the  papal  system  in  the  free  nations 
of  Britain  and  Germany,  with  bolder  pretensions  than 
ever,  and  waging  open  war  against  all  the  institutions 
of  modern  society,  is  a  fact  of  the  gravest  significance 
to  the  people  of  Scotland,  who  suffered  so  much  from 
it  in  former  days,  and  demands  the  earnest  attention 
of  every  friend  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  and  every 
lover  of  our  Queen  and  country." 

The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  again  claimed 
his  advocacy  in  Exeter  Hall,  although  age  and  toil  had 
begun  to  rob  the  once  thrilling  voice  of  its  power.  To 
the  National  Bible  Society  of  Scotland  he  ever  lent  his 
strength,  alike  in  consultation  and  public  advocacy. 
His  old  love  of  the  press,  and  his  conviction,  too  rarely 
met  with  in  the  Church,  of  the  importance  of  creating 
and  disseminating  a  pure  and  robust  literature,  found 
constant  exercise  in  the  operations  of  the  Tract  and 
Book  Society  of  Scotland  as  well  as  of  England. 
"Working  side  by  side  with  Mr.  Martin,  of  Auchen- 
dennan,  he  sent  pure  books  and  periodicals  into 
many  a  far-distant  manse  and  hamlet.  He  helped  to 
organize  the  system  of  colportage  for  the  agricul- 
tural, mining  and  manufacturing  districts,  and  was 
never  happier  than  amidst  the  gatherings  of  the 
colporteurs  as  they  returned  to  tell  in  conference 
their  doings.  He  knew  the  power  of  literature  for 
good  or  evil,  he  bewailed  the  neglect  of  it  by  evan- 

VOL.    II.  L   L 


514  I'TFI^J    OF   DE.    DUFF.  1876. 

gelicalism.  He  was  prevented  only  by  the  multitudi- 
nous cares  of  his  own  proper  duties,  as  missionar}^, 
convener  and  professor,  from  realizing  his  dream  not 
only  of  a  Missionary  Quarterly,  but  of  a  weekly  news- 
paper to  compete  with  the  secularism  and  sensuality 
which  successfully  appeal  to  the  people,  because  they 
are  offered  nothing  else.  Himself  familiar  with  literary 
work,  and  chivalrous  with  the  inbred  courtesy  of  the 
old  school,  he  could  have  succeeded  had  he  made  the 
attempt  when  he  was  younger,  for  he  knew,  as  few  do, 
how  to  respect  the  literary  profession.  His  experience 
of  India,  where  Mr.  Murray  had  encouraged  him  in 
reprints  of  copyright  works,  led  him  to  desire  such  a 
modification  of  the  law  as  would  substitute  royalties 
for  monopoly,  or  some  equitable  system.  At  the  end 
of  his  career,  as  at  the  beginning,  he  thus  wrote  of 
the  civilizing  effects  of  our  English  literature  :   . 

*'  In  this  country  we  are  literally  deluged  with  a 
constantly  increasing  torrent  of  pernicious  literature, 
fraught  with  the  seeds  of  sedition,  impurity  and 
irreligion — freely  accessible  to  the  humblest  of  the 
masses  because  of  its  cheapness.  On  the  side  of 
British  patriotism  and  Christian  philanthropy,  there- 
fore, is  it  not  most  desirable  that,  by  the  relaxation  or 
removal  of  present  copyright  restrictions,  a  sound  and 
corrective  popular  literature  might,  by  an  ample  re- 
duction of  cost,  be  supplied  and  brought  within  reach 
of  all  classes  over  the  land — much  to  the  advantage 
of  authors,  publishers  and  the  public  ?  Again,  with 
regard  to  India,  English  education  of  every  grade  is 
rapidly  spreading  among  its  teeming  inhabitants.  In 
all  higher  collegiate  education,  the  English  language, 
with  one  or  other  of  the  oriental  tongues,  such  as 
Sanskrit  or  Arabic,  is  always  one  of  the  two  languages 
on  which  students  are  examined  for  university  de- 
grees in  arts.     Consequently,  our  English  classics  are 


^t.  70.  TOURS    IN    HOLLAND    AND    RUSSLV.  515 

profoimdlj  studied  witli  peculiar  zest  and  earnestness 
by  thousands  and  even  tens  of  thousands  of  intelHgcnt 
native  youths ;  and  English  literature,  as  a  living  and 
not  a  dead  one,  becomes  to  them  for  ever  after  the 
main  storehouse  whence  they  draw  their  intellectual 
aliment." 

By  nothing  so  much  as  by  tours  on  the  continent  of 
Europe  did  Dr.  Duff  at  once  keep  up  the  catholicity  de- 
veloped by  his  Indian  experience,  and  the  elasticity  of 
spirit  which  was  essential  for  work  such  as  he  continued 
to  the  last  year  of  his  life.  Almost  every  alternate  year 
he  so  planned  his  time  as  to  give  the  two  months  from 
the  middle  of  June  to  Ausfust  to  this  hicrhest  form 
of  recreation.  Now  he  was  in  Holland,  now  on  tho 
northern  shores  of  the  Mediterranean.  Again  duty 
drove  him  as  far  east  as  the  Lebanon  ;  another  year 
saw  him  exploring  Russia ;  and  another  found  him  in 
Norway.  The  result  to  others  of  his  solitary  wander- 
ings was  sometimes  a  speech  or  a  pamphlet,  but  always 
the  richest  conversation  for  his  friends,  and  the  most 
precious  letters  to  his  family.  To  Lady  Aberdeen  we 
find  him  writing  in  1871 :  "  The  tour  in  Holland  was 
most  seasonable.  I  twice  visited  that  country,  and  I 
did  so  with  much  interest.  There  is  much  in  its  past 
history  of  a  stirring  and  ennobling  character,  on  high 
Christian  grounds ;  though,  alas,  in  these  latter  days, 
there  has  in  this  respect  been  much  lamentable  degen- 
eracy. My  second  visit  was  by  special  invitation  from 
a  union  of  evangelical  societies,  who  were  to  hold  a 
meeting  in  a  wood  near  Utrecht.  Some  fifteen  or  six- 
teen thousand  of  the  still  remaining  good  people  of 
Holland  assembled  on  the  occasion.  In  several  parts 
of  the  wood  some  half-dozen  rustic  pulpits  were  erec- 
ted. The  avowed  object  was  to  give  an  account  of 
difi'erent  Missions  throughout  the  world ;  but  in  so 
doing  full   liberty  was  given  to   the  speakers  to  shape 


5l6  LIFE   OP  DE.    DUFF.  1876. 

their  remarks  so  as  to  bear  directly  on  tlie  rationalism 
and  other  errors  now  unhappily  prevalent  in  Holland. 
There  was  much  solemnity  on  the  occasion,  and  I  sel- 
dom enjoyed  any  gathering  so  much." 

When  at  Hamburg,  in  August,  1871,  about  to  make 
a  tour  by  Denmark  and  Sweden  through  Russia  to  the 
great  fair  at  Nijni  Novgorod,  on  the  Volga,  we  met 
Dr.  Duff  who  had  just  returned  from  the  same  route, 
by  Warsaw  and  the  old  Scandinavian  cities  of  the 
Baltic.  For  a  month  he  had  been  without  letters,  and 
all  the  fulness  of  his  sensitive  nature  burst  forth  as  he 
was  told  of  recent  events,  home  and  ecclesiastical.  In 
a  rapid  drive  to  Blankenese,  and  as  during  a  long 
night  we  paced  the  deck  of  the  steamer  to  sail  on 
the  morrow,  he  detailed,  in  return,  the  events  of  his 
tour  with  a  combined  practical  accuracy  and  eloquent 
description  which  made  him  the  most  charming  as 
well  as  instructive  of  companions.  From  Stock- 
holm through  the  autumn  paradise  of  islands  which 
form  the  Aland  Archipelago  and  on  by  the  gulf  and 
ports  of  Finland,  he  reached  St.  Petersburg.  One  of 
his  fellow-travellers,  the  E,ev.  John  Baillie,  tells  in 
Good  Words  how,  guided  by  the  plan  in  "  Murray," 
his  topographical  instinct  led  him  straight  through 
that  city  of  distances  yet  intricacies  to  the  new  hotel 
which  they  sought.  For  him  the  glories  of  St.  Isaac's 
were  soon  dimmed  by  the  heartless  irreverence  of  the 
Russo-Greek  priests  and  the  superstition  of  the  people, 
so  that  he  declared  he  had  not,  even  in  the  idolatries 
of  the  East,  seen  anything  more  degraded.  At  Mos- 
cow he  revelled  in  the  Kremlin  and  its  associations, 
historical  and  oriental.  But  it  was  in  the  Troifcsa 
Monastery,  forty  miles  off,  that  he  fully  realized  what 
Russia  is,  in  its  good  and  its  evil.  At  this  "  Oxford 
of  Russia  "  he  understood  why  it  is  that  the  most 
perfect  form  of  civil  and  spiritual  autocracy  the  world 


^l.  70.  LAST   TOUR   IN    NORWAY.  5  I  7 

has  seen  is  not  only  a  menace  to  tlie  liberties  of  other 
countries,  but  is  fatal  to  all  progress  among  the  lliis- 
siaus  themselves,  so  that  the  next  great  revolution 
must  be  there  and  soon.  The  sight  and  the  memories 
of  Warsaw  completed  the  lesson.  Thence  he  returned 
by  Konigsberg  and  the  famous  old  cities  of  the  southern 
Baltic,  and  especially  the  island  of  Rugen,  where  ho 
traced  every  detail  of  the  old  Norse  mythology  as 
he  contrasted  its  now  extinct  horrors  with  the  living 
abominations  of  the  popular  Brahmanical  and  Vaish- 
nava  worship  of  India.  At  Breslau  as  well  as  War- 
saw he  had  inspected  the  Jewish  Mission.  His  verdict 
on  the  state  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  North  Germany 
he  expressed  in  the  one  word,  "  petrifaction." 

In  the  last  of  his  long  tours  which  he  made  in  1873 
through  Norway,  he  traversed  the  whole  of  its  sea- 
board from  the  south  up  to  the  region  of  the  miduight 
sun,  whence  he  was  able  to  telegraph  from  the  Ultima 
Thule  of  Vadso  on  the  Varanger  Fiord.  Most  travellers 
who  visit  that  region  are  content,  he  told  the  General 
Assembly,  with  admiring  "  its  deeply  indented  fiords 
with  their  beetling  precipices,  roaring  waterfalls,  and 
waving  forests ;  its  elevated  fields  or  plateaux  of  per- 
petual snow,  and  glaciers  sometimes  descending  to  near 
the  sea  level ;  and  its  numberless  valleys  and  lakes  often 
of  surpassing  richness  and  softened  beauties, — without 
ever  trying  to  realize  the  fact  that  the  very  glories  of 
physical  nature  in  that  land  stand  sadly  in  the  way 
of  its  effective  spiritual  culture  and  improvement." 

He  found  at  its  height  the  movement  towards 
spiritual  liberty  in  the  Lutheran  Church,  begun  by 
the  peasant  preacher,  Hans  Nielsen  Haug,  and  con- 
tinued by  two  evangelical  professors  in  the  University 
of  Christiania.  The  new  life  had  been  driven  into  the 
one  channel  of  the  Foreign  Mission  Society,  which 
from  an  institute  at  Stavanger  had  sent  forth  agents 


5l8  LIFE   OP   DR.    DUFF.  1376, 

to  Madagascar  and  ZululaDd.  At  Durban  Dr.  Duff 
had  met  two  of  these,  and  now  all  his  heart  went  out 
to  the  directors  of  the  society.  A  home  mission  or 
Luther  Institution  had  since  been  formed,  and  a  party 
had  arisen  who  desired  to  follow  the  example  of  the 
Free  Church  of  Scotland.  When  Dr.  Duff  arrived  at 
Christiania  he  found  that  the  movement  had  assumed 
the  proportions  of  a  "land's"  or  national  meeting  re- 
presenting each  of  the  five  "stifts"  or  ecclesiastical 
provinces.  Seeing  in  this,  and  certainly  most  ardently 
desiring,  the  beginning  of  "  a  national  ecclesiastical 
revolution,"  or  at  least  of  reforms  which  might  result  in 
the  continuance  of  "  the  established  but  spiritually 
free  and  independent  Church  of  Norway,"  Dr.  Duff 
yielded  to  the  invitation  to  take  part  in  the  proceedings. 
Thus  at  home  and  abroad,  and  on  the  only  enduring 
basis  of  freedom  for  the  conscience  and  the  truth,  he 
ever  experienced  the  fact  expressed  in  that  pregnant 
sentence  of  the  Lord's  brother :  "  The  fruit  of  right- 
eousness is  sown  in  peace  of  them  that  make  peace.'* 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

1876-1878. 
DYING. 

Dr.  Duff  completes  his  Seventieth  Year. — Accident  in  his  Library. — 
Observin*^  Public  Events. — Progress  of  tlie  Prince  of  Wales 
through  India. — Correspondence  with  Sir  Bartle  Frere. — Pro- 
clamation of  the  Empress. — Conversation  with  Mr.  Gladstone  on 
the  Muhammadau  Question. — Invited  to  Lecture  in  Nave  of  West- 
minster Abbey  on  St.  Andrew's  Day. — Letter  to  his  second 
Convert. — Memorial  of  Dugald  Buchanan. — Renewed  Illness. — 
Surgical  Operation  without  Chloroform. — Message  from  first 
General  Presbyterian  Council. — At  Neuenahr. — Letters  on  the 
Famine  of  South  India  and  his  Calcutta  Students. — Resigns  all 
his  Ofiices. — Is  removed  to  Sidmouth. — Meditations  of  the  dying 
Saint — Last  Messages. — The  end  is  Peace. — The  Burial. — The 
Unity  of  the  Whole  Career. — Mr.  Gladstone  on  Alexander  Duff. 

On  the  25tli  April,  1876,  Dr.  Duff  completed  the 
seventieth  year  of  his  busy  life.  The  college  session 
was  at  an  end ;  the  Universities  had  crowned  their 
winter  course  with  the  usual  ceremonial  of  graduation  ; 
the  ecclesiastical  and  philanthropic  societies,  of  which 
he  was  an  active  member,  were  preparing  for  the 
May  meetings.  It  was  the  time  of  that  one  of  the 
two  sacramental  "fasts"  in  Edinburgh,  every  year, 
when  the  rapt  stillness  of  devotion  in  the  churches 
contrasts  strangely  with  the  rush  of  holiday-makers 
outside,  and  still  perpetuates  amid  ever  increasing 
difficulty  the  old  covenanting  associations  of  the  time, 
when  the  people  and  their  Kirk  formed  one  educated 
spiritual  democracy.  Never  of  late  had  Dr.  Duflf  felt 
so  well,  though  always  wearied  by  the  attempt  to  over- 


520  LIFE    OP   DE.    DUFF.  1876. 

take  tlie  details  of  his  varied  and  excessive  duties,  as 
wlien,  spiritually  braced  by  tbe  exercises  of  a  Scottisli 
communion  season,  he  addressed  himself  to  the  task  of 
once  more  rousing  the  Greneral  Assembly  to  its  duty  to 
Foreign  Missions.  But  the  first  stage  of  what  was  to 
prove  his  fatal  illness  was  at  hand.  "When  acknowledg- 
ing the  receipt  of  a  sum  of  money  from  the  widow  of 
Sir  Henry  Durand,  destined  as  the  annual  prize  for  the 
best  "  essay  on  some  important  subject  of  Christian 
bearing  and  tendency  in  our  Calcutta  Institution  where 
the  name  of  the  revered  departed  is  still  gratefully 
remembered,"  Dr.  Duff  thus  alluded  to  an  accident  and 
an  illness  which  his  physician  considered  far  more 
serious  than  the  sufferer  himself. 

"  I  was  delighted  to  learn  you  had  met  with  good 
Dr.  Bonar.  He  is  a  man  of  rare  gifts,  poetical  as  well 
as  other,  and  of  a  high-toned  Christian  character.  He 
is  not  only  a  dear  friend  but  a  near  neighbour  of  mine 
here.  It  is  quite  true  that,  before  he  left  Edinburgh 
early  in  May  last,  I  was  in  ordinary  health,  but  during 
his  absence,  towards  the  end  of  May,  I  met  with  a 
serious  accident,  having  fallen  from  a  considerable 
height  heavily  on  my  back  in  my  study,  my  head  knock- 
ing against  a  desk  and  getting  sadly  gashed.  This 
confined  me  to  my  bedroom  for  weeks.  When  getting 
well  and  able  to  move  about  towards  the  end  of  July, 
I  was  suddenly  seized  with  a  violent  attack  of  illness 
which  disabled  me  for  about  two  months.  Since 
October,  however,  by  God's  great  goodness,  I  have 
enjoyed  ordinary  health."  The  double  warning  was 
unheeded,  and  the  old  man  of  seventy-one  persisted 
in  discharging  his  office  and  professorial  duties  all 
through  the  session  of  1876-77,  travelling  much 
between  Edinburgh,  Grlasgow  and  Aberdeen  in  the 
rigour  of  a  Scottish  winter,  and  for  the  first  three 
months  of  1877  longing  for  the  familiar  surroundings 


JEt  ^o.  H.R.H.    TEE    TRINCE    OF   WALES.  521 

of  his  own  home  though  lovingly  tended  by  friends  in 
the  last  two  cities. 

Intellectually  he  seemed  to  grow  in  keenness  of 
observation  and  energy.  The  great  public  events 
which  marked  the  close  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  adminis- 
tration, the  transfer  of  power  to  his  rivals,  and  the 
consistent  attitude  of  the  Scottish  people  throughout, 
were  viewed  by  him  from  a  higher  level  than  that  of 
party.  Like  most  Anglo-Indians  and  Englishmen  who 
have  lived  much  abroad,  he  looked  at  affairs  as  they 
affected  not  the  domestic  politics  of  Great  Britain — 
while  by  no  means  indifferent  to  these — but  the 
welfare  of  the  great  peoples  of  the  East  and  West. 
Liberty,  the  free  development  of  the  nations  under 
Christian  institutions  or  influences,  was  what  ho 
sought,  whether  in  his  own  country  and  its  colonies 
or  in  America,  alike  for  India  and  Russia  and  Turkey. 
The  longer  he  lived  out  of  India,  above  all,  the  more 
did  he  concern  himself  with  its  progress.  Had  he  not 
sown  many  of  the  seeds  of  that  progress  ?  Had  he 
not  been  a  part  of  the  mighty  machine  of  Christian 
civilization  in  Southern  Asia,  at  a  time  when  Bentinck 
and  Macaulay,  Charles  Grant  and  Wilberforce  were 
putting  it  together  ?  Was  it  not  his  daily  employment 
to  control  the  administration  of  an  enterprise  directed 
to  the  transformation  of  millions  into  Christian  men 
and  women  ? 

For  Dr.  Duff  the  visit  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  to 
India  and  all  that  it  involved  had  a  profound  interest. 
Personally  familiar  with  the  career  of  every  Governor- 
General  from  Lord  William  Bentinck  to  Lord  Canning, 
John  Lawrence,  Lord  Mayo,  and  Lord  Northbrook,  ho 
knew  the  tremendous  influence  of  example  for  good  or 
evil  in  such  a  position.  Especially  had  the  natives  of 
India,  ignorant  of  the  spirit  of  Christian  faith  and 
worship,  tested   the  sincerity  of   their  rulers  by  the 


522  LIFB    OP   DU.    DUFF.  1876. 

letter,  by  a  standard  so  familiar  to  their  level  as  that 
of  keeping  a  liolj  day.  Had  not  tlie  Marquis  Wellesley 
eighty  years  before  been  so  convinced  of  the  evil  poli- 
tical effects  of  Sabbath-breaking  by  Christians  that  he 
took  steps  to  secure  the  better  observance  of  the  day 
among  the  European  residents  of  Bengal  ?  Did  not 
Viscount  Hardinge,  with  Henry  Lawrence  at  his  elbow, 
decree  the  discontinuance  of  public  works  on  Sunday, 
a  decree  ever  since  too  little  regarded  and  never 
enforced  ?  Was  it  unknown  or  forgotten  that  w^hen 
Lord  Canning,  in  the  year  after  the  Mutiny,  was  about 
to  make  his  triumphal  march  through  the  Punjab  on 
any  or  every  day  of  the  week,  as  he  had  done  through 
Hindostan,  he  received  with  silent  courtesy  the  rebuke 
contained  in  the  example  of  John  Lawrence,*  and 
thenceforth  no  tent  was  ever  again  struck  on  a  Sunday 
in  the  Viceroy's  camp  ?  How  would  the  Prince  of 
Wales  act  in  a  rapid  tour  through  the  feudatory  states 
as  well  as  the  ordinary  provinces,  when  all  the  chivalry 
of  India,  Hindoo  and  Muhammadan,  would  be  at  the 
feet  of  the  Queen's  eldest  son,  when  multitudes  of  the 
peoples  and  all  the  Christian  officials  would  crowd 
around  his  Royal  Highness  ? 

The  churches  and  communities  which  sent  forth  their 
future  sovereign  that  he  might  thus  prepare  himself 
for  the  responsibilities  of  empire,  did  well  to  be  in 
earnest  about  it.  Presbyters  and  bishops  invoked  on 
his  head  the  protecting  blessing  of  Almighty  God, 
praying,  as  in  Lichfield  diocese,  that  He  would 
"  strengthen,  support,  and  sanctify  him  in  his  works ; 
that  he  might  be  a  blessed  instrument  in  Thy  hand  for 
promoting  the  welfare  of  India,  and  for  spreading 
forth  Thy  gospel  and  advancing  Thy  kingdom."    From 

*  John,  First  Lord  Lawrence  of  the  Punjab,  by  Robert  N.  Cust. 
August,  1879. 


^t.  70.  INDIAN   TEOGRLSS   OF   THE    PRINCE.  523 

Gloucester  cathedral  a  similar  petition  arose.  In 
A\^estminster  Abbey  the  Dean,  taking  for  a  text  tlie 
description  in  Esther  of  the  hundred  and  seven  and 
twenty  provinces  of  Xerxes,  from  India  even  unto 
Ethiopia,  used  language  like  tliis  :  *'  To-morrow  the 
first  heir  to  the  Eno-lish  throne  who  has  ever  visited  the 
Indian  Empire  starts  on  his  journey  to  those  distant 
regions  which  the  greatest  of  his  ancestors,  Alfred 
the  Great,  a  thousand  years  ago,  so  ardently  longed 
to  explore,  which  now  forms  the  most  precious  jewel 
in  the  imperial  crown.  On  this  eve  of  that  departure, 
solemn  to  him  and  solemn  to  us,  we  pray  that  the 
eldest  son  of  our  Royal  House,  in  whoso  illness  and 
recovery  four  years  ago  the  whole  nation  took  so  deep 
an  interest,  shall  now  once  more  be  delivered  from 
peril  by  land  and  peril  by  sea,  from  the  pestilence  that 
walketh  by  day  and  the  arrow  that  flieth  by  night ; 
we  pray  that  he  may  be  restored  safe  and  sound  to 
the  mother,  the  wife  and  the  little  children  who  shall 
wait  in  anxious  expectation  his  happy  and  prosperous 
return.  But  we  pray,  or  ought  to  pray,  yet  more 
earnestly  that  his  journey  may  be  blessed  to  himself 
and  to  those  whom  he  visits — in  all  things  high  and 
holy,  just  and  pure,  lovely  and  of  good  report.  We 
pray  that  this  visit,  long  desired  and  at  last  under- 
taken, to  those  marvellous  lands,  may  by  God's  mercy 
leave  behind,  on  the  one  side,  the  remembrance,  if  so 
be,  of  graceful  acts,  kind  words,  English  nobleness, 
Christian  principle ;  and,  on  the  other  side,  awaken  in 
all  concerned  the  sense  of  graver  duties,  wider  sym- 
pathies, loftier  purposes.  Thus,  and  thus  only,  shall 
that  journey  on  which  the  Church  and  nation  now 
pronounce  its  parting  benediction,  be  worthy  of  a 
Christian  empire  and  worthy  of  an  English  prince,  for 
the  building  up  in  truth  and  righteousness  of  that 
imperial  inheritance,  for  the  moral  and  eternal  welfare 


524  LII'B    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1876. 

of  his  own  immortal  soul ;  may  the  Lord  bless  his 
going  out  and  coming  in  from  this  time  forth  and  for 
evermore." 

In  Scotland  the  societies  most  interested,  like  the 
Sabbath  Alliance,  turned  to  Dr.  Duff  for  counsel.  To 
the  many  who  urged  action,  by  memorial  and  pubhc 
discussion,  he  gave  in  substance  this  wise  advice : 

Let  us  not  hastily  or  unadvisedly  assume  that  this 
is  a  subject  which  his  Royal  Highness  is  disposed  to 
treat  with  indifference,  or  that  it  is  one  which  has  not 
already  engaged  his  own  serious  attention.  He  knows 
well  how  the  due  observance  of  the  Sabbath  is  studi- 
ously provided  for  in  the  laws  and  constitution  of  this 
realm ;  how  vitally  it  enters  into  the  liturgical  services 
of  the  Church  of  England,  of  which  the  British  mon- 
arch is  the  civil  head ;  and  how  precious  it  is  in  the 
deliberate  judgment  of  the  best  and  most  reputable  of 
her  Majesty's  Christian  subjects,  alike  at  home  and  in 
every  other  region  of  the  earth.  From  his  acquaint- 
ance with  the  history  of  India,  he  must  be  doubtless 
aware  of  the  excellent  effects  produced  by  the  ordin- 
ance of  the  Marquis  Wellesley,  relative  to  the  better 
observance  of  the  Sabbath  among  European  residents, 
and  by  the  decree  of  Lord  Hardinge  ordering  the 
discontinuance  of  all  public  Government  works  on 
that  day.  From  his  ample  observation  also  of  men 
and  manners  in  divers  lands,  he  must  know  well  how 
nothing  tends  to  exalt  Christians  more  highly  in  the 
favourable  regards  of  Orientals  of  all  races  and  sects, 
than  a  careful  attention  to  the  acknowledged  require- 
ments and  observance  of  their  own  faith.  It  seems, 
therefore,  only  fitting  and  deferential  to  assume  and 
believe  that  his  Royal  Highness,  knowing  full  well  all 
this  and  much  more  of  like  kind,  has  of  his  own  accord 
duly  considered  the  whole  subject  in  its  varied  legiti- 
mate bearings,  and  intelligently  made  up  his  mind  as 


Mt  70.  PUOCLAMATION    OF   THE    EMPKESS.  525 

to  the  tourso  of  conduct  whicli  it  would  be  most  con- 
sistent and  dignified  for  liim,  as  a  Christian  prince,  to 
pursue.  Taking  this  general  view  of  the  case,  alto- 
gether apart  from  the  higher  and  more  specific  con- 
siderations connected  with  the  obliofations  of  divine  law, 
as  recorded  in  the  Decalogue,  and  elsewhere  in  Holy 
Scripture,  he  recommended  interested  parties  in  the 
meanwhile  to  resort  to  no  measure  of  a  kind  that 
might  indicate  a  want  of  becoming  confidence  in  tho 
sound  sense  and  good  feeling  of  his  Royal  Highness  ; 
to  refrain  from  any  overt  action  in  the  way  of  public 
meetings  or  official  addresses  or  memorials,  and  to 
leave  the  decision  as  to  the  course  of  action  to  be  ob- 
served to  the  spontaneous  suggestions  of  the  Prince's 
own  mind,  backed  by  the  wise  counsel  of  his  advisers. 
As  an  old  friend  of  the  chief  of  these  advisers,  Sir 
Bartle  Frere,  Dr.  Duff"  privately  addressed  him  on  the 
subject.  The  correspondence  is  most  honourable  to 
both,  and  to  the  Prince  to  whom  it  was  submitted. 
The  fact  was  elicited  so  early  as  the  11th  September, 
1875,  a  month  before  the  departure,  that  one  of  the 
first  instructions  given  by  his  Royal  Highness  to  Sir 
Bartle  Frere,  when  desiring  him  to  arrange  for  the 
tour,  had  been  to  take  care  that  no  travelling  or  other 
secular  work  should  be  marked  out  for  any  Sunday. 
Her  Majesty  had  expressed  a  similar  wish.  The  desire 
and  the  example  of  the  Viceroy,  Lord  Northbrook, 
and  of  Sir  Bartle  Frere  himself,  were  well  known. 
And  it  was  soon  announced  that  Canon  Duckworth 
was  to  be  the  Prince's  chaplain  on  the  tour.  Dr.  Duff 
delighted  in  every  step  of  the  royal  progress  during 
the  next  six  months,  as  a  message  of  goodwill  to 
the  peoples  of  India  in  the  concrete  form  which  all 
classes  of  them  best  appreciated.  When  the  tour  was 
happily  concluded  he  thus  wrote  to  a  friend  on  tlio 
15th  April,  1876 : — **  Taking  it  all  and  all  in  its  varied 


526  LIFE    OF   DK.    DUFF.  1876. 

and  multiplied  bearings  and  aspects,  it  is  to  my  owu 
mind  the  most  remarkable  tour  to  be  found  in  thti 
annals  of  all  time." 

The  royal  visit  resulted  in  such  a  titular  and  politi- 
cal proclamation  of  the  Empire  as  ought  to  have  been 
made  on  the  1st  November,  1858,  when  the  Queen 
assumed  the  direct  sovereignty  till  then  held  by  the 
Bast  India  Company  in  trust.  Here  again  India 
became  the  sport  of  English  party  feeling,  as  it  has 
often  been  the  victim  of  ecclesiastical  divisions.  An  act 
in  itself  desirable  from  its  administrative  and  kindly 
social  uses,  was  converted  into  an  occasion  of  consti- 
tutional weakness.  Dr.  Duff  thus  expressed  his  view 
of  it  in  a  letter  to  Lady  Durand,  written  on  the  23rd 
December,  1876  :  "  The  matter  of  the  Queen's  new  title 
was  miserably  bungled  and  mismanaged  in  Parliament 
through  the  wretched  spirit  of  political  partisanship. 
But  now  that  it  has  become  an  Act  of  Parliament,  I 
feel  that  all  loyal  subjects  ought  to  unite  in  trying  to 
make  it  work  for  good  in  India.  In  the  main,  I  hope 
that  this  will  be  the  case,  if  our  folks  act  wisely  and 
prudently  on  the  occasion  of  the  Proclamation,  and 
with  good  sense  and  good  feeling  afterwards.  How 
my  old  revered  friend  and  your  beloved  husband  will 
be  missed  on  the  occasion.  His  experience,  sagacity, 
far-sighted  wisdom  and  noble  superiority  to  the  petty 
spirit  of  all  mere  partisanship,  would  have  given  weight 
and  dignity  to  the  Viceroy's  counsels  and  actings." 
In  an  address  to  the  people  of  Edinburgh  on  the  1st 
January,  1877,  the  day  of  the  Proclamation  at  Delhi, 
Dr.  Duff  gave  his  reading  of  these  events  in  the  light 
of  that  spiritual  aggression  on  the  idolatries  of  the 
East  to  which  he  had  sacrificed  his  life. 

By  that  time  the  Indian  question  had  been  directly 
made  part  of  the  great  Eastern  problem,  which  is  still 
being  slowly  worked  out  in  the  divine   evohition  of 


/Et.  70.  NATIONiVL   INTERCESSION   FOR   MISSIONS.  527 

liistory.  It  was  in  September,  1876,  that  Mr.  Glad- 
stone summoned  tlie  conscience  of  England  to  pro- 
nounce a  verdict  on  the  Mussuhnan  power  which  had 
caused  the  anarchic  oppression  of  centuries  to  cuhnin- 
ate  in  the  horrors  of  the  Bulgarian  massacres.  Dr.  DufF 
met  him  at  Lady  Waterford's  soon  after,  and  engaged 
in  conversation  on  Muhammadanism,  which  the  great 
statesman  subsequently  pronounced  most  fruitful  in 
its  suggestiveness. 

On  no  day  of  all  his  later  years  was  Dr.  Duff  happier 
than  on  that  of  the  one  patron  saint  tolerated  but 
forgotten  by  Scotsmen,  till  they  go  abroad.  Their 
Churches  had  agreed  with  those  of  England  and  Ire- 
land to  observe  St.  Andrew's  Day,  the  oOth  November, 
annually  as  a  time  of  intercession  with  Grod  for  an 
increase  in  the  number  of  missionaries.  While  with 
as  much  catholicity  as  is  allowed  to  him  Dean  Stanley 
opened  the  nave  of  Westminster  Abbey  on  that  occasion 
to  some  great  preacher,  lay  or  clerical,  of  one  of  the 
Reformed  Churches,  there  met  in  the  hall  of  the  Free 
Church  General  Assembly  a  congregation  whose  ser- 
vice was  led  by  a  representative  of  each  of  the  three 
branches  of  the  old  historic  Kirk.  It  happened,  un- 
fortunately, that  Dr.  Daff  was  committed  to  preside  at 
the  Scottish  intercessory  service  of  187G,  when  the 
Dean  of  Westminster  asked  him  to  preach  in  the 
Abbey  from  which  Presbyterianism  takes  its  con- 
fession and  its  catechisms,  as  the  immediate  successor 
of  the  venerable  Dr.  Moffat  of  South  Africa.  In  the 
last  sermon,  of  1878,  which  he  preached  on  these 
unique  occasions,  in  the  morning  before  the  lecture  in 
the  nave.  Dean  Stanley  thus  gracefully,  if  not  with 
perfect  historical  accuracy,  alluded  to  Dr.  Duff : — 

'•  For  the  fourth  teacher  in  this  succession  there 
would  have  been,  but  for  the  imperative  duti(}s  required 
by  the  like  celebration  in  his  own  communion  beyond 


528  LIFE    OP  DR.    DCJFJ?.  1876. 

the  border,  one  whom  the  late  Chief  Ruler  of  India 
had  designated  as,  amongst  all  living  names,  the  one 
that  had  carried  most  weight  amongst  the  Hindoo  and 
the  Muhammadan  nations  of  our  vast  empire,  as  a 
faithful  pastor  and  a  wise  and  considerate  teacher. 
Though  he  belonged  in  his  later  years  to  a  communion 
which  had  broken  off  from  its  parent  stock,  yet  his 
generous  spirit  eagerly  welcomed  the  call  which  was 
made  to  him,  and,  but  for  the  accidental  circumstance 
to  which  I  have  referred,  would  gladly  have  responded 
to  it.  His  place  was  filled  by  a  representative  preacher 
from  the  Church  of  Ireland." 

The  catholic  intercessory  service  was  followed  soon 
after  by  the  promise  to  lecture,  in  Edinburgh  Univer- 
sity, to  the  Missionary  Society  of  the  theological 
students  of  the  Established  Church,  formed  in  1825 
by  his  Bombay  colleague,  Dr.  Wilson,  whose  death  at 
the  close  of  1875  he  had  mourned.  As  the  years  went 
on  and  death  thinned  the  ranks  not  only  of  his  contem- 
poraries, but  of  his  converts  and  students,  he  turned 
with  ever  fonder  affection  to  the  past — to  those  in  the 
past  still  spared  by  time.  This  is  one  of  many  letters 
which  show  his  closing  days  lighted  up  by  the  reflec- 
tion of  his  earlier  triumphs  in  the  cause  of  truth  and 
righteousness,  when  he  was  still  a  ruddy  youth  of 
twenty-four,  from  the  lecture-room  of  College  Square 
shaking  all  Calcutta.  He  is  writing  to  his  second 
convert,  the  stout-hearted  editor  of  the  Inquirer  of 
1832,  whom  the  University  of  Calcutta  had  honoured 
with  the  degree  of  LL.D. — the  Rev.  Krishna  Mohun 
Banerjea : 

"22,  Lauder  Road,  Edinburgh,  Btth  June,  1876. 

"  My  Dear  Old  Fkiend, — Though  it  is  now  a  long  time 
since  I  have  written  to  you,  or  heard  from  you  direct,  I  often 
hear  of  you,  and  constantly,  indeed  I  may  say  daily,  think  of 


/Fa.  70.  TO   HIS    SECOND   CONVERT.  529 

you;  as  it  is  my  habit  to  remcrabcr,  in  my  hutnblo  prayers, 
among  others  old  Indian  friends,  and  especially  those  who, 
like  youi'self,  have  been  honoured  in  rendering-  good  service 
in  the  cause  of  our  common  glorious  Lord  and  Master  Jesus 
Christ.  Often,  often  also  when  alone — and  I  am  often  alone 
as  regards  human  society — do  I  recall  the  singularly  stirring 
days  of  '  auld  laug  syne,'  as  we  say  in  Scotland,  the  days 
of  forty-five  or  forty-six  years  ago  !  To  think  of  them,  and 
of  the  mighty  changes  since,  often  affords  the  greatest  solace 
and  encouragement  to  my  own  spirits. 

*'But  I  cannot  dwell  on  these  now.  About  ten  days  ago  I 
met  with  a  severe  accident  which  confined  me  to  bed  for  a 
week,  and  I  am  now  only  slowly  recovering  from  the  effects 
of  it.  I  cannot,  however,  let  this  mail  leave  without  writing, 
however  meagrely  and  briefly,  to  congratulate  you  on  your 
well-merited  university  honour  at  last !  The  late  Bishop  Cotton 
used  to  confer  with  me  about  it ;  and  we  both  lamented  that 
the  door  was  not  then  open.  Since  returning  to  this  country, 
I  again  and  again  thought  of  applying  to  one  of  our  Scottish 
Universities  on  the  subject ;  and  some  obstacle  or  other  always 
came  in  the  way.  I,  therefore,  now  rejoice  the  more  on  that 
account,  that  it  has  come  to  you  in  a  way  so  natural  and  in 
every  respect  so  honourable.  Long  may  you  still  survive,  ray 
dear  friend,  to  enjoy  it  !  Apart  from  this  object  it  was  my 
intention  to  write  and  thank  you  for  a  copy  which  has  reached 
me  of  your  latest  work,  *The  Aryan  Witness,'  marked  on 
the  title  page  'With  the  author's  compliments.'  With  all 
my  heart  I  thank  you  for  this  very  kind  remembrance  of  me. 
I  have  already  looked  through  it;  and  feel  that  it  is  every 
way  worthy  of  your  deservedly  high  reputation  for  learned 
research  and  scholarship,  while  you  calmly  maintain  your  cha- 
I'acter  as  a  Christian.  Long  may  you  live  to  produce  such 
works  !  May  the  Lord  bless  you  more  and  more  !  Yours 
affectionately,  "  Alexander  Duff." 

We  trace  a  link  with  a  still  earlier  past  in  the  ac- 
knowledgment of  a  contribution  which  Dr.  Duff  sent 
for  the  erection  of  a  memorial  of  Dugald  Buchanan, 
the  Gaelic  catechist  of  Kinloch  Rannoch,  whose  poems 
had  fed  his  youthful  fancy  and  coloured  his  later  life. 

VOL.  ir.  M  M 


530  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1877. 

Dr.  Duff  had  hardly  written  his  hopeful  letter  to 
Lady  Durand  at  the  end  of  1876,  when  his  malady 
assumed  a  new  and  acute  form.  Yet  with  unconscious 
heroism  he  struo-aled  on  all  throuo^h  the  months  to  the 
close  of  the  session.  Incidentally,  in  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Martin  of  Auchendennan  on  certain  books  submitted 
to  him  for  his  opinion,  he  thus  described  his  con- 
dition : 

"Edinburgh,  1st  March,  1877. 

"  For  several  months  I  have  been  much  troubled  with  the 
slow  and  gradual  but  constantly  increasing  growth  of  a  peculiar 
tumour  in  the  hollow  behind  my  right  ear.  The  pain  was  un- 
ceasing by  day  and  night.  About  a  fortnight  ago,  when  in 
Edinburgh,  I  felt  constrained  to  consult  two  separate  doctors. 
They  both  concurred  in  the  same  judgment,  viz.,  that  the 
malady  was  a  serious  one,  but  was  still,  humanly  speaking, 
removable  by  a  surgical  operation,  which  would  be  very  pain- 
ful and  necessitate  my  being  confined  to  my  room  for  a  few 
days  thereafter.  I  asked  if  it  would  make  any  material  dif- 
ference if  I  delayed  the  operation  for  a  week  or  ten  days,  as  I 
was  most  anxious  to  finish  my  work  in  Glasgow,  before  being 
disabled  thereby.  The  reply  was,  the  sooner  the  operation  is 
performed  the  better ;  but  since  the  malady  had  been  so  long 
maturing,  a  week  or  ten  days  longer  might  make  no  essential 
difference.  On  Monday  about  3  p.m.  Dr.  Watson  came  with 
his  assistant  to  my  house.  Knowing  how  severe  the  pain 
would  be  he  advised  the  use  of  chloroform.  But,  on  the  whole, 
I  declined  this,  on  the  simple  ground  that  I  would  rather  try 
and  consciously  bear  pain  necessitated  by  a  visitation  of  Pro- 
vidence, than  deliberately  i-ender  myself  unconscious  of  it 
during  the  necessary  operation.  This,  with  his  wonted  skill. 
Dr.  Watson  performed ;  though  more  than  once  I  all  but 
fainted  away  under  the  acuteness  of  the  pain.  Soon,  how- 
ever, by  God's  blessing,  the  acute  pain  was  ended,  and  gave 
place  to  a  dull  bearable  pain. 

"  Since  then  my  head  has  been,  and  still  is,  bandaged  up.  I 
am  quite  unfit  to  see  any  one — indeed,  peremptorily  forbidden 
by  the  doctor  to  see  any  one  but  my  daughter,  who  acts  as  the 
kindest  of  nurses  towards  me.       I  am  not  forbidden,  however. 


^t.  71.  GENERAL   COUNCIL   OP    PRESBYTERIANS.  53 1 

to  read  a  little  or  write  a  little,  though  in  the  state  of  my 
head  the  doctor  recommcuds  as  little  of  either  as  at  all  pos- 
sible.    So  I  have  looked  again  into  the  books." 

Not  only  the  General  Assembly  in  May,  but  the  first 
meeting  of  the  General  Presbyterian  Council  in  July, 
was  denied  to  the  invalid.  But  his  indomitable  spirit 
burst  forth,  to  the  latter,  in  a  letter  burning  with 
almost  youthful  enthusiasm  for  missionary  extension. 
He  urged  that  the  first  Council  of  all  the  Presbyterian 
Churches  of  Europe,  America,  and  their  colonies,  re- 
presenting 19,373  congregations,  should  not  allow 
its  charity  and  faith  to  evaporate  in  conferences 
and  resolutions  only,  but  should  undertake  a  joint 
mission  in  Melanesia,  where  already  the  New  Hebrides 
group,  consecrated  by  the  blood  of  John  Williams  and 
the  Gordons,  is  being  evangelized  by  five  Presbyterian 
Churches.  The  reply  of  the  Council,  which  is  to  hold 
its  second  meeting  at  Philadelphia  next  September, 
thus  concluded  : 

''  The  Council  desire  to  express  their  veneration 
and  love  for  Dr.  Duff,  the  first  missionary  to  the 
heathen  from  the  Reformed  Church  of  Scotland,  and 
they  bless  the  Lord  of  the  Church  for  his  long  and 
honoured  services  in  connection  with  the  spread  of  the 
gospel  of  the  grace  of  God.  It  has  been  a  subject  of 
deep  regret  to  the  delegates  from  all  Churches  and 
countries,  that  in  consequence  of  weak  health  Dr.  Duff 
has  been  prevented  from  attending  the  meetings  of 
Council.  They  ask  Dr.  Duff  to  accept,  with  their 
affectionate  regard,  the  assurance  of  their  earnest 
prayer  that  it  may  please  God  to  spare  him  yet  a  little 
longer  for  the  cause  of  Christ  on  the  earth,  and  that  in 
the  retirement  of  the  sick  room  he  may  a'  ide  in  the 
peace  which  passeth  all  understanding,  and  be  sup- 
ported by  the  sense  of  his  blessed  Master's  presence." 


532  LIFE    OP    DE.    DUFP.  1878 

Dr.  Duff  bad  sought  health  in  his  loved  solitude  of 
Patterdale  ;  but  the  long  walks  to  which  convalescence 
tempted  him  brought  on  persistent  jaundice.  The 
disease  continued  to  gain  on  him  in  spite  of  a  resi- 
dence for  six  weeks  at  the  German  bath  of  Neuenahr, 
of  the  skill  of  Dr.  P.  H.  Watson,  and  of  the  loving 
attention  of  his  devoted  daughter  and  grandson.  He 
was  with  difficulty  brought  back  by  slow  stages  to 
Edinburgh.  There  he  wrote  letters,  resigning  all  the 
offices  he  held  in  the  Church  and  in  many  societies, 
religious  and  benevolent.  Not  that  his  courageous 
though  resigned  soul  anticipated  removal.  But  he 
had  resolved  to  devote  his  whole  nature  to  a  renewed 
advocacy  throughout  Scotland  of  the  duty  of  more 
faithfully  carrying  out  Christ's  last  commission.  The 
Indian  mail  brought  him  a  newspaper  report  of  the 
proceedings  of  his  converts,  students  and  native 
friends,  all  Christians,  who  had  met  in  the  hall  of  the 
Free  Church  Institution  on  the  18th  of  August  to  un- 
veil a  bust  of  their  great  teacher  and  spiritual  father, 
made  by  Mr.  Hutchison,  of  Edinburgh.  He  sum- 
moned strength  to  write  to  his  successor  there,  Mr. 
Fyfe,  who  had  presided  on  the  occasion,  a  long  letter, 
which  thus  closed: 

"  It  is  true  that  1  did,  and  do,  most  fervently  long 
for  the  intellectual  and  moral,  the  social  and  domestic 
elevation  of  the  people  of  India ;  and  that  in  my  own 
humble  way  I  did,  and  do  still,  labour  incessantly 
towards  the  realizing  of  so  blessed  a  consummation. 
I  have  lived  in  the  assured  faitb,  and  shall  die  in  the 
assured  faith,  that  ultimately,  sooner  or  later,  it  shall, 
under  the  overrulings  of  a  gracious  Providence,  be 
gloriously  realized.  Meanwhile,  though  absent  in  the 
body  I  can  truly  say  that  I  am  daily  present  in  spirit 
with  yourself  and  all  other  fellow-labourers  in  India, 
v/hether   European   or   Native.      Indeed    wherever   1 


^t.   72.  LOVE    FOR   TUE   NATIVES    OP   INDIA.  533 

wander,  wlierevor  I  stay,  ray  licarfc  is  still  in  India — ia 
deep  sympathy  with  its  multitudinous  inhabitants,  and 
in  earnest  longings  for  their  highest  welfare  in  time 
and  in  eternity." 

To  escape  the  northern  winter  he  was  removed  to 
the  sheltered  Devonshire  retreat  of  Sidmouth,  where 
two  years  previously  he  had  found  rest.  Not  long 
before  Sir  Bar  tie  Frere  had  tried  to  draw  him  as  his 
guest  to  Africa,  to  the  old  scenes  at  Cape  Town,  to  a 
tour  among  the  missions  new  and  old  in  Kaffraria  and 
Natal.  We  shall  never  forget  our  parting  interview 
the  night  before  he  left  Edinburgh,  when  the  veteran 
of  seventy-two  was  still  the  old  man  eloquent,  his  eye 
flashing  as  he  heard  of  the  relief  of  the  famine-stricken 
millions  of  South  India,  and  his  half  audible  voice 
seeming  to  gain  momentary  strength  as  he  blessed 
God  for  the  liberality  of  the  Christian  people  who  had 
saved  them.  On  another  he  specially  laid  the  duty  of 
thanking  the  treasurers  and  collectors  of  the  mission 
associations  which  he  had  created.  "  Ah,"  he  ex- 
claimed, "  we  should  never  have  got  on  without  their 
assistance,  and  I  have  long  felt  that  their  services  have 
never  been  sufficiently  acknowledged." 

He  was  succeeded  in  his  office  of  president  of  the 
Anglo-Indian  Evangelization  Society,  by  Lord  Pol- 
warth,  and  was  placed  in  the  honorary  position  of  its 
patron  along  with  the  great  statesman  who  was  to 
follow  him  all  too  soon.  Lord  Lawrence.  But  the  chair 
of  Evangelistic  Theology,  emphatically  his  own  crea- 
tion and  the  pride  of  his  Church,  is  not  yet  filled  up. 
As  he  lay  a-dying  he  was  troubled  at  what  he  believed 
to  be  an  inadequate  estimate  of  its  nature  and  im- 
portance, and  dictated  a  remonstrance  which  cannot 
be  much  longer  overlooked.  He  had  resigned  it,  he 
wrote,  in  the  belief  that  there  would  be  carried  out 
"  the  spirit  of  the  General  Assembly's  enactment  con- 


534  I^If'E    01*'   ^'^'    DUFF.  1878, 

stituting  tlie  chair,  and  tlie  intention  of  its  liberal 
founders,  which  was  that  it  should  be  mainly,  though 
not  exclusively,  devoted  to  the  grand  theme  of  Foreign 
Missions,  the  field  of  which  is  '  the  world.'  " 

Summoned  from  Calcutta  by  telegraph  his  second 
son  reached  his  side  just  a  month  before  he  passed 
away,  to  join  with  his  daughter  and  with  the  grandson 
who  bears  his  name  in  tender  ministration.  Very  pre- 
cious was  the  privilege  of  communion  with  the  man  of 
God  during  that  month.  So  incessant  had  been  his 
activities  in  his  Master's  service ;  so  eager  was  his 
spirit  even  then  to  complete,  as  he  thought,  his  earthly 
work  for  such  a  Master,  that  he  would  fain  have  lived, 
yet  was  resigned  to  his  Father's  will.  When  the  first 
joy  of  seeing  his  son  was  over,  he  said,  "  I  am  in  God's 
hands,  to  go  or  stay.  If  He  has  need  of  me  He  will 
raise  me  up ;  if  otherwise  it  is  far  better."  That  was 
on  the  12th  January.  As  the  days  of  weakness  passed 
on,  the  poison  in  the  blood  gaining  on  the  body  but 
the  brain  holding  untouched  the  citadel  of  the  soul, 
he  said  on  the  24th :  "  I  had  intended  if  spared — if 
s;pared — to  resign  next  May  absolutely  both  oflBces 
(the  professorship  and  convenership).  It  seemed  the 
natural  course  of  procedure  when  entering  on  my 
jubilee  year — the  fiftieth  year  of  being  a  missionary  of 
the  Established  Church  of  Scotland.  If  God  spared 
me,  my  intention  then  was,  after  being  thus  liberated 
from  necessary  ofiBcial  duties,  to  give  myself  wholly 
to  the  completion  of  the  work  which  was  only  begun 
by  the  establishment  of  the  missionary  professorship  ; 
that  is,  to  try  and  rouse  the  people  of  Scotland  to  a 
sense  of  the  paramount  duty  of  devoting  themselves  to 
the  cause  of  Missions,  and  secure  the  means  of  estab- 
lishing an  endowment  of  a  Home  and  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Institute,  based  upon  the  most  unsectarian  and 
comprehensive  principles  of  the  glorious  and  blessed 


^t.  72.  LAST   MESSAGES.  535 

gospel  of  Christ.  If  I  saw  this  accomplished,  or  a 
solid  prospect  of  its  being  soon  accomplished,  I  sliould 
feel,  as  far  as  my  humble  judgment  could  discern,  that 
my  work  on  earth  to  promote  the  glory  and  honour  of 
my  blessed  Saviour  was  completed,  and  would  be  ready 
to  exclaim  with  old  Simeon,  '  Now  lettest  Thou  thy 
servant  depart  in  peace.'  But  if  all  this  were  to  be 
unexpectedly  unhinged,  and  a  totally  different  course 
in  Providence  opened  up,  I  was  prepared — thanks, 
eternal  thanks,  to  the  Great  Jehovah,  I  was  equally 
ready  and  willing — to  submit  to  any  change  which  He 
in  His  infinite  wisdom,  goodness  and  love  might  be 
pleased  to  indicate."  Then,  exhausted,  he  whispered, 
"  I  am  very  low  and  cannot  say  much,  but  I  am  living  ^ 
daily,  habitually  in  Him." 

On  the  same  day  he  dictated  the  names  of  dear 
friends,  some  fifty  in  all,  to  whom  he  desired  a  memorial 
of  his  afiection  to  be  sent  from  his  library,  specifying 
in  one  case  the  volumes  to  be  given,  which  were  the 
works  of  De  Quincey.  When  told,  three  days  after.  Sir 
Joseph  Fayrer's  opinion  of  his  state,  he  replied,  "  I 
never  said  with  more  calmness  in  my  life,  continually 
by  day  and  by  night,  '  Thy  will,  my  God,  my  God,  be 
done,'  "  and  he  repeated  this  with  great  pathos.  "  In 
my  own  mind,"  he  exclaimed,  "  I  see  the  whole  scheme  H 
of  redemption  from  eternity  more  clear  and  glorious 
than  I  ever  did."  On  his  daughter  repeating  to  him 
John  Newton's  hymn,  written  as  if  for  the  dying  be- 
liever, 

"  How  sweet  the  name  of  Jesus  sounds," 

the    hardly  audible  voice    responded   with    unearthly 
emphasis,  "  Unspeakable  !" 

On  the  37th  Dr.  Duff  seemed  to  rally  so  far  as  to 
receive  and  to  dictate  replies  to  ninny  messages  of 
prayerful   sympathy  from  such  old  friends   as   Sir  C. 


536  LIFE    OF   DR.    DUFF.  1878. 

Treveljan,  Mr.  Hawkins,  General  Colin  Mackenzie,  and 
others.  Recalling  the  heroism  of  that  officer  in  the 
first  Afghan  disasters,  he  exclaimed,  "  That's  true 
Christianity.  Grive  my  intense  and  warmest  love  to 
him  and  to  his  wife.  His  manly  heroic  bearing  always 
appeared  to  me  an  incarnation  of  the  ancient  heroes 
christianized.  The  loving  Christian  nature  of  himself 
and  his  wife  ever  drew  me  to  both  as  with  an  irresis- 
tible attraction."  On  hearing  a  letter  from  Lord 
Polwartli  read,  he  replied,  "  I  can  respond  '  Amen ' 
to  every  sentence,  as  well  as  to  the  intense  desirable- 
ness of  having  some  common  Bible  enterprise  to  which 
all  Christians  of  all  denominations  might  freely  give 
their  generous  and  liberal  support,  and  thus  ultimately 
come  togfether  into  a  state  of  amalo:amation  and  har- 
mony  instead  of  the  present  lamentable  condition  of 
variance,  discord,  disharmony  and  jealousy,  brooding 
over  which  has  often  well-nigh  broken  my  heart.  It 
is  so  contrary  to  the  intense  and  burning  love  which 
brought  the  eternal  Son  of  God  from  heaven  to  earth 
to  seek  and  to  save  the  lost,  and  from  a  scattered, 
degraded,  dislocated  society  to  raise  up  a  world-wide 
brotherhood  of  Christian  harmony,  goodwill  and  love.'* 
After  pausing  a  few  minutes,  he  added,  "  Tell  him  I 
begged  you  to  send  my  warmest  Christian  affectionate 
regards  to  good  Lady  Aberdeen,  and  my  feelings  of 
real  goodwill  and  regard  to  all  the  members  of  that 
blessed  family."  After  hearing  a  letter  read  from 
a  valued  correspondent,  in  which  strong  expressions 
were  employed  to  describe  the  work  he  had  been  per- 
mitted to  accomplish,  he  said,  *'  I  have  received  these 
things  with  more  than  calmness,  because  I  know  in 
my  own  mind  the  deductions  that  should  be  made 
from  such  statements.  Paul  was  jealous  for  his  credit 
and  character,  not  for  his  own  sake  but  for  the  sake 
of  the  credit  and  character  of  Christianity." 


^t.   72.  THROUGH    DEATH    TO    LIFE.  537 

February  found  him  still  dying,  but  ever  brightening 
in  spirit  and  living  much  in  the  past.  An  allusion,  in 
his  hearing,  to  an  attack  in  an  Anglo-Indian  newspaper 
on  his  policy  in  connection  with  Christian  education 
and  the  Calcutta  University,  sent  him  back  to  his 
controversy  with  Lord  Auckland.  He  indicated  that 
he  would  have  followed  the  same  course  now,  and  he 
dictated  a  vindication  of  that  system  for  which  all 
intelligent  men  of  every  class  and  church,  save  the 
secularists,  now  honour  him.  He  even  explained  in 
detail  the  course  of  mental  and  moral  philosophy,  of 
natural  and  revealed  religion,  over  which  he  used  to  take 
his  students,  and  he  left  the  request  to  Dr.  McCnsh.  oL- 
Princeton,  to  write  a  manual  0?  philosophy  which  should 
be  abreast  of  the  latest  developments  of  thought, 
in  East  and  West,  while  vindicating  Christianity. 
Twelve  days  before  the  end  came  he  made  his  last  re- 
ference to  purely  public  affairs.  In  reply  to  an  earnest 
question  about  the  war  news,  he  was  told  that  the  son 
of  his  old  friend,  Sir  Charles  Trevelyan,  was  to  open 
the  debate  in  the  House  of  Commons  that  night,  when 
he  exclaimed,  "  A  smart,  clever  fellow  that !  " 

On  the  2ud  February  he  alluded  to  the  prospect  of 
soon  being  laid  beside  the  dust  of  his  wife.  Of  the 
good  and  great  men  like  Chalmers  and  Guthrie,  whose 
remains  lie  in  the  same  Grange  cemetery,  he  said  with 
earnestness,  "  There's  a  perfect  forest  of  them."  His 
last  conscious  Sabbath  was  that  of  the  3rd  February. 
"  I  can  feel,  I  can  think,  but  the  weakness  prevents 
my  almost  opening  my  mouth,"  he  panted.  When  one 
said  to  him,  "  You  are  like  John  at  Patmos,  you 
are  in  the  Spirit  on  the  Lord's  day,"  the  earnest 
response  was,  "  Oh,  yes  !  Oh,  yes  !  "  But  on  that 
day  the  hand  of  death  became  more  evidently  visible. 
Still  he  could  ask  for  his  grandchildren,  and  was  ever 
careful  to  thank   his  loving  ones  for  their  ininistra- 


53^  LIFE    OP   DR.    DUFF.  1878. 

tions.  When,  in  the  evening,  his  daughter  repeated 
to  him  the  twenty-third  Psalm  as  he  lay  apparently 
unconscious,  he  responded  at  the  end  of  each  verse. 
Even  on  Saturday,  the  9th,  the  departing  saint  could 
recognise  the  voices  he  loved,  but  his  only  response 
then  was  a  grasp  of  the  hand.  Without  acute  suffer- 
ing, and  in  perfect  peace,  he  lingered  on  till  Tuesday 
morning,  the  12th  February.  "  He  was  just  like  one 
passing  away  into  sleep ;  I  never  saw  so  peaceful  an 
end,"  was  the  remark  of  a  bystander. 

Next  morning  the  telegraph  and  long  and  intensely 
appreciative  sketches  of  the  missionary  in  The  Times 
and  Daily  News,  and  in  all  the  Scottish  newspapers, 
carried  the  sad  but  not  unexpected  intelligence  wherever 
the  English  language  was  read.  In  India,  Africa  and 
America  alike,  where  he  had  been  personally  known 
and  where  his  works  follow  him,  the  journals  and 
ecclesiastical  bodies  gave  voice  to  the  public  sorrow. 
In  his  own  city  of  Edinburgh,  to  which  the  dear  re- 
mains were  at  once  conveyed  from  Sidmouth,  the  burial 
of  Alexander  Duff  proved  to  be  a  lesson  in  Christian 
unity  not  less  impressive  than  his  own  eloquent  words 
and  whole  career.  Around  his  bier,  as  he  had  often 
taught  them  to  do  in  the  field  of  Foreign  Missions, 
the  Churches  gathered  and  Christians  of  all  confessions 
met.  The  Lord  Provost  Boyd,  the  magistrates  and 
council,  in  formal  procession,  represented  civic  Scot- 
land. The  four  Universities  and  Royal  High  School, 
professors  and  students,  marched  in  the  vast  company 
around  Bruntsfield  Links,  which  were  covered  by  the 
citizens  and  by  crowds  from  the  country,  while  the 
deep-toned  bell  of  Barclay  Church  slowly  clanged 
forth  the  general  grief.  How  for  the  first  time  in 
Scottish  ecclesiastical  history  the  three  Kirks  and 
their  Moderators,  the  representatives  of  the  English 
and  American   and    Indian    Churches   through   their 


^t.  72.  AT    THE    GRAVE  S    MOUTH.  539 

missionary  societies  and  officials,  trod  the  one  funeral 
marcli;  how  peer  and  citizen,  missionary  and  minister 
bore  the  pall  or  laid  the  precious  dust  in  the  grave 
till  the  resurrection,  and  how  on  the  next  Sabbath  half 
the  pulpits  of  Scotland  and  not  a  few  elsewhere  told 
this  generation  what  the  Spirit  of  God  had  enabled 
the  departed  to  do,  is  recorded  in  the  volume  "In 
Memoriam"  which  his  family  published  at  the  time. 
It  was  felt  that  not  only  Scotland  had  lost  its  noblest 
son,  but  all  the  Reformation  lands  had  seen  taken 
from  them  the  greatest  missionary  of  Christ.  Let  this 
picture  of  the  scene  suffice,  drawn  at  the  time  by  Lord 
Polwarth,  in  a  letter  to  Lady  Aberdeen. 

"  Monday. — I  have  to-day  stood  at  the  grave  of  our 
dear  old  Dr.  Duff,  'and  was  asked  to  act  as  one  of  the 
pall-bearers,  as  being  a  personal  friend  and  as  repre- 
senting you.  I  felt  it  a  very  great  honour,  and  one 
of  which  I  am  very  unworthy,  but  I  believe  few  there 
loved  him  more  truly  than  I  did.  Somehow  I  felt 
strongly  attached  to  him  from  our  first  meeting. 
He  was  a  truly  great  man,  and  all  Edinburgh  and 
far  beyond  seemed  to  feel  that  to-day.  It  was  a 
solemn  sacred  sight.  Such  crowds  of  people  lining 
the  streets  and  all  along  the  meadows ;  such  a  long, 
long  line  of  carriages,  such  an  assemblage  of  men 
belonging  to  all  the  Churches  I  The  great  missionary 
societies  were  all  represented,  the  city,  the  univer- 
sities. As  we  walked  into  the  cemetery  we  walked 
through  a  long  row  of  students !  I  stood  at  the  foot 
of  the  open  grave  and  watched  the  coffin  lowered 
down.  Mary's  words  were,  '  His  coffin  should  be 
covered  with  palm  branches.*  I  felt  not  sorrowful  in 
one  sense,  for  he  was  weary,  weary  in  the  work.  I 
climbed  up  the  long,  long  stairs  to  his  room  in  the  Free 
Church  offices  to-day,  but  he  will  chmb  up  no  more  in 
weariness.     Then  I  felt  it  was  the  grave  of  a  Christian 


540  LIFE    OF    DR.    DUTF.  lS;'3. 

liero  and  conqueror,  and  came  away  witli  llie  desire 
that  I,  even  I,  and  many  others  may  be  enabled  to 
unite  and  bear  the  standard  he  bore  so  nobly. 

"  I  noticed  close  beside  me  a  black  lad  gazing  with 
his  big  rolling  eyes  into  the  grave.  How  many  there 
would  have  been  from  India  had  it  been  possible. 
One  thing  was  forced  on  one's  mind, — how  utterly 
all  the  petty  divisions  which  now  separate  Christians 
sink  out  of  si^rht  when  one  comes  near  the  e:reat 
realities." 

Lord  Polwarth  has  charged  himself  with  the  leader- 
ship of  a  catholic  movement  for  the  establishment  of 
the  Duff  Missionary  Institute.  Desirous  in  death  to 
secure  the  completion  of  his  missionary  propaganda, 
Dr.  Duff  bequeathed  to  trustees  selected  from  all  the 
cvangehcal  churches  what  personal  property  he  had,  as 
the  foundation  of  a  lectureship  on  Foreign  Missions, 
on  the  model  of  the  Bampton.  Thus  is  preserved 
unbroken  and  full,  for  his  own  and  for  coming  genera- 
tions, the  self-sacrificing  unity  of  a  life  which  from 
youth  to  old  age  was  directed  by  the  determination  to 
know  nothing  save  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified ; 
a  life  which  Mr.  Gladstone  has  thus  linked  on  to  the 
brotherhood  of  the  whole  Catholic  Church  : 

"I  confess  for  myself  that, in  viewing  the  present  state 
of.  the  Christian  world,  we  should  all  adhere  openly 
and  boldly  to  that  which  we  believe  and  which  we  hold, 
not  exaggerating  things  of  secondary  importance  as  if 
they  were  primary ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  not  being 
ashamed  of  the  colours  of  the  particular  regiment  in 
which  we  serve,  nor  being  disposed  to  disavow  the 
secondary  portions  of  oUr  convictions.  Having  said 
that  I  may  say  that  I  have  said  it  for  the  purpose  of 
attesting,  as  I  trust  it  will  attest,  the  sincerity  with 
which  I  wisli  to  bear  testimony  to  the  noble  character 
and   the  noble   work   of   the    man  whose    memory   I 


.'Et.  72.      MR.    GLADSTONE'S    ESTIMATE    OF    IHS    CAREEil.       54 1 

propose  we  should  lionour.  Providential  giiidanco 
and  an  admonition  from  within,  a  thirst  and  appetite 
not  addressed  to  the  objects  which  this  world  furnishes 
and  provides,  but  reaching  far  beyond  it,  and  an 
ambition — if  I  may  so  say — and  an  ambition  of  a 
very  different  quality  from  the  commodity  ordinarily 
circulated  under  that  name,  but  something  irrepres- 
sible, something  mysterious  and  invisible,  prompted 
and  guided  this  remarkable  man  to  the  scene  of  his 
labours.  Upon  that  scene  he  stands  in  competition,  I 
rejoice  to  think,  with  many  admirable,  holy,  saintly 
men,  almost  contemporaries  of  ours — contemporaries, 
many  of  them,  of  myself.  Proceeding  from  quarters 
known  by  different  names  and  different  associations 
here,  but  engaged  in  a  cause  essentially  holy  in  those 
different  quarters  of  the  world,  I  am  glad  to  think  that 
from  the  bosom  of  the  Church  of  E norland  there  went 
forth  men  like  Bishop  Selwyn  and  Bishop  Patteson, 
bearing  upon  their  labours  a  very  heroic  and  apostolic 
stamp.  But  I  rejoice  not  less  unfeignedly  to  recollect 
that  they  have  competitors  and  rivals  in  that  noble 
race  of  the  Christian  warfare,  among  whom  Dr.  Duff 
is  one  of  the  most  eminent.  Among  many  such  rivals 
we  might  name  the  names  of  Carey  and  Marshman ; 
we  might  name  Dr.  Moffat,  who  is  still  spared  to 
the  world.  But  we  must  recollect  Dr.  DufF  is  one 
who  not  only  stood  in  the  first  rank  for  intelligence, 
energy,  devotion  and  advancement  in  the  inward  and 
spiritual  life  among  those  distinguished  and  admirable 
personages,  but  who  likewise  so  intensely  laboured  in 
the  cause  that  he  shortened  the  career  which  Provi- 
dence would  in  all  likelihood  have  otherwise  committed 
to  him,  and  he  has  reaped  his  reward  in  the  world 
beyond  the  grave  at  an  earlier  date  than  those  whose 
earthly  career  is  lengthened  into  a  long  old  age.  lie 
is  one  of   the  noble  army  of  the  confessors  of  Christ. 


542  LIFE    OF    DK.    DUFF.  1878. 

Let  no  one  envy  tliem  the  crown  wliicli  they  have 
earned.  Let  every  man,  on  the  contrary,  knowing 
that  they  now  stand  in  the  presence  and  in  the  judg- 
ment of  Him  before  Whom  we  must  all  appear,  rejoice 
that  they  have  fought  a  good  fight,  that  they  have 
run  their  race  manfully  and  nobly,  and  that  they 
have  laboured  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of 
man." 


THE   END. 


INDEX. 


Abbd  Dubois,  i.  40. 
Abercrombie,  Dr.,  ii.  103. 

Miss,  ii.  105. 

Aberdeen,  Dowager   Countess  of, 
ii,  295,  4-iG,  487,  530. 

Fifth  Earl  of,  ii.  293. 

Sixth  Earl,  ii.  448. 

University,  i.  506. 

Accadian  Civilization,  i.  207. 
Adam,  John,  the  Civilian,  i.  147. 

Rev.  Jolin,  i.  22,  84,  140. 

AV.,  i.  118,  226. 

Afghan  War,  i.  412. 
African  Missions,  ii.  405,  450. 
Agrarian  Discontent,  ii.  374. 
Agricultural  Soc.  of  India,  i.  258. 
Aitchison,  Mr.  C.  U.,  ii.  372. 
Ajawa,  ii.  454. 

Akbar,  i.  89,  206. 
Alexander,  Dr.  \V.  L.,  i.  22. 
Alexandria,  i.  305. 
Allison,  J.,  ii.  445. 
Altenstein,  i.  437. 
Americans    in  India,  i.  2il,  218 
ii.  80, 158, 167,  250. 

Missions,  ii.  443,  461. 

Amherst,  Lord,  i.  230. 
Anderson,  Finlay,  i.  421. 

of  Madras,  i.  346,  422 ;  ii.  48. 

Aneityumese,  ii.  463. 
Anglicists,  Tl.e,  i.  187,  220,  429. 
Anglo-Indian  Christian  Union,  i. 

234;  ii.  439,  533. 
Anundo  Chuiid  Mozoomdar,  i.  163, 

283. 
Apologetics,  i.  146,  157. 
Architecture  in  India,  ii.  145. 
Arcot,  ii.  130. 

Armenians,  i.  95,  11 1 ;  ii.  83. 
Aryan  Civilization,  i.  207,  231. 
Ashburton,  Lord,  ii.  234 


Ashutosh  De,  il  363. 
Associations  for  Foreign  Missions, 

i.  312  ;  ii.  533. 
Atlantic  Voyage,  ii.  254. 
Auchendcunan,  ii.  480. 
Auckland,  Lord,  i.  425  ;  ii.  38. 
Augustine,  St.,  i.  152 ;  ii.  2,  59 
Avicenna,  i.  207. 

Baboos,  Calcutta,  ii.  69! 

Bacon,  Lord,  i.  136. 

Baikunta  Nath  Day,  Rev.,  ii.  57. 

Buird,  Sir  David,  ii.  407. 

Balnakeilly,  i.  4. 

Bangalore  Conference,  ii.  238. 

Bawka  Behari  Bhose,  ii.  59. 

Bansberia,  ii.  47,  50. 

Bedini,  Monsignor,  ii.  253. 

Beef,  i.  154. 

Behari  Lai  Singh,  i.  475 ;  ii.  19. 

Bengal,  i.  415  ;  ii.  374. 

Bengal    Asiatic     Society,    i.  200, 

258,  436. 
Bengalee,  i.  121. 

Church,  ii.  82. 

Students,  i.  141;  ii.  532. 

Beni  Madhub  Kur,  ii,  59. 
Ben-i-vrackie,  i.  4. 

Bentinck,  Lord  W.,  i.  61.  Si,  148, 
178,211,230,260,336,433. 

His  Great  Decree,  i.  194. 

Lady  William,  i.  339. 

Bethel  in  Dekhan,  ii.  430. 
Beihune,  D.,  ii.  361,  379. 

Society,  ii.  370. 

Blioidos  of  India,  i.  20S,  2ia 
Bible,  Dr.  Duff's,  i.  5t.  76. 

in  Education,  i.  109, 121,  139, 

201 ;  ii.  512. 

Translation,  ii.  108,  463. 

Biblical  Criticism,!.  228;  ii.  611. 


544 


index; 


Blackic,  Profcvsor,  i.  11. 

Blantyre  Mission,  ii.  459. 

Blytbswood,  ii.  44i. 

Boileau,  i.  237- 

Bombay  Mission,  i.  2-1-1, 413;  ii.  4o0. 

Bonar,  Dr.  H.,  ii.  489. 

Boyle,  E.,  ii.  417. 

Brabmans,  i.  121. 

Braid vrood,  Eev.  J.,  i.  347. 

Brewster,  Sir  D.,  i.  43. 

Briggs,  Mrs.,  i.  64,  464. 

Brijonatb  Gbose,  i.  254. 

Brougbam,  Lord,  ii.  23.    , 

Brougbton,  Lord,  i.  427. 

Brown,  Eev.  David,  i.  249. 

Eev.  Dr.,  i.  84,  236,  246. 

Eev.  Dr.  C,  ii.  12. 

Brumbo  Sobba,  i.  115. 
Bruuton,  Dr.,  i.  279,  461;  ii.  11. 
Bryce,  Eev.  Dr.,  i.  37,  62,  236. 
Bucbanan,  Claudius,  i.  110. 

Dugald,  i.  11 ;  ii.  529. 

Buckingbam,  J.  Silk,  i.  147. 
Bunyan,  ii.  55. 

Burke,  i.  304 ;  ii.  228. 
Burnell,  Mr.,  i.  107. 
Burns,  Eev.  Dr.,  ii.  2S3. 

Eobert,  i.  152  ;  ii.  7. 

Wilbam,  Eev.,  i.  313. 

Cairo,  i.  397. 

Calcutta,  i.  40,  87 ;  ii.  52,  81,  97, 
316. 

Christian  Observer,  i.  227. 

Missionary     Conference,     i. 

165  ;  ii.  40,  386. 

Revieio,  ii.  90. 

Caldwell,  Bisbop,  i.  227  ;  ii.  159. 
Cambridge  University,  i.  330. 
Campbell,  Sir  George,  i.  431 ;  ii. 

432. 
Canning,    George,  and    bis  sons, 

i.  68,  231,  304 ;  ii.  110,  311,  331. 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  i.  71,  273  ;  ii. 

403. 

Yerd  Islands,  i.  70. 

Carey,  Dr.,  i.  10,  105,  2^8,  258  ;    ii. 
641. 


Carlyle,  Tbomas,  ii.  473. 

Caroline,  Qneen,  i.  259. 

Carus,  i.  325. 

Caste,  i.  144, 153, 191,  215 ;  ii.  153. 

Catbedral  Mission  College,  i.  129. 

Cbalmers,  Tbomas,  i.  20, 45,  63,  70, 

274,  367,  383  ;  ii.  12, 112,  537. 
Cbaraka,  i.  208. 
Cbarnock,  Job,  i.  89. 
CLarters  of  E.  I.  Company,  i.  35, 

179  ;  ii.  190,  228. 
Cbaitunya,  i.  467. 
Cbina  Missionaries,  i.  458,  476. 
Cbingleput,  ii.  125. 
Cbinsurab,  ii.  47. 
Cbowdery  Family,  i.  131. 
Cburcb  Missionary   Sot;iety,  i.  2, 

36, 466  ;  ii.  83  ;  435. 
Cameron,  Mr.  C.  H.,  ii.  247. 
Candlish,  Di-.,  ii.  28,  457. 
Canterbury,  Arcbbishop  of,  ii.  401. 
Cawnpore  Massacre,  ii.  323. 
Centenary  of  Plassey,  ii.  320. 
Ceylon,  ii.  158. 
Cbaplains,  Indian,  ii.  410. 
Cberas,  ii.  145. 
Cbevers,  Dr.  N.,  ii.  330. 
Cbildren,  ii.  478. 
Cbiudwara,  ii.  429. 
Cbinyanja  Tongue,  ii.  460. 
Cbolas,  ii.  145. 
Cbolera,  ii.  97. 

Cburcb  of  India.     (Siee  Converts.) 
Clarke,  Mr.  Longueville,  i.  255. 
Clementines,  The,  ii.  59. 
Cliflford,  Fatber,  ii.  139. 
Clift,  Mr.,i.  133. 
Clive,  Lord,  i.  91. 
Cock  Controversy,  i.  235. 
Coldstream,  Dr.,  i.  346 ;  ii.  107. 
Colebrooke,  i.  98. 
Colenso,  Dr.,  ii.  408. 
Committees,  i.  277. 
Comorin  Cape,  i.  421. 
Confession  of  Faitb,  ii.  5. 
Congleton,  Lady,  i.  266. 
Conscience,  Eigbts  of,   i.  251,  25 1, 

418;  ii.  56,  67. 


INDEX. 


545 


C>  "'  ci'sions,  relative  value  of,  ii. 

b'3,  245. 
Cuiiverts,  i.  158, 1G2,  251,  281,  363, 

466,  470  ;  ii.  53,  7(3,  80,  339,  350. 
Coptic  Chuicli,  i.  399. 
Cornwallis,  Lord,  i.  95,  258. 
Corrie,  Bishop,  i,  84;  ii.  108. 
Cotton,  Bishop,   ii.   20,  394,   440, 

482. 

Goods,  i.  94. 

Cousin,  v.,  i.  437. 
Covenanters,  i.  10  ;  ii.  209. 
Cowan,  John,  of  Bceslack,  i.  347. 
Cowper,  W.,  ii.  402,  473. 
Craik,  the  Brotliers,  ii.  178. 
Cromwell,  ii.  416. 
Cuddalore,  ii.  130. 
Culna,  i.  469;  ii.  47. 
Cmniingham,  Principal,  i.    51  ;    ii. 

no. 

Cunningham  station,  ii.  444. 
Curral,  The,  i.  68. 
Cust,  Mr.  R.  N.,  i.  221 ;  ii.  522. 
Cyclones,  i.  263,  423  ;  ii.  412. 

Daby,  Singh  Raja,  i.  93. 
Dalhousie,  Earl  of,  i.  61  ;  ii.  507. 
Marquis   of,   i.  437,  461;    ii. 

168,  311,  331.. 
DaUon,  Colonel,  ii.  873. 
Dalzoll,  Rev.  J.,  ii.  4 111 
Danish  Missions,  ii.  93,  133. 
Dante,  ii.  2. 
Dassen  Island,  i.  78. 
Dtaltiy,  Bishop,  i.  146  ;  ii.  42. 
Debating  Societies,  i.  149. 
Dellii  in  the  Mutiny,  ii.  328. 
De  Quincey,  T.,  ii.  473,  535. 
Derozio,  Mr.,  i.  143. 
Dhn'eep  Singh,  Maharaja,  ii.   435. 
Dickson,  W.,  ii.  443. 
Dinkur  Rao,  Raja,  ii.  357. 
Disintegration,  i.  103,  209. 
Disruption   conflict,    i-   309,  368; 

ii.  3,  11,  26,  33. 
Dissection,  i.  208. 
Don,  Rev.  J.,  ii.  20,  429. 
Douglas,  Bishop,  ii.  408. 


Dovcton  College,  i.  250;  ii.  20, 
1 10. 

Dravidiun  Dynasties,  ii.  145. 

Duel  of  Hastings  and  Francis,  ii. 
107. 

Dyson,  Dr.,  ii.  435. 

DUFF,  Alexander,  Birth,  i.  4; 
Parentage,  6;  Scliooltnasters, 
11;  Cali,  13;  at  St.  Andrews, 
18;  Friends,  22;  to  Chalmers, 
27  ;  Preaches,  23  ;  gives  him- 
self to  India,  43 ;  consults 
Chalmers,  46;  Ordained,  53; 
Married,  61 ;  at  Madeira,  67 ; 
Shipwreck,  71 ;  a  second  time, 
82 ;  reaches  Calcutta,  84 ;  ac- 
count of  Hindoo  College,  99; 
preliminary  researches,  104  ; 
visits  Carey,  105 ;  his  policy, 
107;  with  Rammohun  Roy,  112; 
opens  his  School,  121 ;  his 
School-books,125;  first  Examina- 
tion, 129;  first  Assistant,  133; 
self  evidencing  power  of  Sc:i])- 
tures,  139 ;  Lectures  and  the 
Press,  142 ;  Bengalee,  1 19  ; 
Female  Education,  150;  fir.-t 
Converts,  159;  Project  of 
United  College,  165;  varied 
work,  171;  assisted  by  Sir 
Charles  Trevelyan,  183  ;  Angli- 
cists and  Orientalists,  186 ;  Lord 
W.  Bentinck's  deci'ee,  194; 
his  new  era  of  the  English 
Language,  197;  the  Renaissance 
begun,  204;  in  Science  also, 
211 ;  the  Romanising  Move- 
ment, 219;  on  Vernacular 
Education,  226;  Calcntta  Chrus- 
tian  Observer,  227 ;  "work  for 
Europeans,  233 ;  longings  after 
Friendshij),  242;  with  Bishop 
AVilson,  248;  work  for  Eura- 
sians, 249  ;  vindicates  Rights  of 
Conscience,  i.  254;  declines  to 
attend  a  Ball,  259;  as  a  Teacher, 
262;  thrice  ill,  265;  returns 
to  Scotland,  273  ;  his  Eeccplion 


VOL.    II. 


N   N 


54^ 


INDEX. 


27't ;  London,  286  ;  first  Ora- 
tion, 290;  its  effects,  298;  D.D. 
degree,  306;  Home  Temptations, 
307;  Catholicity,  313;  Organi- 
zation of  Associations,  315 ;  in 
Perth,  319;  in  Danbar,  322; 
in  Cambridge,  325 ;  vpith  Lord 
W.  Bentinck,  336;  attracting 
new  Missionaries,  341 ;  to  the 
Glasgow  Students,  344;  Great 
Exeter  Hall  Speech,  351 ;  Vin- 
dication of  his  System,  357 ; 
Training  Converts,  363  ;  Charge 
to  Dr.  T.  Smith,  371 ;  Farewell 
to  Assembly,  377 ;  Chalmers' 
Eulogy  of  him,  383;  in  Egypt, 
394 ;  Sinai,  404 ;  Bombay  and 
Madras,  413;  Fight  with  Lord 
Auckland,  429 ;  Progress  of  ten 
years,  443;  on  his  Collcngues, 
450;  his  College,  452;  Death 
of  a  Daughter,  461;  with  the 
KiiarLa-bhajas,  468;  on  Peace, 
476.  Vol.  ii.  Roininiscences  of 
Kirk,  3;  Free  Church,  13;  his 
''Voice  from  the  Ganges,"  21; 
the  Propeity  Wrong,  31 ;  New 
College,  42 ;  plans  Cliair  of 
Missions,  45;  Outram  and 
Lawrence,  49 ;  on  Conversions, 
53;  League  against  him,  61; 
at  Home  with  the  Converts,  76; 
on  Lord  Hardinge's  Order,  87 ; 
The  Calmitta  Review,  91;  helps 
the  Fever-stricken,  98;  on  Dr. 
Chalmers,  113 ;  Tour  in  S. 
India,  123;  Tour  in  N.  India, 
163;  on  his  Speeches,  177; 
Second  Campaign  in  Scotland, 
187;  to  Young  Men,  216; 
Moderator,  223 ;  before  Lords 
Committee,  231  ;  Education  Des- 
patch, 245;  in  America,  252; 
in  Canada,  279 ;  at  Malvern, 
293;  on  Missionary  Progress, 
299;  returns  to  India,  307; 
on  the  Mutiny,  315;  on  Bishop 
Wilson,  335;  on   Native  Chris- 


tian Loyalty,  351  ;  High-class 
Girls'  School,  360;  on  Lacroix, 
364;  on  the  Indigo  Controversy, 
374;  President  of  Bethune 
Society,  380;  a  Founder  of  the 
University,  382;  leaves  India, 
385;  reviews  his  Career,  399; 
African  Tour,  407  ;  returns  to 
Scotland,  411  ;  Evangelistic 
Theology  chair,  416 ;  promotes 
New  Missions,  425 ;  Syrian 
Tour,  443;  Gordon  Mission, 
446 ;  Livingstonia  Expedition, 
450 ;  Melanesian  Mission,  461 ; 
Eesidts  of  his  Work,  463  ;  Death 
of  his  Wife,  467;  favourite 
Authors,  472  ;  with  Friends, 
480 ;  a  Peacemaker,  495 ;  Mo- 
derator the  second  time,  500 ; 
on  the  Press,  513 ;  Continental 
Tours,  515 ;  on  the  Progress  of 
the  Prince  of  Wales,  522  ;  Acci- 
dent, 530 ;  Latest  Letters,  533 ; 
Dying  Meditations,  534;  Denth, 
538 ;  Mr.  Gladstone  on  Dr. 
Dnff,  540. 

Duff,  James,  i.  4,  6. 

Mrs.,  i.  61,  269  ;  ii.  200,  467, 

Scholarships,  ii.  386. 

Duffbank,  ii.  444. 

Duff  Church,  i.  6. 

Missionary  Institute,  ii.  421. 

•  Fund,  ii.  421. 

Duffpore,  ii.  354. 

Dukshina  R.  Mookevjea,  ii.  353. 

Dum  Dum,  ii.  312. 

Dunbar,  i.  322. 

Duncan,  Jonathan,  i.  97. 

Dundas,  Colonel,  ii.  37. 

Dunkeld,  i.  2. 

Durand,  Sir  Henry,  i.  6Q,  412. 
476;  ii.  309,484. 

Dutts,  The,  i.  95,195;  ii.  213. 

Dwarkanath  Bhose,  i.  470. 

Dysentery,  i.  268. 

Eardley,  Sir  Culling,  ii.  312. 
East  India  Co.,  i.  35, 90 ;  ii.  131,223. 


INDEX. 


547 


Ecclesiastical     Establishment,    ii. 

440. 
Economics,  Christian,  i.  312,  385; 

ii.  431. 
Eden,  Misses,  i.  427. 
Edradoiir,  i.  315,  366. 
Education  and  the  Public  Service, 

ii.  86. 

as  anEvangolizer,  i.  110,174, 

193,  261,  268,  292,  322,  359,  423, 
451. 

as  a  Secularizer,  i.  361,  416, 

434,438;  ii.  241,  382. 

Charity,  i.  249. 

Despatch  of  1854,  ii.  41,  246, 

434. 

Female,  i.  149,  372,  459;  ii. 

360. 

in  Bengal,  i.  95;  ii.  190,  378. 

in  Bombay,  i.  416. 

in  Madras,  ii.  431'. 

Edwardes,  Sir  Herbert,  ii.  329. 
Elgin,  Lord,  i.  259. 
Elizabeth  Town,  U.S.,  ii.  275. 
Ellenborongh,  Lord,  i.  476  ;  ii.  49. 

237,  243. 
Ellerton,  Mrs.,  ii.  107. 
Ellon  Presbytery,  i.  317. 
Elphinstone,  Lord,  ii.  236. 

Moimtstuart,  i.  426. 

Emigrants,  Highland,  ii.  201. 
Eiiizlish  Language  in  Ind'a,  i.  94, 

123,100,197,295;  ii.  513. 
Epidemics  in  Bengal,  ii.  97. 
Established  Church  of  Scotland, 

ii.  31,  38. 
Eurasians,  i.  Ill,  248;  ii.  20. 
Evangelicals,  i.  2. 
Evangelizing,  i.  107. 
Ewavt,  Dr.,  i.  58,  269,  287,   335, 

450. 
Mrs.,  ii.  83. 

Falck,  i.  437. 

Famine,  Highland,  ii.  107. 

South  India,  ii.  53?. 

Fayrer,  Sir  J.,  i.  208;  ii.  535. 
Fergnsson,  Mr.  J.,  ii.  145. 


Fer.  ic,  Rev.  Dr.,  i.  23,  45,  171. 

Fever,  ii.  99. 

Fife,  Earl  of,  i.  309. 

Firdousi,  i.  2u0. 

Flaxman's  Group  of  Schwartz,  etc., 

ii.  155. 
Forbes,  Dr.  D.,  i.  14. 
Fordyce,  Rev.  J.,  ii.  216,  360,  441. 
Foster,  John,  i.  119. 
Fox,  ii.  228. 
Francis,  Philiji,  ii.  107. 
Free  Church  of    Scotland,  ii.  18, 

28,  497. 
French  Bishop,  ii.  435. 

in  India,  ii.  129. 

Fiere,  Sir  Bartle,  ii.  373,  458,  525. 
Friend  of  India,  i.  116,  229,  257  ; 

ii.  490. 
Futtehgurh,  ii.  343. 
Futtehpore  Massacre,  ii.  343. 

Sikri,  ii.  163. 

Fyfe,  Rev.  W.  C,  i.  131 ;  ii.  522. 

Gaelic,  i.  11, 189,  213. 
Gardir.fr,  Rev.  T.,  ii.  216. 
General  Assemblj',  i.  41,  53,  315, 

357;  ii.  81, 180,  503. 
German  Missions,  ii.  135. 
Ghospara,  i.  469;  ii.  47. 
Gibbon,  ii.  25. 
Gladstone,  Mr.,  i.  204,273,  303  ;  ii. 

374,  512,  527,  540. 
Gobindo  Chunder  Das,  ii.  54. 
Goldsborongh,  Sir  J.,  i.  90. 
Goluk  Xath,  Rev.,  ii.  80,  489. 
Gonds,  ii.  428. 
Goodeve,  Dr.  H.,  ii.  218. 
Gooroo  Das  Maitra,  ii.  54. 
Gopcenath  Niindi,  i.  162,  283,  460; 

ii.  342,  367,  489. 
Gordon  Memorial  Mission,  il  446 

Rev.  Dr.,  ii.  28,  43. 

Government  House,  i.  88,  92. 
Govindram  Mitter,  i.  93. 
Grampians,  i.  15. 

Grant,  Charles,  i.  35,  97. 
Gi-anville,  Lord,  ii.  234. 
Gray,  Bishop,  ii.  408,  494. 


548 


I^"DEX. 


Gregory  XV.,  ii.  415. 
Grotc,  George,  ii.  90. 
Groves,  Anthony,  i.  266. 
Gunga,  i.  82. 
Gurney,  Joseph,  i.  236. 
Guthrie,  Thomas,  i.  321,  8S2. 

Haddington,  Earl  of,  i.  43. 
Ilaldane,  James,  i.  327. 

Principal,  i.  45. 

Halifax,  Lord,  1.  438;  ii.  245,  492. 
Halley,  James,  i.  343. 
Hamilton,  Cannda,  ii.  279. 
Hanna,  Dr.  W.,  i.  26 ;  ii.  116,  384, 

605. 
Hardinge,  Lord,  ii.  84. 
Hare,  David,  i.  99. 
Harper,  Dr.,  i.  53. 
Hastings,  Lord,  i.  99. 

Marchioness  of,  ii.  210. 

Warren,  ;i.  96,  ISi,   251  ;  ii. 

107,  229. 

Havelock,  Sir  H.,  ii.  330. 

Hawkins,  Mr.,  ii.  19,  186,  536. 

Heat  of  S.  India,  ii.  127,  1"2. 

Heber,  Bishop,  i.  186;  ii.  167,  482. 

Hebich,  Samuel,  i.  421. 

Heredity,  i.  1. 

Heytesbnry,  Lord,  i.  426. 

Hill,  Eev.  J.,  i.  146. 

Hindoo  College,  i.  99,  143 ;  ii.  60. 

Hindooism  in  Danger,  ii.  59,  65. 

Hippocrates,  i.  207. 

Hislop,  Stephen,  1.  348;  ii.  428. 

Hobhouse,   Sir  J.  0.  {See  Erough- 

ton.) 
Hodgson,  Mr.  B.  H.,  i.  188. 
Holkar,  Maharaja,  ii.  359. 
Holland,  ii.  515. 
Home  Missions,  ii.  271. 
Hooghly  River,  ii.  47. 
Hooker,  ii.  475. 
Hospitals,  ii.  98,  103. 
Hudson  River,  ii.  261. 
Hughes,  Rev.  T.  P.,  i.  107. 
Hume,  David,  i.  11. 
Hunter,  Dr.  John,  i.  18. 
Rev.  T.  and  R.,  ii.  342. 


Hyde,  Dr.,  ii.  417. 
Hyder  AH,  ii.  34. 

Impolweni,  ii.  444. 
Independence  Hal],  U.S  ,  it.  269. 
Indigo  Controversy,  ii.  374. 
Indophilus  Letters,  ii.  69. 
Infanticide,  ii.  93. 
Inglis,   Rev.  Dr.,  i.  37,   305;   ii. 

13,  463. 
Irish  Presbyterian  Mission,  i.  413. 
Irving,  Edward,  i.  61. 

James,  Bishop,  i.  239. 
Jephson,  Dr.,  i.  332. 
Jesuits,  The,  ii.  60,  137. 
Jews,  ii.  59,  181. 
Jeynarain  Ghosal,  i.  102. 
John  3rLellan,  The,  i.  272. 
JolmsLon,  Rev.  J.,  i.  347. 
Jugaoishwar  Bhattacharjya, i. 47 1-; 

ii.  371. 
Jugganath,  ii.  82. 

Kaffraria,  ii.  410,  444. 

Kailas  Chunder  Mookeijea,  L  471. 

Kalidasa,  i.  252. 

Kay,  Rev.  Dr.,  ii.  435. 

Kaye,  Sir  John,  ii.  89. 

Kellie,  Earl  of,  i.  436. 

Kliattabbajas,  i.  468. 

Khettur  Mobun  Chatterjoa,  i.  120. 

Kiernander,  i.  92. 

Killiecrankie,  i.  6. 

Kingston,  Canada,  ii.  285. 

Kinnaird,  Lord,  ii.  432. 

Kirk  of  Scotland,  i.  32;  ii.  4,  500. 

Kirkmichael  School,  i.  14. 

Knott,  Rev.  J.  W.,  ii.  435. 

Kno^,  Jolm,  i.  33  ;  ii.  107. 

Kol  Mission,  ii.  372. 

Kotghur,  ii.  165. 

Krishna,  ii.  65. 

Mohun  Banerjea,  Rev.  Dr.,  L 

153.160,207;  ii.  383,528. 
Ki'ishnaghur,  i.  460. 
Kucnen,  ii,  511. 
Kuppurtula,  Maharaja,  ii.  372. 


INDEX. 


549 


Larrolx,  Rev.  A.  R,  i.  St;  ii.  1-21, 

364. 
Lndy  Holland,  'I'he,  i.  G6. 
Lahore,  ii.  IGG. 
Lahoul,  ii.  165. 
Laing,  Miss,  ii.  83. 
Lake,  General,  ii.  435. 
Lai  Ec'Iira-i  Da}-,  Ruv.,  i.  455,  475; 

ii.  7G,  470. 
Land-tax  of  India,  i.  415,  437. 
Languages  of  the  East,  i.  220. 
Laurie,  Rcr.  Dr.,  i.  2t2;  ii.  210. 
Lawrence,  Lord,  i.  251 ;  ii.  97,  106, 

320,  412,  411,  522,  533. 

Sir  Hcury,  ii.  134;  ii.  51,  90, 

166,  325. 

Laws,  Dr.,  ii.  460. 

Lawson,  Patiick,  i.  60. 

Learning  for  the  Church,  ii.  225, 

512. 
Lebanon,  The,  ii.  412. 
Lectures,  i.  146, 157. 
Lennox,  Mr.,  ii.  43. 
Lepsius,  i.  220. 
Leuchars  Kirk,  i.  53. 
Lewis,  Dr.  James,  i.  290. 
Liedcr,  Rev.  Mr.,  i,  402. 
Livingstone,  Dr.,  ii.  411,  450. 
Livingstonia,  ii.  459. 
London  Missionary  Socio  y,  i.  3. 

Presbytery,  i.  280,  280. 

Long,  Rev.  J.,  ii.  108,  315,  376. 
Lorimer,  Dr.,  i.  274;  ii.  196,  419. 
Loudoun,  Earl  of,  ii.  210. 
Love,  Dr.,  i.  289. 

Lovedale,  ii.  410. 
Lucknow  in  the  Mutiny,  ii.  329. 
Lull,  Raymond,  ii.  416. 
Lushington,  C,  i.  42. 
Lutheran  Mission?,  ii.  135,  429. 
Lycidas  Poem,  i.  331. 
Lytton,  Lord,  ii.  65. 

Macaulay,  Lord,  i.  180, 190. 
Macdonald,  Rev.  J.,  i.  286,  341. 
Macfarlan,  Dr.  P.,  ii.  29. 

Principal,  i.  343. 

]\rChoyne,  M.,  i.  276,  342. 


MnHcail,  Rev.  I^fr.,  ii.  20. 
Mackay.  Rev.  Dr.  and  Mrs.,  i.  131, 

133,450;  ii.  43,  467. 
Mackenzie,  General  Colin,  i.  441  ; 

ii.  80,  167,  536. 
Bishop,  ii.  453. 

Ilolt,  ii.  490. 

TJackiiinon,  \V.,  i.  420. 
Miu-kintosh,  Mr.  A.  B.,  ii.  20. 
Macleod,  Dr.  Norman,   i.  421;  ii. 

25. 
MLeod,  Sir  Donald,  i.  475. 
Macnaghton,  Sir  W.  H.,  i.  187 
McCosh,  Dr.,  ii.  537. 
McNeile,  Dr.,  ii.  197. 
Macpher.'-on,  Major,  S.  C,  ii.  357 
McQueen,  Dr.  K.,  ii.  439. 
Macwhirter,  Dr.,  i.  365. 
Madeira,  i.  67. 
Madras  Chri.stian  College,  ii.  431'. 

Missions,  i.  347,  422  ;  ii.  121, 

136,  434. 

Mahanad,  ii.  47,  371. 
Mahendra,  lial  Basak,  i.  471. 
Main,  Rev.  T.,  ii.  206,  213. 
Maine,  Sir  H.,  i.  180;  ii.  392,  489. 
Maioland,  Sir  P.,  ii.  445. 
^Mangalore,  i.  420. 
Marenga,  ii.  453. 
Marnoch  case,  i.  309. 
Marry  at,  Ca|)tain,  i.  G7. 
]\D)rsh,  Captain,  ii.  90. 
Marshman,  Dr.,  i.  26,  102, 429,  541. 

Mr.J.  C.,i.93,229;  ii.8L>,  230, 

490. 

Martin,  Sir  R.,  i.  269. 

G.,  ii.  480,  530. 

Martyn,  Henry,  ii.  407. 

Maityrs  of  the  Cluirch  of  Lidia,  ii. 

340. 
Matheson,  Mr.  H.  M.,  ii.  419. 
Mault,  Mr.,  ii.  160. 
Mavite,  ii.  153. 
May,  Rev.  Mr.,  i.  102. 
Mayo,  Lord,  ii.  432. 
Medical  Colleges  of  India,  i.  209; 

ii.  98. 
Medicine,  Hindoo,  i.  208. 


550 


INDEX. 


Meenit,  ii.  313. 

Melanesia,  ii.  462,  531. 

Metcalfe,  Lord,  i.  231. 

Middleton,  Bishop,  i.  87,  111. 

Mill,  Eev.  Dr.,  i.  111. 

Miller,  Hui?li,  ii.  173. 

Milne,  Eev.  J.,  i.  343;  ii.  20,  250, 

308. 
Milton,  John,  i.  16,  330 ;    ii.  226, 

402. 
Minto,  Lord,  i.  185. 
Mitchell,  Dr.  M.,  i.  347 ;  ii.  429. 

James,  i.  98,  189. 

John  Stuart,  i.  180 ;  ii.  232. 

Miscsiouary  Catholicity,  i.  313;  ii. 

2,  40,  48. 

Defence,  i.  253  ;  ii.  299,  811. 

Eulogy,  i.  260;  ii.  352,  369, 

393. 

Finance,  ii.  80,  71,  425.  431. 

Institute,  ii.  421,  540. 

Literature,  i.  366,  458. 

Policies,  i.  108,  164,  200,  232, 

301 ;  ii.  35,  144,  162,  239,  299, 
371,  413,  426. 

Professorship,  ii,  43j  111,  121, 

417,  533. 

Quarterly,  ii.  422. 

■ Salaries,  i.  62;  ii.  139,  431. 

Statistics,  ii.  339,  463. 

Tours,  i.  472;    ii.   122,   164, 

188. 

Work  and  Christ,  i.  355 ;  ii. 

369. 

Moderate  Party,  ii.  4. 

Moderator    of  General    Assembly 

ii.  223,  500. 
MofFab,  Dr.,ii.  493,541. 
Mohesh  Chunder  Ghose,  i.  158. 
Moira,  The,  i.  81. 
Moncreiff,  Sir  H.,  ii.  21. 
Monod,  M.  P.,  ii.  226. 
Montreal,  ii.  288. 
Mooltan,  ii.  169. 
Moral  Philosopliy,  i.  20,  28. 
Moravian  Missionaries,  i.  267 ;  ii. 

405. 
Morgan,  Eev.  A.,  ii.  111. 


Morrison,  Rev.  Dr.,  i.  25. 

Mouat,  Dr.,  ii.  247. 

Moulin,  i.  3,  6,  387. 

Mozambique,  ii.  402. 

Muhammad  Ah,  of  Egypt,  i.  395. 

Muhammadanism,  ii.  312,  343. 

Muir,  Sir  W.,  ii.  39. 

Mullens,  Dr.  and  Mrs.,  ii.  360,  376. 

Mulliks,  The,  96. 

Mundy,  Mr.,  ii.  104. 

Munro,  General,  ii.  161. 

Murray,  Eev.  Dr.  (Kirwan),  ii.  264. 

Mutiny  in  India,  ii.  313,  327,  352. 

Nana  Saheb,  ii.  324. 
Napier,  Sir  Charles,  ii.  9,  49. 
Narayan,  Sheshadi'i,  Eev.,  ii.  430. 
Natal,  ii.  411,  444. 
Neil,  General,  ii.  329. 
New  Hebrides,  ii.  462. 

■  London,  Canada,  ii.  280. 

York,  ii.  262,  290. 

Newman,  Cardinal,  i.  303. 

F.  W.,  i.  266. 

Newton's  Hymn,  ii.  535. 
Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  i.  830. 
Nicolson,  Dr.  Simon,  i.  269 ;  ii.  19, 

122. 
Nightingale,  Florence,  ii.  491. 
Nobokissen,  Eaja,  i.  93. 
Northbrook,  Lord,  i.   250;    ii.   65, 

432. 
Norway,  ii.  517. 
Nuddea  Eiots,  ii.  376. 
Nuncomar,  i.  94. 
Nyanza  Lakes,  ii.  451. 
Nyassa  Lake,  ii.  451. 
Neemtolla  Street,  ii.  42. 

Ogilvie,  Eev.  Dr.,  ii.  39. 

Oliphant,  Mr.  T.,  i.  127. 

Oinichund,  i.  92, 

Ontario  Lake,  ii.  287. 

Orations  of  Dr.  Daff,  i.  290,  325, 

349,  377  ;  ii.  177,  274. 
Orientalism,  i.  184,  436. 
Orientalists,   The    Pseudo,  i.   185, 

210,  219,  429. 


INDEX. 


551 


Ontram,  Sir  J.,  ii.  49. 
Overland  Route,  i.  388. 

Pachumba,  ii.  429. 

Piigodas  of  S.  India,  ii.  145. 

Paine,  Tom,  i.  111. 

Palmoi'ston,  Lord,  1.  427 ;  ii.  297. 

Pandyas,  ii.  145. 

Pantaenus,  i.  457. 

Pari  snath,  ii.  429. 

Parliamentary  Committee,  ii.  231. 

Parnell,  Mr.,  i.  266. 

Parsees,  i.  414. 

Patriarch  Cottnge,  i.  8. 

Patriotic  Fund,  ii.  337. 

Patterdale,  ii.  4S1. 

Patterson,  J.  B.,  i.  275. 

Rev.  Dr.,  ii.  279. 

Peacock,  Sir  Barnes,  i.  180. 

T.  L.,  ii.  232. 

Pearce,  Rev.  G.,  i.  103. 

Rev.  W.,  i.  165. 

Peel,  Sir  Lawrence,  ii.  57. 

Sir  Robert,  ii.  10. 

Penh  Presbytery,  i.  317. 

School,  i.  16. 

Peshawur,  ii.  329. 
Philadelphia,  ii.  263. 
Pieter-Maritzburg,  ii.  444. 
Pilgrim's  Progress,  The,  ii.  55. 
Pirie,  Sir  John  and  Lady,  i.  61 ;  ii. 

227. 
Pitlochrie,  i.  5. 
Pitt,  ii.  228. 

Plassey,  Centenary,  ii.  320, 
Political  Economy,  1.  135. 
Polwarth,  Lord,  ii.  421,  536. 
Pondicheri,  ii.  129. 
Portobello,  i.  274. 
Portuguese  in  Africa,  ii.  455. 
in  India,  i.  219 ;  ii.  138. 

in  Madeira,  i.  68. 

Pourie,  Rev.  J.,  ii.  20,  216,  368. 
Presbyterian  Council,  ii.  531. 
Presbyteries  of  Scotland,  i.  315  ;  ii. 

187. 
Press,  The,  i.  227,  376, 440 ;  ii.  513. 
Prideaux,  II.,  ii.  417. 


Principal  of  Now  Collogo,  ii.  505. 
Prinseps,  The,  i.  187,  219. 
Prize  Essays  on  Missions,  i.  366. 
Proclamation,  Queen's  Indian,  ii. 

246. 
Propaganda  College,  ii.  415. 
Prosunno  K.  Chatterjca,  i.  475. 
Pundits  on  Dr.  Duff,  ii.  119. 

Queen  Victoria,  ii.  525. 

Proclaimed  Empress,  ii.  526. 

Quillimane,  ii.  461. 

Radakhant  Deb,  i.  91,195;  il  65. 
Rainy,  Dr.  ii.  506,  510. 
Rajahgopal,  Rev.  P.,  ii.  173. 
Ram  Komul  Sen.,  i.  94. 
Ramchurn  Pal,  i.  467. 
Rammohun  Roy,  i.  40,  95,  112. 
Reeve,  Mr.  II.,  ii.  232. 
Reform  Act,  i.  273. 
Reformation,  Scottish,  ii.  4,  13. 
Reformed  Pros.  Church, ii.  461,  499. 
Renaissance  in  India,  i.  178,  231. 
Revivals,  ii.  369. 
Ricketts,  J.  W.,  i.  250. 
Robert  de  Nobili,  ii.  157. 
Robertson,  Principal,  ii.  24. 
Robinson  Crusoe,  i.  222. 
Romanist  Missions,  ii.  60 ;  ii.  137. 
Rose,  R.,  ii.  20. 
Runjeet  Singh,  ii.  85. 
Russia,  ii.  85,  516,  621. 

Sabbath  Observance,  i.  239,  412j 

457;  ii.  85,  524. 
on  Sinai's  Top,  i.  409. 

Schools,  i.  31. 

St.  Andrews,  i.  17,  26. 

Day,  ii.  527. 

Kirk,  Calcutta,  i.  234.  239. 

St.  Catharine's  Convent,  1.  406. 
St.  David  Fort,  ii.  13. 
Sanskrit  Pundits,  ii.  119, 134. 
Sautal  Insurrection,  ii.  312. 

Missions,  ii.  429. 

Sargent,  Bishop,  ii.  159. 
Saugar  Island,  i.  82. 


552 


INDEX. 


ScTimidt,  Georg,  ii.  406. 
School-book.s  i.  126. 

Cess,  i.  436. 

Schwartz,  ii.  150. 

Science  against  Hiudooism,  i,  1-tO, 

209,  456. 
Scotsmen  in  Calcutta,  i.  234. 
Scott,  The  Oomi-nentntiir,  ii.  475. 
Sectarianism,  i.  166,  234;  ii.  2. 
Serampore  Missionaries,  i.  150, 249. 
Serfojee,  Raja,  ii.  155. 
Soringhara  Pagoda,  ii.  143. 
Seton-Karr,  Mr„  ii.  68. 
Shaftesbur}',  Lord,  ii.  492. 
Shepherd  of  the  East,  ii.  1C5. 
Sheridan,!.  304. 
Sherwood,  Mrs.,  ii.  55. 
Shib  Chunder  Bauer jea,  ii.  66. 
Shipwrecks,  i.  72,  82'. 
Shoolbred,  Dr.,  i.  361. 
Shyama  Churn  Mookerjea,  il.  66. 
Simeon,  Cliailes,  i.  2,  325. 
Sinai,  i.  404. 

Sinclair,  Sir  George,  ii.  197. 
Sindh  War,  ii.  49. 
Sindia,  Maharaja,  ii.  337. 
Slave  Trade,  ii.  453. 
Smith,  Baird,  ii.  356. 

,  Bishop,  ii.  435. 

Rev.  Dr.  T.,  i.  347,  369,  451 ; 

ii.  18,  360. 

Prof.  R.  ii.  610. 

Society    for    the    Propagation    of 

Christian  Knowledge  (Scottish), 

i.  38;  ii.  136. 
Soldiers,  Work  among,  i.  243,  439. 
Soonderbuns,  The,  i.  26. 
Soorajood  Dowla,  i.  91. 
Sovereignty  of  God,  i.  2. 
Spelling,  Oriental,  i.  222. 
Spiritual  Independence,  ii.  2,  21, 

409. 
Stanley,  Dean,  ii.  527. 
Steeple  Controversy,  i.  236. 
Stein,  Von,  i.  416. 
Stephen,  Sir  Jatnes,  i.  180. 
Stevenson,  J.,  ii  459. 
Stewart,  Dr.,  of  Loveda'.c,  ii.  451. 


Stewart,  Mr.  J.  0.,  ii.  20,  551. 

of  Erskine,  i.  299. 

Stewart  of  Moulin,  i.  2,  326. 
Strachan,  J.  M.,  ii.  218. 
Strickland,  Rev.  W.,  ii.  137. 
Stuart,  Mr.  G.  H.,  ii.  261,  262. 
Students'   Missionary   Society,    i, 

25,  31,  343,  528. 
Susteutation  Fund,  i.  3,  12. 
Systematic  Beneficence  Society,  ii. 

426. 
Suez  Canal,  i.  388. 
Susruta,  i.  208. 
Swearing  Reproved,  ii.  8. 
Symington,  Rev.  Dr.,  ii.  206,  462. 
Syrian  Church,  ii.  161. 

Table  Mountain,  ii.  404. 
Tagores,  The,  i.  96,  120. 
Tait,  Archbishop,  i.  3t3. 
Takee,  i.  131,265;  ii.  46. 
Tamul  Poet,  ii.  134,  156. 
Tanganika  Lake,  ii.  451. 
Tanjore,  ii.  145. 
Taylor,  Rev.  J.  W.,  i.  23,  299. 
Temple,  Dr.,  i.  266. 

Sir  Richard,  ii.  428. 

Thomson  of  Banchorv,  ii.  79. 

Dr.  A.,  i.  50, 127. 

Dr.  W.,  i.  320. 

Tiger  Story,  i.  264. 

Toleration,  ii.  56. 

Toronto,  ii.  283. 

Toynbee,  Captain,  ii.  397. 

Tranquebar,  ii.  93,  133. 

Travancore,  ii.  161. 

Trevelyan,  Sir  C,  i.  182,  211,  224; 

ii.  230,  244. 

on  Dr.  Duff,  i.  195;  ii.  384. 

Trinity,  The,  i.  161. 

Tucker,  Robert,  ii.  343. 

Turner,  Bishop,  i.  239,  253 ;  ii.  482. 

Uma  Churn  Ghose,  ii.  66. 
Umesh  Chunder  Sirkar,  ii.  56. 
United  College  Planned,  i.  165. 
Presbyterian  Church, ii.  8, 369, 

498. 


INDEX. 


553 


TJnitod  States  {i^ce  Americans),  ii. 

250,  279,  291. 
Uiiiver.sity  of  Aberdeen,  i.  306. 

CuUutta,  ii.  3S2. 

India,  ii.  217. 

New  York,  ii.  292. 

St.  Andrew.s,  i.  17. 

Urquharb,  John,  i,  22,  45. 

Vaislinavas,  i.  408. 
Vedas,  i.  208. 
Venn,  Mr.,  ii.  435. 
Vernacular  Educai  ion,  i.  226,  430, 
436. 

Language,  i.  105,  183,  225. 

Visions,  Dr.  Diilff^,  i.  11. 
Voluntaryism,  ii.  21,  498. 

Waghorn,  Lieut.,  i.  388. 
Walajus,  ii.  410. 
Waldcnsian  Cluircb,  ii.  297 
Wales,  Prince  of,  ii.  521. 
Wallace,  Ecv.  A.,  i.  45. 
Wallicb,  Dr.,  i,  217. 
Ward,  of  Seramporc,  i.  468. 
Waterston,  Miss,  ii.  400. 
Weber,  i.  207. 

Welsh,  Preaching  to  the,  ii.  192. 
Westminster  Abbey,  ii,  527. 

Review,  ii.  90. 

Whyte,  Rev.  A ,  ii.  493. 
Wilbcrforce,  i.  35  ;  ii.  229. 


William  III.,  i.  90. 
Williams,  John,  ii.  463. 
Wines  oi'  France,  i.  392. 
Wilson,  Bishop  D.,  i.  45,  234,  218  ; 
ii.  109,  334. 

Colonel,  ii.  34. 

Dr.  John,  i.  86,  109,  166,  254, 

302,  413;  ii.  45,  169.  432,  458, 
528. 

James,  ii.  357. 

Mrs.,  (Miss  Cooke),  i.  149. 

Prof.  II.  H.,  i.  98,  252. 

Rev.  J.  n.,  ii.  493. 

Wiseman,  Cardinal,  i.  391. 
Woman  in  India,  i.  459. 
Wood.  Sir.  0.  {See  Halifax.) 
Wordsworth,  i.  431. 

Wylie,  Mr.  M ,  ii.  19,  38,  57,  249. 

Xavier,  Francis,  ii.  138. 

Yates,  Dr.,  i.  28,  219. 
Young  Men,  Lecture  to,  on  Mis- 
sions, ii.  216. 
Yonng,  Mr.  H.,  i.  166. 
Youth,  ii.  1, 
Yule,  Colonel  H.,  ii.  489. 

Dr.,  i.  396. 

Zanana  Education,  ii.  300. 
Ziegcubalg.  ii.  134,  406. 


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